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UTAH THE I DESERT TORTOISE COUNCIL ARIZONA NEVADA I I / I • 5 A / '~ ' / ~ • ~ Q I l F ;., ~ (D~X ~ /g ~ a r 1 ~ • 5 U1A h k t A i s. a I CAL IF 0 R N I A pP PROCEEDINGS OF 1987-1991 SYMPOSIA \ \ DESERT TORTOISE COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS OF 1987-1991 SYMPOSIA A compilation of reports and papers presented at the 12th — 16th annual symposia of the Desert Tortoise Council Publications of the Desert Tortoise Council, Inc. Member ~Non-M mber Proceedings of the 1976 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1977 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1978 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1979 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1980 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1981 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1982 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1983 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $15.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1984 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1985 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1986 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Proceedings of the 1987-1991 Desert Tortoise Council Symposia $20.00 $25.00 Proceedings of the 1992 Desert Tortoise Council Symposium $1 5.00 $20.00 Annotated Bibliography of the Desert Tortoise, Gopherus agassizii $15.00 $20. 00 Note: Please add $1.50 per copy to cover postage and handling. Foreign addresses add $3.50 per copy for surface mail; U.S. Drafts only. Available from: Dese rt Tortoise Council, Inc. P.O. Box 1738 Palm Desert, CA 92261-1738 These proceedings record the papers presented at the annual symposium of the Desert Tortoise Council. The Council, however, does not necessarily endorse the conclusions reached in the papers, nor can it attest to the validity or accuracy of the data. ISSN 0191-3875 Copyright 1994 by the Desert Tortoise Council, Inc. DESERT TORTOISE COUNCIL Officers 1987 1988 1989 Co-Chairmen: John Brode Glenn Stewart Jim St. Amant Glenn Stewart Jim St. Amant Dan Pearson Co-Chairman Elect: Jim St. Amant Betty Burge Mike Giusti Secretary: Evelyn St. Amant Evelyn St. Amant Evelyn St. Amant Recording Secretary: Ted Cordery Ted Cordery Ted Cordery Treasurer: Cheryl Pearson Mike Coffeen Mike Coffeen 1 90 1991 Co-Chairmen: Jim St. Amant Dan Pearson Dan Pearson Al Muth Co-Chairman Elect: Mike Giusti Mike Giusti Secretary: Evelyn St. Amant Evelyn St. Amant Recording Secretary: Ted Cordery Mike Coffeen Treasurer: Mike Coffeen Mike Coffeen B oard Mem r s 1987 ~198 1989 1990 1991 Betty Burge Kristin Berry Kristin Berry Jeff Aardahl Jeff Aardahl Kristin Berry John Brode Norm Edmonston Kristin Berry Kristin Berry Michael Coffeen Norm Edmonston Ross Haley Norm Edmonston Cam Barrows Norm Edmonston Mike Giusti Bruce Jones Ross Haley Tom Dodson Dan Pearson Dan Pearson Glenn Stewart Glenn Stewart Mare Graff George Sheppard George Sheppard Connie Wheeler Connie Wheeler Jim St. Amant David Stevens David Stevens Randy Wilson Mare Sazaki E ditorial mmi t e Editor: Kent R. Beaman Tierra Madre Consultants, Inc. Cover Design: Suzanne Allen Acknowledgements: For editorial assistance we thank Tom Olsen of Dames & Moore, Phyllis Schmidt of Tom Dodson & Associates, and Mary Trotter. OE Table of Contents Annual Awards: 1987-1991 1987 Contributors Desert Tortoise Research - U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service R. Bruce Bury Land Use Planning In Coyote Spring Valley Ralph E. Clark State Report On Desert Tortoise Activities: Bureau Of Land Management, Arizona Ted Cordery The Desert Tortoise: Land Acquisition And Listing - 1987 Steve Johnson Desert Tortoises Of The Piute Valley - 1987 13 Michele A. Joyner and David J. Germano Bureau Of Land Management Plans And Action For Managing Desert Tortoise 22 Habitat In A Portion Of The Western Mojave Desert, California Patricia E. McClean and Jeffery B. Aardahl Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee - 1986 Status Report 26 George E. Moncsko The Recovery Plan For The Desert Tortoise In Utah 29 Robert G. Ruesink Arizona 1987 State Report: The Arizona Game And Fish Department 33 Cecil R. Schwalbe A Perspective On International Conservation Of Tortoises 34 lan R. Swingland Environmental Sex Determination, Migration, And Regulation In The Aldabran Giant Tortoise 43 lan R. Swingland 1988 51 Contributors 52 Desert Tortoise And Gila Monster Reintroduction Along The Central Arizona Project: 54 Preliminary Report Sheryl L. Barrett, Susan D. Harper and Jeffery A. Humphrey A Mixture Of Volunteers: Cooperative Efforts To Protect The Desert Tortoise In California 57 Dana Bell Conservation Of Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassiziil: Genetics And Protection Of Isolated 59 Populations R. Bruce Bury, Todd C. Esque and Paul Stephen Corn Results Of Investigation At Three Desert Tortoise Study Plots In The Sonoran 67 Desert of Arizona Theodore E. Cordery, Jr., Elizabeth Wirt, Timothy Shields and A. Peter Woodman Recent Bureau Of Land Management Efforts In Tortoise Habitat Management In Arizona 70 Eugene A. Dahlem Analysis Of Desert Tortoise Carcasses From The Arizona Strip, 1977-1987 72 Timothy Allen Duck and Charles Pregler Analysis Of A Desert Tortoise Population And Habitat On The Beaver Dam Slope, Arizona: Part 1, Site 44, Littlefield Timothy Allen Duck and John R. Snider Methods Of Age Determination Of The Desert Tortoise, Gopherus agassizii 93 David J. Germano and Thomas H. Fritts Does High Adult Mortality Equal A Population Crash For Desert Tortoises In The Piute 101 Valley, Nevada? David J. Germano and Michele A. Joyner Plan For A Study Of Desert Tortoise In Saguaro National Monument, Pima County, Arizona 112 Audrey E. Goldsmith and William W. Shaw Tortoise Management By The Nevada Department Of Wildlife During 1987 113 Ross Haley Results From The Trout Canyon Desert Tortoise Study Plot Clark County, Arizona 116 D. Bradford Hardenbrook Status And Management Plan Decisions For The Desert Tortoise Natural Area 134 Patricia E. McClean and Jeffery B. Aardahl Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee - 1987 Status Report 137 George E. Moncsko Some Habitat Characteristics Of The Eastern-Most Population Of Desert Tortoises 141 ( Gopherus a gassiziil Robert E. Parker A New Global Action Plan For Tortoises And Turtles 145 David Stubbs Tortoise Conservation The French Way: A Species Recovery Program For 152 Hermann's Tortoise In The Massif Des Maures, Southern France David Stubbs 1989 157 Contributors 158 Role Of Diet Protein And Temperature In The Nutritional Energetics Of The Turtle. 160 Trachemys scripta: Implications For The Nutritional Ecology Of The Desert Tortoise Harold W. Avery Desert Tortoise And Gila Monster Reintroductions Along The Central Arizona Project 161 Sheryl L. Barrett and Susan D. Harper V Ten Years Of Monitoring Data From The Desert Tortoise Natural Area Interior, 162 Chuckwalla Bench Area Of Critical Environmental Concern, And Chemehuevi Valley Kristin H. Berry, A. Peter Woodman and Craig Knowles 1988 Accomplishments At The Desert Tortoise Natural Area 163 Jayne Chavez-Scales DTNA Environmental Projects Associated With LUZ Solar Units In The Western 164 Mojave: Present And Future Development Robert L. Cimberg The Desert Tortoise And Arizona BLM: 1989 165 Eugene A. Dahlem Some Public Relations/Communications Aspects Of Desert Conservation 167 Eugene Decker Some Natural History Observations Of Raven Behavior And Predation On Desert Tortoises 168 Jim Farrell Keynote Address: Management Of The Desert Tortoise And Other Reptiles And 169 Amphibians: Time For An Environmental Attitude Adjustment J. Whitfield Gibbons A Preliminary Report Of Home Range And Use Of Cover Sites By Desert 174 Tortoises In Saguaro National Monument, 1988 Audrey E. Goldsmith and William W. Shaw BLM's Commitment To Improving Desert Tortoise Habitat In California 180 Ed Hastey Lipid Storage And Reproductive Output Of Female Desert Tortoises IGopherus agassiziA 185 Brian T. Henen Implementing Tortoise Habitat Management On Public Lands In The California Desert 186 Gerald Hillier Summer And Fall Activities And Movements Of The Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassiziil 187 In Pahrump Valley, Nevada Donald C. Hovik and D. Bradford Hardenbrook Clinicopathologic Investigations On An Upper Respiratory Disease Of Free-Ranging 188 Desert Tortoises, Gopherus agassizii Elliott R. Jacobson and Jack M. Gaskin The Proposed Apex Project: A Threat To The Arrow Canyon-CoyoteTortoise Population 189 Bruce Jones Investigations Of The Desert Tortoise At Ihe California Department Of Health Services' 190 Proposed Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Site In Ward Valley, California Alice E. Karl Potential Impacts Of The Proposed Ft. Irwin Expansion On Desert Tortoise Populations 191 And Habitat Nancy Kaufman The Social Behavior Of Wood Turtles, C/emmysinsculpta, In Central Pennsylvania 192 John H. Kaufmann The Cantil Project 193 George E. Moncsko Compensation And Other Means Of Mitigating Biological Impacts From Power 194 Plant Construction James R. Nelson Recommended Guidelines For Construction Monitoring Of Desert Tortoises 195 Thomas E. Olson and John F. Wear Proposed Raven Reduction Program For 1989: A Coordinated Agency Effort 201 Ted Rado Cumulative Impact Assessment And Mitigation Proposed For The Ward Valley Site 206 Stephen J. Romano Arizona State 1989 Report: The Arizona Game And Fish Department 207 Cecil R. Schwalbe The LUZ Tortoise Relocation At Kramer Junction: A Review And Update 209 Glenn R. Stewart, Marianne Marshall and Robert Cimberg Current Directions In Desert Botany 210 Frank C, Vasek Differential Growth Rates And Shape Differences Between Age Classes And 211 Sexes In The Desert Tortoise Michael Weinstein Museum Exhibits: Educating The Public On Desert Tortoise Paleontology, 212 Natural History, And Conservation Connie Wheeler Quality Graphics: Opportunities For Dynamic Presentations 213 Catherine Williams The Relationship Between Soil Types And Population Densities Of The Desert Tortoise 214 (Gopherus agassizi11 Randall Wilson Interactions Between Ravens And Transmission Lines 215 Leonard S.
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