Recovery Plan Ad Hoc Report results
Query parameters:
Entity ID=181AND
Document ID=600006| Plan Title | Plan Stage | Plan Lead Region (FWS) | Plan Lead Office (FWS) | Species Common Name | Species Scientific Name | Action Priority | Action Number | Action Description | Action Status | Estimated Initiation Date | Estimated Completion Date | Action Lead Agencies | Responsible Parties | Work Types | Labor Types | Comments | Implementation Activity Number | Implementation Activity Description | Implementation Activity Status | Implementation Activity Estimated Initiation Date | Implementation Activity Estimated Completion Date | Implementation Activity Labor Types | Implementation Activity Work Types | Implementation Activity Responsible Parties | Implementation Activity Comments | Implementation Activity Species |
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| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 1 | 2 | Protection and management of publicly owned habitat | Ongoing Current | Prior to FY 1995 | FY 2025 | Other | U.S. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Management, Management: Habitat Maintenance and Manipulation, Other: Law Enforcement | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract, Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Other agencies responsibilities will be a cooperative nature, possibly on projects funded under a Service contract. In some cases contracts may be let to private individuals. The Army National Guard and USFS are obligated to certain actions through section 7 of the Act. | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 2 | 1.1.1 | Camp Shelby survey | Ongoing Current | Prior to FY 1995 | FY 2025 | Other | U.S. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Research: Population Surveys | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract, Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Other agencies responsibilities will be a cooperative nature, possibly on projects funded under a Service contract. In some cases contracts may be let to private individuals. The Army National Guard and USFS are obligated to certain actions through section 7 of the Act. | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 2 | 1.1.2 | DeSoto National Forest survey | Ongoing Current | Prior to FY 1995 | FY 2025 | U.S. Forest Service | U.S. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Research: Population Surveys | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract, Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | The De Soto National Forest, as the primary Recovery population mentioned in the Recovery Plan, is to go through a priority soil survey every 5 years. Pedestrian surveys occurring in 1997, 2002, and 2007 investigated burrows on 100% of tracts containing priority (highly suitable) soils. The USFS performed the survey in 2014 on a smaller subset of suitable soil tracts using Line Transect Distance Sampling (LTDS). Results showed similar results as before in terms of low percentages of juvenile burrows and the need for more aggressive management (specifically fire) on many parcels. USFS repeated the survey in 2019 using the 2014 methodology; similar results in terms of lower population numbers throughout many of the sites; lower recruitment; and most sites needed to be burned more regularly. | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 2 | 1.1.3 | State/School lands survey | Partially Complete | Prior to FY 1995 | FY 2025 | Other | U.S. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Research: Population Surveys | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract, Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Other agencies responsibilities will be a cooperative nature, possibly on projects funded under a Service contract. In some cases contracts may be let to private individuals. The Army National Guard and USFS are obligated to certain actions through section 7 of the Act. | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 2 | 1.2 | Population survey/entire population | Ongoing Current | FY 2025 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries , Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Alabama Deapartment of Natural Resources | Research: Population Surveys | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract, Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Surveys ongoing throughout the range. Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana state wildlife agencies all working on determining population estimates, first on public lands, then planned surveys on private lands; specifically looking for populations that meet Minimum Viable Population standards defined by GTC. | |||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 2 | 1.2.1 | Assess rangewide status | Ongoing Current | Prior to FY 1995 | FY 2022 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Research: General, Research: Population Surveys, Research: Habitat Status | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract, Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Species Status Assessment (SSA) was initiated in Spring of 2019, with the assessment going through editing and final review throughout 2020. It is a range-wide analysis, facilitated by personnel from Texas A&M University through a DoD Legacy grant. Gopher tortoise SSA once completed will inform the 5-year status review. | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 2 | 4 | Law enforcement strategy | Ongoing Current | Prior to FY 1995 | FY 2025 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Other: Law Enforcement | Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | continuous | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 2 | 9 | Determine new burrow buffer distance | Complete | FY 2013 | FY 2016 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Other | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Other | Research: Management Techniques | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract | A burrow collapse study was completed at Ichauway in August 2013 (funded by GA DNR) to investigate the distance from the burrow entrance where the tunnel collapses when run over by heavy machinery. The study has been published by the Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management, with a 4m (13ft) recommendation. Agencies are currently looking into whether to adopt the new recommendation. | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 3 | 3 | Protection and management of private lands | Ongoing Current | Prior to FY 1995 | FY 2022 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Acquisition: Easement | Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | NRCS Working Lands for Widlife partnership for the gopher tortoise began in 2012; revamped in 2016 with larger budgets, larger acreage, and more focused efforts based on Priority Areas of Conservation (PAC) maps. | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 3 | 3.2 | Cooperative agreements | Ongoing Current | FY 2008 | FY 2025 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Work type not yet selected | Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Costs to be determined | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 3 | 3.3 | Easements/donations | Ongoing Current | Prior to FY 1995 | FY 2025 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Forest Service, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Acquisition: Easement | Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Costs to be determined | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 3 | 3.4 | Rewards | Discontinued | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks | Other | Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Not applicable | ||||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 3 | 5 | Research population viability | Complete | Prior to FY 1995 | FY 2016 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Forest Service, University , Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Research: Other Information | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract, Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Auburn - breeding distance work published (Guyer et al 2012); USM egg hatching study published (Noel et al 2012). Currently there have been 2 Minimum Viable Population workshops held to determine the characteristics of MVP; report sponsored and authored by GTC. Current plan is to have all states contribute to an ecoregional map displaying current locations of viable tortoise populations, with projected targets of how many viable populations there should be to demonstrate recovery (and precluding the need to list the eastern range tortoises). Development of PAC maps is the first step in trying to determine target abundance and distribution of viable GT populations. Fall 2017 was workshop #3 supported by GTC, determining ecoregional scale for evaluating populations and investigating a model (based on 2009 PVA) to try to determine number and distribution of GT populations that would equal stability. | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 3 | 6 | Research genetics | Partially Complete | FY 2007 | FY 2023 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | University , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement | Research | Graduate Student | 3 range-wide population genetic studies completed: Clostio et al 2012, Ennen et al. 2012, and Gaillard et al. 2017. All found geographic/genetic splits at the Apalachicola River in FL and Mobile/Tombigbee in AL. Gaillard paper presented idea of 5 genetic "regions" as potential future analysis units. New research at USM will involve "genetic mixing" under experimental conditions of Florida tortoises with Mississippi tortoises to investigate inbreeding and low heterozygosity (thought to impact hatching success, hatchling survivorship, etc.) to see if those life history traits change. Genetic mixing study to begin Fall 2020. | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 3 | 7 | Telemetry and Head-starting studies | Partially Complete | FY 1995 - FY 1999 | FY 2022 | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Forest Service, University , Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Alabama Deapartment of Natural Resources | Research: Other Information | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract, Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | Telemetry studies completed (adult tortoises only) on Camp Shelby Training Base (U.S. Forest Service land) in MS. Telemetry of juvenile tortoises ongoing at Camp Shelby with newly-released head-started juveniles. Incubation of tortoise eggs and expansion of head-start program on Camp Shelby is ongoing. Research may shift to raising juvenile tortoises for population enhancement in areas where populations have declined but habitat restoration is ongoing. New research focusing on size at release and subsequent survivorship improvement, and rearing head-started tortoises until mature (typically ~20 years in the wild, but preliminary data shows head-started tortoises reach maturationi size at age 5/6). | ||||||||||
| Gopher Tortoise | F | 4 | Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office (601) 965-4900 | Gopher tortoise | Gopherus polyphemus | 3 | 8 | Relocate reproductively isolated tortoises | Ongoing Current | FY 2010 | FY 2022 | Other | U.S. Forest Service, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries , Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks , Fish and Wildlife Enhancement, Alabama Deapartment of Natural Resources | Research: Other Information | Volunteer, Graduate Student, Species Expert, Contract, Internal Technical Assistance, Internal Field Assistance, Internal Administrative | State agencies; MDWFP through section 6 has been and will continue to relocate "waif" and reproductively isolated tortoises. At 2014 GTC meeting we discussed how to handle waif tortoises range-wide. Camp Shelby initiating program to identify isolated tortoises and relocate them into a well-managed colony (FY16). Potential for restoring uplands around Glen's Pond as a waif tortoise recipient site. Other areas considering "consolidating" tortoises onto the most highly suitable, best-managed parts of a property, as is identified in the 1990 Recovery Plan. |