the production of four chicks by two adult pairs of red-cockaded woodpeckers that we translocated to the Avalon Plantation during the fall of 1998. During October 1999 we will translocate 10 more adult birds to Avalon from the Apalachicola National Forest. We are making rapid progress restoring red-cockaded woodpeckers to the Plantation’s pine forests.

continuing efforts to restore aplomado falcons and California condors to New Mexico: we held several meetings with organizations that might be impacted by our proposed restoration efforts, and assessed the legal and administrative procedures for restoring both species. Hopefully, we will begin reintroductions during 2001.

producing 20+ black-footed ferret kits at our breeding facility at Vermejo Park Ranch. This is the first time that a breeding facility has realized production during its first year of operation. These kits along with some of the adults from Vermejo Park will be released to the wild in Arizona per the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) recovery efforts.

intensifying efforts to restore black-tailed prairie dogs. During 1999 we translocated 150 prairie dogs from Vermejo Park to the Armendaris Ranch to promote restoration of the species to the Chihuahuan grasslands. Additionally we established five new colonies at Vermejo. These efforts allowed us to refine restoration techniques that we will apply even more vigorously in 2000 at Vermejo Park and the Bad River Ranches. Once we restore prairie dogs to 1,000 or more acres at both Ranches we will consider reintroducing black-footed ferrets. Currently prairie dogs inhabit about 400 acres at each site.

continuing efforts at the Ladder Ranch to breed and prepare Mexican wolves for release to the wild by the USFWS. During spring 1999 a litter of four pups was born at the Ranch. Unfortunately the pups died from natural causes before being weaned.

continuing with development of a plan to integrate Vermejo Park into gray wolf recovery programs. Specifically, we began developing a plan for Vermejo to serve as a gray wolf management “Center of Excellence”. The Center will be designed to improve techniques for recovering gray wolves throughout the United States. For example, captive-born Mexican wolves could be released at Vermejo for purposes of gaining experience in the wild before being permanently released in the Apache National Forest by the USFWS. During their free-ranging period wolves would be able to hone survival skills in an area that supports abundant prey and where human-induced mortality would be virtually non-existent. The Fund proposes to intensively monitor the wolves to document their transition to life in the wild and to ensure quick recaptures if they wander to far afield. No other facility in the world exists to promote the conservation of endangered carnivores in such a unique, hand-on manner.

continuing efforts to promote wolf recovery in the northern Rocky Mountains. Specifically, the Fund proposed assisting the USFWS with developing aversive conditioning techniques to reduce livestock depredations, and monitoring gray wolves that settle the public/private land interface in the northwest portion of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, with an emphasis on the Flying D Ranch. The USFWS reviewed the proposal and intends to authorize the described activities during the next few months. We are now trying to involve other conservation organizations in the effort. Undoubtedly wolves will settle the edge of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, creating great opportunities for organizations like the Turner Endangered Species Fund to advance carnivore conservation in a manner that is respectful of the needs and concerns of local citizens and private landowners.

continuing efforts to restore desert bighorn sheep. Currently, 54 sheep (including 12 lambs) inhabit the Fra Cristobal Mountains. There still exists, however, a need to augment the existing population and we are lobbying New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to translocate additional ewes to the Fra Cristobals. The last 30 months of intensive monitoring indicate that predation by cougars is an important source of mortality. Accordingly, we intend to continue the 3-year study of resident cougars accompanied by lethal control of any cougar that preys on sheep.

implementing the bi-national campaign to conserve migratory pollinators and their 1,500-mile migration corridor. The campaign focuses on four imperiled pollinators (including the endangered lesser long-nosed bat) and their habitats along the corridor that stretches from the southwestern U.S. to southern Mexico. The campaign is being administered by the Pollinator Conservation Consortium at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.