Strengthening the Gopher Tortoise CCA Matt Hinderliter U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service June 21, 2012

Initial Objectives from the Memorandum of Intent (pre-CCA) In the MOI the signatories agreed that: Gopher tortoise populations and habitat are in need of assistance Action is needed to improve gopher tortoise status range-wide Each party could benefit from reversing the declining trend in gopher tortoise populations

The Gopher Tortoise CCA: Why change it? The conservation strategy of the CCA: The landscape and local-level conservation actions are designed to be adaptable and implementable by all Parties in a collaborative environment… Information obtained from surveys and monitoring will increase the understanding of the gopher tortoise and its management needs. This knowledge will be applied using the concepts of adaptive management that periodically assess and modify conservation actions

The Gopher Tortoise CCA: Why change it? Change of status: the 12-month finding From population modeling efforts, we can draw two very general conclusions: First, gopher tortoise populations are likely to decline in the future under a wide array of demographic and environmental conditions that exist today. Second, gopher tortoise populations, although declining, and in some cases functionally extinct, will persist for 100 to 200 years. The effect of these may be that tortoises will be seen for long periods of time throughout their range, not because their populations are stable or increasing, but because they are long-lived.

The Gopher Tortoise CCA: Why change it? Change of status: the 12-month finding Range-wide Conservation Strategy For each of the 5 factors, identify and assign the following: Primary threats to the species Actions needed to address specific threats Other species that could benefit Policy/regulatory partners Implementation partners Leads (FWS & State agency) Due dates

Conservation Objectives and Action Plans Establish a consensus between research and management communities about defining proper surveying/monitoring techniques; and habitat management goals Identify, prioritize, and protect viable tortoise populations Increase the size and/or carrying capacity of those viable population areas through applied management, land acquisition, or incentives to adjacent landowners Maximize the amount of acreage appropriately maintained by prescribed fire Locate areas of “secondary priority” where re-stocking and restoration can most effectively be accomplished by creating large, contiguous tracts or habitat corridors Identify and reduce the factors negatively impacting juvenile tortoise recruitment Encourage the development and implementation of a model CCAA/HCP (preferably one that is state-wide and programmatic) that details effective conservation objectives and habitat management goals.

Status of the Species: What do we know now? Effectively assessing the status (i.e., whether it is increasing, decreasing, or stable) of the gopher tortoise throughout its range requires evaluation of: Distribution of populations How many tortoises/population How many populations Population demography Trends in population growth

CCA reporting framework Standardized reporting framework  Acres included by protection level  Acres managed and/or restored  Invasive exotics treated/eradicated  Population trends/survey results  Population manipulation  Research  Land conservation  Education and outreach  Legal protection measures

Threats to the species (5 factors) (A)The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; (B) Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; (C) Disease or predation; (D) The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; (E) Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence (climate change, herbicides, road mortality, invasive species).

(A)The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; habitat fragmentation by roads (potentially causing road mortality, reproductive isolation, small and discontinuous populations, and edge effects such as increased predation) habitat destruction from activities such as urbanization, phosphate strip-mining, and sand extraction (potentially causing direct mortality and/or displacement of tortoises to undesirable habitats); habitat modification (either deliberately or from inattention), including conversion of longleaf pine forests to other silvicultural or agricultural habitats, shrub/hardwood encroachment (mainly from fire exclusion or insufficient fire management), and establishment and spread of invasive species (potentially causing the aforementioned indirect effects due to canopy closure and decline of available forage/groundcover).

(A)The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; habitat fragmentation by roads (potentially causing road mortality, reproductive isolation, small and discontinuous populations, and edge effects such as increased predation) habitat destruction from activities such as urbanization, phosphate strip-mining, and sand extraction (potentially causing direct mortality and/or displacement of tortoises to undesirable habitats); habitat modification (either deliberately or from inattention), including conversion of longleaf pine forests to other silvicultural or agricultural habitats, shrub/hardwood encroachment (mainly from fire exclusion or insufficient fire management), and establishment and spread of invasive species (potentially causing the aforementioned indirect effects due to canopy closure and decline of available forage/groundcover).

(A)The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; habitat fragmentation by roads (potentially causing road mortality, reproductive isolation, small and discontinuous populations, and edge effects such as increased predation) habitat destruction from activities such as urbanization, phosphate strip-mining, and sand extraction (potentially causing direct mortality and/or displacement of tortoises to undesirable habitats); habitat modification (either deliberately or from inattention), including conversion of longleaf pine forests to other silvicultural or agricultural habitats, shrub/hardwood encroachment (mainly from fire exclusion or insufficient fire management), and establishment and spread of invasive species (potentially causing the aforementioned indirect effects due to canopy closure and decline of available forage/groundcover).

Threats to the species (5 factors) (A)The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; (B) Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; (C) Disease or predation; (D) The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; (E) Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence (climate change, herbicides, road mortality, invasive species).

Standardized reporting framework  Acres included by protection level  Acres managed and/or restored  Invasive exotics treated/eradicated  Population trends/survey results  Population manipulation  Research  Land conservation  Education and outreach  Legal protection measures (A)The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; (B) Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; (C) Disease or predation; (D) The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; (E) Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence

(A)The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; Acres included by protection level, Acres managed and/or restored, Invasive exotics treated/eradicated, Population trends/survey results, Research, Land conservation, Education and outreach (B) Overutilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes; N/A (C) Disease or predation; Research, Invasive exotics treated/eradicated (if applicable) (D) The inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms; Acres included by protection level, Population manipulation, Legal protection measures (E) Other natural or manmade factors affecting its continued existence New information from DOTs, Federal Highways?

Loss and alteration of gopher tortoise habitat from fire exclusion or fire suppression has a significant effect on survival of the gopher tortoise. Tortoise population life expectancy was shorter than normal in fire- suppressed savanna communities. Researchers recorded a decrease of 1.5 tortoises per hectare every 5 years on an unburned site for 16 years. Fire exclusion may reduce tortoise numbers by 60 to 80 percent in 8 years or 100 percent in 16 years. In south-central Florida, sandhill and scrubby flatwoods were abandoned by gopher tortoise after about 20 years of fire exclusion.

Some suggested amendments for the CCA: Incorporate the amendments from the 2012 Florida GT Management Plan

Fire returnMax. CanopyShrubHerb Communityinterval (years)Cover (%) Dry prairie >10 Upland pine1-350<10>50 Sandhill >25 Scrubby flatwoods Scrubvariable <5 Recommendations (preliminary) for 2012 FL GT Management Plan

Fire returnMax. CanopyShrubHerb Communityinterval (years)Cover (%) Dry prairie >10 Upland pine1-350<10>50 Sandhill >25 Scrubby flatwoods Scrubvariable <5 Recommendations (preliminary) for 2012 FL GT Management Plan

Fire returnMax. CanopyShrubHerb Communityinterval (years)Cover (%) Dry prairie >10 Upland pine1-350<10>50 Sandhill >25 Scrubby flatwoods Scrubvariable <5 Recommendations (preliminary) for 2012 FL GT Management Plan

Some suggested amendments for the CCA: Incorporate the amendments from the 2012 Florida GT Management Plan Increase the percentage of growing season prescribed fire (by acreage) (potential goal of burning more acres during the growing season vs. dormant season within 3-5 yrs?)

Some suggested amendments for the CCA: Incorporate the amendments from the 2012 Florida GT Management Plan Increase the percentage of growing season prescribed fire (by acreage) (potential goal of burning more acres during the growing season vs. dormant season within 3-5 yrs?) LTDS method, range-wide surveys every 10 years?

Some suggested amendments for the CCA: Incorporate the amendments from the 2012 Florida GT Management Plan Increase the percentage of growing season prescribed fire (by acreage) (potential goal of burning more acres during the growing season vs. dormant season within 3-5 yrs?) LTDS method, range-wide surveys every 10 years? Currently providing acreage estimates of permanently protected, short-term, and unprotected tortoise habitat: can we include previous years’ data to track trends?