Since 2012 we have worked tirelessly to recover Desert Tortoise populations and protect their habitat.
Our mission has always been urgent and clear: To insure that the species does not become extinct, and that sustainable populations survive in the wild. Our goal is to preserve, protect and perpetuate the desert tortoise. We accomplish this by increasing public awareness of the plight of the tortoise, educating the public on the role humans have played and continue to play in the tortoise’s decline, and working to modify those human behaviors such that tortoise populations stabilize and ultimately recover. Thus in March 2020, in my capacity as President of the Desert Tortoise Preserve Committee, I joined the Desert Tortoise Council and Defenders of Wildlife to petition the California Fish and Wildlife Commission (the “Commission”) to uplist the desert tortoise from “threatened” to “endangered.”
As we cited in our petition and as the Commission agreed in its October 2020 decision to advance the petition:
The desert tortoise populations declined substantially from 1977 to 2000 and then substantially declined further from 2001 to 2014, according to two long-term monitoring projects. Population density estimates in most of sampling areas are well below minimum viability density of 3.9 adult tortoise per square kilometer.
Never have we faced such a critical milestone. Put simply, drawing a line in the sand to prevent the “endangered” desert tortoise from the awful prospect of extinction. Dr. Kristin Berry recently published a groundbreaking study with the same dire conclusion:
The Mojave desert tortoise is now in the top 50 species of the world’s most endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Species Survival Commission, Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, now considers Mojave desert tortoise to be Critically Endangered (Berry et al. 2021)[1], a “species that possess an extremely high risk of extinction as a result of rapid population declines of 80 to more than 90 percent over the previous 10 years (or three generations), a current population size of fewer than 50 individuals, or other factors.” It is one of three turtle and tortoise species in the United States to be critically endangered.
So I have been asking myself the fundamental question that I started this letter to you: What is the Difference Among Threatened, Endangered, and Extinct? I think the answer is clear: You, our supporters, and our mutual commitment to turn the tide against the extinction of a species that has adapted and survived over thousands of years.
As you know we don’t take fundraising likely. We try to balance our concern without tipping over to alarm. We don’t stuff your mailboxes with fundraising appeals. But the time has come to make a stand, so we are urgently asking for your support.
Please consider contributing to the drive to uplist the desert tortoise as “endangered” under the California Endangered Species Act and our efforts to recover the species. I am enclosing a form you can send to:
- Join our Citizen’s Petition that will be submitted on behalf of our members to the State of California
- Submit your public comments to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to urge the state to list the desert tortoise as endangered
- Make a one-time special gift for our SAVE THE ENDANGERED DESERT TORTOISE FROM EXTINCTION CAMPAIGN
You and we have made a difference. Now we can make a historic difference. Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Ron Berger
President
The Desert Tortoise Conservancy
Ron Berger, President
The Desert Tortoise Conservancy, Inc.
305 W. Arenas Road
Palm Springs, CA 92262
Tel: (503) 522-6611
Fax: (760) 320-0486
SAVE THE ENDANGERED DESERT TORTOISE FROM EXTINCTION CAMPAIGN
