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.
The SERPPAS At-Risk Species action team works collaboratively to reduce the likelihood of listing more than 400 species as threatened or endangered over the next decade. The team coordinates and advances cooperative conservation efforts by partners to improve the status of candidate and petitioned species, which may help avoid the need for Federal protection. Action is focused on proactive conservation agreements, mitigation credit pilot solutions, and information transfers to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The team also continues to facilitate coordinated recovery actions for the red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW), a federally-listed endangered species endemic to open, mature, and old growth pine ecosystems in the Southeast. RCW translocations expedite the expansion of small, at-risk populations that ultimately serve to accelerate overall species recovery.
| 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 |
There are currently no upcoming events at this time.
