Threatened, Endangered, and At-Risk Species

Both state and federal partners share a desire to conserve gopher tortoise populations and habitat in order to prevent regulatory constraints and carry out their missions to the best of their ability, be it training missions on military installations or forest management on U.S. Forest Service lands. The gopher tortoise is listed as threatened in the western portion of its range, while it’s a candidate species for possible federal listing in the eastern portion of the range.

Description

Why? Military installations provide habitat for significant populations of federally-listed and at-risk species. These species can and do adversely impact training and testing on military installations due to Endangered Species Act (ESA) requirements. At-Risk species are defined as those species which have been proposed for listing by the Fish and Wildlife Service, designated as candidate species by the Service or which the Service has been petitioned to list under the ESA.

How? The SERPPAS Threatened, Endangered, and At-Risk Species Work Group collaborates with federal, state and other partners to develop and promote innovative strategiesfor proactive conservation of at-risk species and increased flexibility for addressing impacts to both listed species and military missions. These approaches include conservation agreements, mitigation credit strategies, and projects to increase status information of at-risk species to inform Species Status Assessments conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to inform listing decisions.

Benefit? These efforts will promote and support ecosystem restoration, maintenance and monitoring on and off military installations to enhance the conservation of at-risk and listed species; increase flexibility for on-installation training; increase regulatory predictability for military services, other federal agencies, and private landowners who engage in proactive conservation; and provide a process for DoD and other partners to share species data that will inform regulatory decisions.

Photo Galleries

Documents Library

Date	Title	Author
10/31/19	Collaborative Wildlife Protection and Recovery Initiative	CWPRI
08/30/19	10th Annual Gopher Tortoise Candidate Conservation Agreement Report	GTCCA Agencies & Organizations
06/07/19	America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative's 2018 Range-wide Accomplishment Report	ALRI
06/03/19	Longleaf Resiliency: Insects and Diseases	ALRI
02/06/19	2018 Annual Report: SERPPAS RCW Translocation Project	Aliza Sager, Sarah Lauerman, and Ralph Costa
06/28/18	SERPPAS Threatened, Endangered and At-Risk Species Fact Sheet	SERPPAS At-Risk Species Work Group
06/25/18	MOU Between DOI and DoD Establishing a Recovery and Sustainment Partnership Initiative	DOI/DOD
03/21/18	9th Annual Gopher Tortoise Candidate Conservation Agreement Report	GTCCA Agencies & Organizations
03/12/18	Perspectives on Collaborative Conservation	Partners for Conservation
01/31/18	2017 Annual Report: SERPPAS RCW Translocation Project	Aliza Sager, Sarah Lauerman, and Ralph Costa
04/30/17	AMERICA’S LONGLEAF RESTORATION INITIATIVE 2016 RANGE-WIDE ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT	Longleaf Partnership Council
04/20/17	8th Annual Gopher Tortoise Candidate Conservation Agreement Report	GTCCA Agencies & Organizations
03/24/17	Department of Defense Gopher Tortoise Conservation and Crediting Strategy	USFWS, DoD, SC DNR, GA DNR, AL DCNR, FL FWCC
01/30/17	2016 Annual Report: SERPPAS RCW Translocation Project	Kristina Witter, Sarah Lauerman, Ralph Costa
12/14/16	Conserving Georgia's Nongame Wildlife 2016 Annual Report	GA DNR Wildlife Resources Division
02/17/16	Issues in Ecology #20: Species Recovery in the U.S.: Increasing the Effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act	Ecological Society of America
07/15/15	Webinar Recording: Better Integrating Natural Resources Management with Your REPI Project	REPI
02/01/15	2014 RCW Translocations Annual Report	Kristina Witter, Sarah Lauerman, Ralph Costa
03/01/13	4th Annual Report: Candidate Conservation Agreement for the Gopher Tortoise	N/A
02/01/13	2012 RCW Translocations Annual Report	Kristina Witter, Sarah Lauerman, Ralph Costa
12/01/12	Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) for the Gopher Tortoise	N/A
02/01/12	2011 RCW Translocations Annual Report	Kristina Witter, Sarah Lauerman, Ralph Costa
04/01/10	2009 RCW Translocations Annual Report	Larry Wood, Sarah Lauerman, Ralph Costa
03/01/10	2010 RCW Translocations Annual Report	Kristina Witter, Sarah Lauerman, Ralph Costa
05/01/09	2008 RCW Translocations Annual Report	Larry Wood, Sarah Lauerman, Ralph Costa

Websites and Resources Library

Title	Author
Candidate Conservation	USFWS, Southeast Region
DoD Natural Resources Program	DoD
National Military Fish and Wildlife Association (NMFWA)	NMFWA
Recovery and Sustainment Program (RASP)	NFWF
Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies	SEAFWA
South Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC)	USFWS
Peninsular Florida Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC)	USFWS
North Carolina Green Growth Toolbox	North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission
The Service's National Listing Workplan	US FWS
Florida Gopher Tortoise Smartphone App	FL Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Webinar Recording: Gopher Tortoise Conservation Strategy as a Model to Protect At-Risk Species	DoD REPI
Longleaf Pine Story Map	Longleaf Alliance and ALRI
Habitat Suitability Models for At-Risk Species in the Longleaf Pine Ecosystem	USFWS

Upcoming Events

Date	Event	Location
03/02 - 03/06/20	Southeastern Partners in Plant Conservation	Atlanta, GA
03/18 - 03/20/20	Southeast Land Conservation Conference	Chattanooga, TN
04/18/20	Party for the Pine Festival	Southern Pines, NC

News Stories

Date	Title	Author
10/16/19	LIT Summit & TNC Longleaf All Hands Meeting Summary	TNC
10/01/19	Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy October Newsletter	SECAS
09/26/19	New agreement between federal, state agencies highlights cooperative approach to land management	USDA Forest Service
09/26/19	Scientists connected fragments of pine savanna and new species keep showing up	University of Wisconsin-Madison
09/13/19	NC Zoo Strives to Save Carolina Gopher Frog	NC Zoo
09/03/19	Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy September Newsletter	SECAS
08/30/19	Managers and Researchers Connect to Advise on Restoration of Rare Old-Growth Longleaf Tract	NCSU
08/27/19	NFWF Longleaf Stewardship Fund Announcement 2019	NFWF
08/27/19	Joining Forces: At Fort Stewart, the Army and the Service saved red-cockaded woodpeckers and military training	USFWS
08/27/19	At Fort Stewart, the Army and the Service Saved RCW and military training	US FWS
08/08/19	RFP: The Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program	USDA Forest Service
07/31/19	NC Military Foundation & NC Business Association Combine to Form Defense Alliance of North Carolina	Defense Alliance of North Carolina
07/25/19	Florida Cabinet OKs land purchase to help protect Wakulla Spring	State of Florida
07/15/19	Southeast Longleaf Ecosystem Occurrences Geodatabase FNAI Progress Report, Apr 15 – Jul 15, 2019	FNAI
07/08/19	North Florida Land Trust Says Little Bird Has Given Hope for a Big Vision in O2O Corridor	North Florida Land Trust
06/28/19	Florida Governor Signs Amendment to Military Installation Protection Bill	Florida Senate
06/20/19	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Conducts Five-year Status Reviews of 53 Southeastern Species	USFWS
06/11/19	15 Eastern Indigo Snakes Just Released in Year Three of the North Florida Recovery Effort	Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission
06/07/19	America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative Releases 2018 Range-wide Accomplishment Report	ALRI
06/03/19	USDA National Agroforestry Center Outreach – Request for Proposals 2019	USDA National Agroforestry Center
05/21/19	Tall Timbers Newsletter: Spring 2019	Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy
05/21/19	Proposed Endangered Species Act Findings for the Carolina madtom and Neuse River waterdog	USFWS
04/24/19	Coastal Headwaters Project in Florida is a Major Step for Longleaf Pine Restoration	USFWS
04/22/19	Eglin AFB named Air Force 2019 SECDEF Environmental Award recipient	U.S. Air Force
04/15/19	NRCS Job Announcements - LLPI Coordinator and National WLFW Coordinator	NRCS
04/10/19	What's Good For One Is Good For All: Quail and Wild Turkeys in Southern Piney Woods Aid RCW Recovery	National Wild Turkey Federation
04/09/19	Bringing Back the Red-cockaded Woodpecker: Are Prescribed Fire and Artificial Nests Enough?	Cornell Lab of Ornithology
04/03/19	NFWF Releases 2018 Annual Report	NFWF
04/01/19	Natural Selections Newsletter: Spring 2019	DoD Natural Resources Program
04/01/19	SEFireMap: Overview & Status Update	NRCS; U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities; Longleaf Alliance
03/30/19	ALRI Releases Strategic Priorities and Actions 2019-2021	America's Longleaf Restoration Initiative
03/11/19	A Real Good Burn - Photo Essay	NC Wildlife Resources Commission
02/06/19	2018 Annual Report: SERPPAS RCW Translocation Project	Aliza Sager, Sarah Lauerman, and Ralph Costa
02/04/19	U.S. Endowment Issues RFP for Field Data for Longleaf Ecosystem Occurrence Database	U.S. Endowment
01/28/19	USFWS Develops Longleaf Pine Habitat Story Map	USFWS
01/24/19	RCWs Receive Emergency Help at Silverlake WMA After Hurricane Michael	GA DNR Wildlife Resources Division
01/23/19	DEP Adds Fragile Acreage to Florida Keys Ecosystem Project	FL DEP
01/22/19	Longleaf Leader Details Post-Hurricane Recovery and Restoration	The Longleaf Alliance
01/07/19	USACE Team Protects Gopher Tortoises	USACE
12/20/18	Natural Selections Newsletter: Winter 2019	DoD Natural Resources Program
12/01/18	Fall 2018 Longleaf Partnership Council Meeting Summary	ALRI
11/21/18	Longleaf Stewardship Fund 2019 Request for Proposals	NFWF
11/15/18	Acres for America Program Awards $3.2M to Save Habitats and Increase Public Access to Nature	NFWF
10/22/18	SERPPAS Partners Quoted in Longleaf Alliance's Longleaf Leader	Longleaf Alliance
10/09/18	Protecting the Desert’s Little Tanks	DoD
10/04/18	Relocation efforts reach 800 rescued gopher tortoises	Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute
09/19/18	Regional Longleaf Awards Announced	Longleaf Alliance
09/18/18	North Florida Land Trust Marks Largest Conservation Easement Acquisitions to Date	North Florida Land Trust
08/29/18	Natural Selections Newsletter: Summer 2018	DoD Natural Resources Program
08/22/18	NFWF Longleaf Forests and Rivers Business Plan	NFWF
08/03/18	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducts five-year status reviews of 42 southeastern species	USFWS
06/28/18	The Longleaf Alliance and ALRI Release Story Map, "Building a "Road Map" to Restore Longleaf Pine"	The Longleaf Alliance and ALRI
06/01/18	Texas A&M NRI Releases Article, "The Intersection of Gopher Tortoise Policy and Conservation"	Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute
06/01/18	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers June 2018 Stewardship Newsletter	USACE
05/18/18	Endangered Species Day: Congratulations to the 2017 Recovery Champions for the Southeast Region	USFWS
05/07/18	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducts five-year status reviews of 35 Southeastern species	USFWS
04/06/18	Gulf Power helps Eglin Air Force base save thousands of doomed gopher tortoises	Gulf Power
03/29/18	Reversing America's Wildlife Crisis	National Wildlife Federation
03/23/18	NRCS to Expand Targeted Conservation Effort for Wildlife on Agricultural Lands	USDA NRCS
03/22/18	Marines and Woodpeckers Share the High Ground	USFWS
03/09/18	Fish and Wildlife Service conducts five-year status reviews of eight southeastern species	USFWS
03/05/18	Lesson from a Tortoise	Mike Brennan
01/28/18	Business and Wildlife Groups Skip the Fight, Work Together to Save a Species	NPR
08/22/17	Boosting the gopher tortoise: Federal, state and private partners raise $150 million to help the much-loved keystone species flourish in the South	US FWS
08/09/17	Growing Trees, Saving Species	USFWS
08/01/17	The Tortoise and the Lair	Garden and Gun
06/29/17	Fish and Wildlife Service conducts five-year status reviews of 23 Southeastern species	USFWS
06/26/17	NWTF Donates Land for Lauderdale WMA	Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
06/17/17	Service Provides 1 Million Dollars to States to Combat Bat-Killing Fungal Disease	USFWS
06/05/17	Applicants sought for Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program	NFWF
05/09/17	A harmonious future for profits, pine and at-risk species along the Florida-Alabama line	USFWS
04/18/17	Endangered Species Act Petitions for Florida Black Bear and Mojave Desert Tortoise do not Warrant Further Action	USFWS
04/06/17	Fish and Wildlife, the military and state of Florida boost conservation at Camp Blanding	USFWS
04/04/17	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finds yellow lance mussel warrants Endangered Species Act protection	USFWS
03/30/17	Manatee Reclassified from Endangered to Threatened as Habitat Improves and Population Expands – Existing Federal Protections Remain in Place	USFWS
03/24/17	Service, Department of Defense Adopt Credit Strategy for SE Installations Benefiting Gopher Tortoise and other species	USFWS
03/06/17	Draft Recovery Plan for Endangered Yellowcheek Darter Available	USFWS
03/01/17	Natural Selections Newsletter: Winter 2017	DoD Natural Resources Program
02/10/17	SCDNR, SCBS partner for bluebird conservation	SC DNR
02/06/17	Partnering to Protect Longleaf Pines	The Conservation Fund
01/03/17	The Longleaf Reader Winter 2016	The Longleaf Alliance
12/31/16	Longleaf Stewardship Fund 2017 Request for Proposals	NFWF
12/23/16	Final Policy Provides Standards to Offset Impacts of Development on America’s Most At-Risk Species	USFWS
12/23/16	Federal Agencies Strengthen Opportunities for Public Engagement in Voluntary Conservation Efforts Under Endangered Species Act	USFWS
12/01/16	Fall 2016 Natural Selections: Spotlight on GT Conservation and Crediting Strategy	DoD Natural Resources Program
11/10/16	Georgia's Revised Wildlife Action Plan Approved, at Work	GA DNR Wildlife Resources Division
11/10/16	2016 season marked by high sea turtle nest, stranding numbers	SC DNR
10/27/16	NFWF and USFWS Announce Launch of the Bats for the Future Fund	NFWF
09/15/16	Military Bases Serve As Safe Haven For Endangered Species	NPR
09/13/16	Service Announces Findings on Ten Endangered Species Act Petitions	US FWS
09/01/16	The Birds and the Bombs	BioGraphic, Ben Goldfarb
08/30/16	Fish and Wildlife Service Conducting Five-Year Status Reviews of 22 Southeastern Species	US FWS
08/17/16	NOAA awards $5.4 million in grants for endangered, threatened species recovery	NOAA
07/27/16	UCF to Establish Permanent Sea Turtle Research Field Station on Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge	US FWS
07/26/16	Service Announces Final Methodology for Prioritizing and Addressing Endangered Species Act Status Reviews	US FWS
07/22/16	Corps and Service Agree On Actions for Conserving Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow and Restoring Balance to Everglades Ecosystem	US FWS
02/17/16	DoD Announces Request for Fiscal Year 2017 Legacy Resource Management Program Funding Pre-Proposals	Department of Defense
01/19/16	USFWS Regulates Human Interactions with Listed Bat Species	USFWS
12/14/15	The Department of Defense and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have produced the Fall 2015 Wildlife Stewardship & National Defense Issue of the Endangered Species Bulletin	DoD and USFWS
09/17/15	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Announces Findings for 25 Endangered Species Act Petitions	USFWS
09/14/15	Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Adding White Fringeless Orchid to Threatened and Endangered Species List	USFWS
09/02/15	Loggerhead Sea Turtles Set Another Nesting Record in Georgia	GA DNR
08/11/15	Military Conservation Partner Award 2016—Solicitation of Nominations	USFWS
07/23/15	Dusty Gopher Frog Recovery Plan Released	USFWS
08/19/14	Fort Bragg and red-cockaded woodpecker co-exist comfortably after shift in conservation attitudes	Fayetteville Observer
07/27/11	12-Month Finding on a Petition To List the Gopher Tortoise as Threatened in the Eastern Portion of Its Range	USFWS
02/21/10	A Base for War Training, and Species Preservation	NY Times