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A draft environmental assessment (EA) proposing methods to reduce raven predation on the desert tortoise and other reptiles and mammals throughout the deserts of southern California has been released for public review and comment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The EA proposes five alternatives that provide a full range of possible levels of raven management to protect the desert tortoise, a Federal and State-listed threatened species. The proposed alternatives include both non-lethal and lethal techniques in conjunction with the most effective and humane methods available to deter or remove ravens responsible for predation of juvenile tortoises. The alternatives were developed in consideration of public comments suggesting methods to reduce raven predation.
Public comments must be postmarked by May 7, 2007, which will conclude the 30-day public comment period. Submit written comments to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Raven Management Environmental Assessment, c/o Judy Hohman, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, 2493 Portola Road, Suite B; Ventura, CA 93003. Comments may be submitted by email to: FW8draftravenea@fws.gov with subject indicating Raven Management, or by fax to (805) 644-3958. Faxed copies should also be mailed.
The EA is available online at www.fws.gov/ventura. Copies of the EA also are available upon request at public libraries in the California desert and by calling the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Ventura Office (805) 644-1766; 2493 Portola Road, Suite B, Ventura, CA 93003.
Among the five proposed alternatives, the Service’s preferred alternative is to identify ravens that are preying on, or attempting to prey on desert tortoises, and either shoot, poison, or trap the birds. The preferred alternative would also reduce human-constructed nest sites and human sources of food and water for ravens.
Non-lethal techniques may encompass any of the following: reduce human food subsidies, reduce the availability of carcasses of road-killed animals along highways in desert tortoise habitat, remove raven nests outside the nesting season within two miles of tortoise management areas, and reduce potential nesting sites (telephone poles, etc.) in tortoise habitat. Lethal techniques could include shooting, trapping, and poisoning. Another lethal method is to humanely euthanize young ravens and eggs found in nests of adults that have been removed.
The Service has been cooperatively working with the Desert Managers Group (DMG) in the development of the EA. The DMG is a consortium of county, State, Federal and military agencies that manage Federal and State lands in southern California.
Raven populations in some areas of the California desert have increased more than 700 percent between 1969 and 2004. Monitoring indicates raven predation has had extensive impacts on juvenile tortoise populations at various locations throughout the desert, greatly reducing the number of young tortoises surviving to adulthood.
The proposed raven management program would reduce raven predation on hatchling and juvenile tortoises, which would increase their survivorship and recruitment into the reproductive population and ultimately help promote population stabilization and recovery. The goal is not to eliminate ravens from the region, but to restore a balanced predator-prey relationship.
The Service is the lead agency for the proposed raven management program. Based on public comments received on the alternatives, the Service will select an alternative that can help to protect the desert tortoise from further decline resulting from raven predation.
DMG members cooperating with the Service in the development of the EA include the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Edwards Air Force Base, the Marine Corps
bases at Barstow and Twenty-nine Palms, the Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, and the National Training Center at Fort Irwin.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies
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