28th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the
Desert Tortoise Council, February 21-23, 2003
Abstracts

Desert Tortoise Protection, Management, and Education on the National Training Center and Fort Irwin, California

Mickey Quillman, U.S. Army, Directorate of Public Works, Fort Irwin, CA 92310-5097

The desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) was listed as threatened under an Emergency listing in 1989. The Environmental Division, within the Directorate of Public Works at Fort Irwin has implemented an aggressive program to educate the soldiers training at the NTC and the civilian workforce employed there. Every soldier training at the NTC is required to attend at least two briefings on environmental issues, including the desert tortoise issues. The Environmental Division also participated in at least six Public Outreach Events, where tortoise awareness programs are provided to at least 10,000 civilians annually. In 1993, in a pro-active effort to protect tortoise habitat, the post biologist solicited the aid of an Engineering Company to erect a fence to protect the southern boundary of the NTC from military activities, until such time the USFWS could declare official Critical Habitat. In 1990, with funds from the Army and Southern California Edison Co., we initiated a study on desert tortoise neonates under the direction of Dr. David Morafka (California State University, Dominguez Hills). Prior to our initiating these studies at the Fort Irwin Study Site (FISS), very little was known about this stage in the life cycle of the desert tortoise. This program has grown into a Head Start Program, which could be used in the future to re-introduce tortoise into areas from which they have been extirpated. The NTC has been proactive in the area of desert tortoise disease research, having funded several studies on URTD, herpes virus, and the effects of heavy metals on the tortoise population.