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Published On: Sep 16, 2005 07:13 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Sep 16, 2005 07:13 AM
Desert Tortoise Council
With a bit of begging, my office sent me to Desert Tortoise
Council this year. Last year, the Kern River Project was in full
swing and I didn't even bother to ask. Unfortunately, SNEI decided not to pay us
to attend. Like last year, Council was at Sam's Town on the Boulder Strip. They
had leaky roofs in the restrooms and the casino which was quite amusing.
The talks were generally pretty good with no real earth-shattering research. There was a good talk on fossil Gopherus shells found in western Nebraska dating back 33 million years and some fossil evidence the desert tortoise is descended from the southeastern gopher tortoise. Another good talk was by a Massachusetts expert on highway crossings for wildlife. Dr. Kristin Berry had a fascinating talk on male tortoise dominance hierarchies.
On a more somber note, papers were presented that the population of tortoises in the western Mojave (west of Barstow and north of Los Angeles) are in extremely bad shape and may be extirpated in a few years. Also, Ann McLuckie (whom I assisted with some tortoises morphology work years ago at the DTCC), reported that tortoises in a preserve near St. George, Utah, experienced a 40-50% decline in the last year.
Of course, it was great to see some old friends and colleagues including Rachel Loubeau, Rachel Woodard, Eli Bernstein, Christy Signor, and many others.
Going to Tortoise Council helped me feel even more invigorated and enthusiastic about my job protecting the tortoise.
The talks were generally pretty good with no real earth-shattering research. There was a good talk on fossil Gopherus shells found in western Nebraska dating back 33 million years and some fossil evidence the desert tortoise is descended from the southeastern gopher tortoise. Another good talk was by a Massachusetts expert on highway crossings for wildlife. Dr. Kristin Berry had a fascinating talk on male tortoise dominance hierarchies.
On a more somber note, papers were presented that the population of tortoises in the western Mojave (west of Barstow and north of Los Angeles) are in extremely bad shape and may be extirpated in a few years. Also, Ann McLuckie (whom I assisted with some tortoises morphology work years ago at the DTCC), reported that tortoises in a preserve near St. George, Utah, experienced a 40-50% decline in the last year.
Of course, it was great to see some old friends and colleagues including Rachel Loubeau, Rachel Woodard, Eli Bernstein, Christy Signor, and many others.
Going to Tortoise Council helped me feel even more invigorated and enthusiastic about my job protecting the tortoise.
Posted: Mon - February 23, 2004 at 04:26 PM