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Desert Tortoise Compliance Program
 The
Mojave Desert population of the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is
listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. It occurs in the
southern third of the NTS at fairly low densities. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (FWS) determined that NTS activities will not
jeopardize the continued existence of this species nor would they
destroy or adversely modify habitat considered critical to the species.
The NTS conducts activities in tortoise habitat under the conditions of
permits issued to NNSA/NSO by the FWS.
To comply with all conditions of the FWS permits, trained NTS biologists
conduct field surveys prior to land disturbing activities to ensure that
tortoises are out of harm’s way. Biologists are permitted to relocate
tortoises away from project areas if necessary. To date, no tortoises
have been found in or moved away from an NNSA/NSO project area, and no
tortoises have been harmed within a project area.
All NTS workers are educated on the protected status of the desert
tortoise and instructed to move tortoises off paved roads whenever they
are in danger of being run over. To date, over 60 incidents of tortoises
being moved off roads have been reported.
A presentation of all field surveys and other desert tortoise compliance
activities performed over the last calendar year can be found in the
most currently published reports:
Ecological Monitoring and Compliance
Program Report [PDF, 20 MB]
Nevada Test Site Environmental Report
[PDF, 15 MB]
To find publications about desert tortoise research conducted on the
NTS, look at the report
Ecology of the Nevada Test Site: An Annotated Bibliography
(December 2001)[ PDF,
9MB].
Map of tortoise habitat and estimated densities
[PDF, 2.1MB]
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