Started as a Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative project, this effort has been identified as a continued high priority by state wildlife agencies and other land managers. The purpose of this project is to analyze landscape-scale indicators across the three warm deserts of North America with a focus on three geographies in the Southwestern US and northern Mexico: the eastern recovery unity for the Mojave Desert Tortoise (California and Nevada), the Madrean Archipelago (Arizona and Sonora, Mexico), and Big Bend region of the Rio Grande and lower Rio Conchos (Texas, Chihuahua). The deliverables of this project are landscape-scale ecosystem indicator reports for these three geographies, and data layers made available for conservation partners across the region. These partners include Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Arizona Game and Fish Department, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and various federal partners (US FWS Refuges and Ecological Services, National Park Service, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and International Boundary and Water Commission). This project began in September 2017. This amendment is required to complete deliverables. This funding need was identified in the original agreement, but was not obligated in FY 2017.
