The U.S. Army's No Jeopardy Biological Opinion (BO) for expansion of Military Maneuver Lands at Fort Irwin, California stipulates all desert tortoises in the affected southern expansion area (SEA) be found and relocated outside of the SEA. To meet this requirement, the National Training Center and Fort Irwin developed a desert tortoise translocation surveying and monitoring program for this area.

The program has three primary objectives:

1. Find, mark, and attach radio transmitters to all tortoises within the SEA greater than 160 mm (smaller tortoises will be moved to holding pens)
2. Monitor tortoises with radio transmitters until they become dormant in the fall. Conduct once monthly checks throughout the winter until the animals become active in the spring
3. Design and implement a database platform capable of:
   1. receiving data from multiple entry points
   2. interfacing with the USFWS desert tortoise data repository maintained by the Mojave Desert Ecosystem Program (MDEP)
   3. be accessible over the World Wide Web

Technical and logistical support for this collaborative effort is provided by Andrew Walde, ITS Corporation (prime contractor), Dr. Bill Boarman, Conservation Science Research & Consulting (CSRC) and Peter Woodman, Kiva Biological Consulting. Collectively, this group forms a talented and knowledgeable team with extensive experience working with the desert tortoise, the U.S. Army National Training Center and Fort Irwin.

As the project develops, weekly and monthly reports will be accessible through this website. Additionally, maps, project personnel contact information, transmitter information, documents related to the project, and downloadable data regarding individual tortoises will also be made available.