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

Status of Desert Tortoise Recovery

Bob Williams
Field Supervisor U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's responsibilities for administering the Endangered Species Act include oversight of recovery efforts, which requires substantial coordination and cooperation among various agencies and stakeholders. The status of desert tortoise recovery is provided to the Desert Tortoise Council, Desert Managers Group, and Management Oversight Group on an annual or semi-annual basis. In 2002, the Service contacted resource managers and requested a summary of completed and ongoing recovery, monitoring, and research actions for the Mojave population of the desert tortoise. Redlands Institute compiled the responses to the request and prepared summary documents for each of the six recovery units. Other important desert tortoise activities of management concern for 2002 include the conclusion of the GAO evaluation of the basis for listing the desert tortoise as threatened, the effectiveness of recovery actions, monitoring, and costs and benefits of desert tortoise recovery actions. The Service prepared a response to a desert tortoise Congressional Directive for 2001 and a successful disease workshop was convened in Soda Springs, California. The future of the desert tortoise recovery program will be discussed with emphasis on shortcomings identified in the GAO report with limited resources to accomplish recovery. In 2003, the Service proposes to convene additional workshops, evaluate the existing tortoise monitoring program, and organize a team of scientists and agency representatives to assess the 1994 recovery plan. The Team would recommend potential revisions for discussion at the Desert Tortoise Management Oversight Group and Desert Managers Group prior to undertaking a plan revision.