WEBVTT 00:00.530 --> 00:02.752 the flat tailed horned lizard is one of 00:02.752 --> 00:04.808 the installations special management 00:04.808 --> 00:06.919 species and what that simply means is 00:06.919 --> 00:09.030 that they occur in low enough numbers 00:09.030 --> 00:11.086 that they require some extra special 00:11.086 --> 00:14.930 protections to um stabilize or ideally 00:14.940 --> 00:16.884 increase their population to avoid 00:16.884 --> 00:18.940 listing under the endangered species 00:18.940 --> 00:21.430 act . The way we manage the species is 00:21.440 --> 00:23.218 under what's called a candidate 00:23.218 --> 00:25.384 conservation agreement . And basically 00:25.384 --> 00:27.496 what that is is a voluntary agreement 00:27.496 --> 00:29.607 between Marine Corps Air station Yuma 00:29.607 --> 00:31.773 and 10 other state and federal natural 00:31.773 --> 00:33.980 resource agencies that have kind of 00:33.980 --> 00:36.091 come together to conserve the species 00:36.091 --> 00:38.740 both in Arizona and California . So one 00:38.740 --> 00:40.962 of the primary reasons that flat tailed 00:40.962 --> 00:42.907 horned lizards exist in such small 00:42.907 --> 00:44.962 numbers is due to the fact that they 00:44.962 --> 00:47.129 have the most limited range out of all 00:47.129 --> 00:46.810 the horned lizard species in the United 00:46.810 --> 00:48.710 States . So historically they've 00:48.710 --> 00:51.020 occurred from northwestern Sonora 00:51.020 --> 00:53.890 Mexico and baja California up through 00:53.890 --> 00:56.260 the southwestern corner of Arizona and 00:56.260 --> 00:58.482 into the Imperial and Coachella valleys 00:58.482 --> 01:00.538 in southern California . And when we 01:00.538 --> 01:02.840 couple that with the amount of 01:02.850 --> 01:04.490 urbanization and other human 01:04.490 --> 01:06.657 disturbances that have occurred within 01:06.657 --> 01:08.768 their habitat , we can see why places 01:08.768 --> 01:10.490 like the BMG are west are very 01:10.490 --> 01:12.657 important to the continued survival of 01:12.657 --> 01:14.712 the species . So if you look towards 01:14.712 --> 01:16.768 the northern boundary of our range , 01:16.768 --> 01:18.990 you'll see several housing developments 01:18.990 --> 01:21.157 that are being constructed on what was 01:21.157 --> 01:23.379 once open desert and this is really the 01:23.379 --> 01:25.379 reality of having flourishing human 01:25.379 --> 01:27.323 communities within the area and so 01:27.323 --> 01:29.546 close to our range boundaries that they 01:29.546 --> 01:31.601 need room to grow in the case of the 01:31.601 --> 01:33.657 flat tail horned lizard . One of our 01:33.657 --> 01:35.490 primary concerns is that as that 01:35.490 --> 01:37.601 habitat outside the range boundary is 01:37.601 --> 01:39.546 lost , we fear that this may place 01:39.546 --> 01:41.657 added constraints on the habitat that 01:41.657 --> 01:43.379 remains in the range and could 01:43.379 --> 01:45.546 potentially affect military training . 01:45.546 --> 01:47.379 So Marine Corps air station Yuma 01:47.379 --> 01:49.601 manages just under 15,000 acres of flat 01:49.601 --> 01:51.657 tailed horned lizard habitat , which 01:51.657 --> 01:53.879 accounts for roughly 90% of the habitat 01:53.879 --> 01:56.260 left in existence in Arizona and to 01:56.260 --> 01:58.316 manage this responsibility and to be 01:58.316 --> 02:00.260 successful at it , we take a three 02:00.260 --> 02:02.482 phased approach . The first phase is to 02:02.482 --> 02:04.800 ensure that the flat tail is considered 02:04.810 --> 02:07.170 in all phases of our military planning 02:07.170 --> 02:11.130 documentation . The second is to ensure 02:11.130 --> 02:13.400 that all of our range operators are 02:13.410 --> 02:16.150 educated on mitigation measures when 02:16.150 --> 02:18.206 working in flat tailed horned lizard 02:18.206 --> 02:20.317 habitat . So this entails obeying the 02:20.317 --> 02:22.428 posted speed limit signs , staying on 02:22.428 --> 02:24.539 the roads and trails and checking for 02:24.539 --> 02:26.761 flat tails under vehicles and equipment 02:26.761 --> 02:29.094 before moving them to avoid mortalities . 02:29.094 --> 02:31.170 The last phases , we monitor their 02:31.170 --> 02:33.610 population trends over time . So we 02:33.610 --> 02:35.832 work closely with the air game and Fish 02:35.832 --> 02:38.345 Department to conduct annual surveys 02:38.355 --> 02:40.577 throughout their habitat on the range . 02:40.577 --> 02:42.688 So if you look over the last 10 years 02:42.688 --> 02:45.015 of data , we have um , it generally 02:45.015 --> 02:47.237 shows that the population is stable and 02:47.237 --> 02:49.237 has actually been increasing in the 02:49.237 --> 02:51.182 last couple of years . So , Marine 02:51.182 --> 02:53.182 Corps ranges like the B . M . G . R 02:53.182 --> 02:54.848 West are important places for 02:54.848 --> 02:57.071 conserving species like the flat tailed 02:57.071 --> 02:59.237 horned lizard due to the fact that all 02:59.237 --> 02:59.185 of our training that occurs here is 02:59.185 --> 03:01.360 highly aviation centric . And so what 03:01.360 --> 03:03.940 that means from a habitat protection 03:03.940 --> 03:06.810 perspective is that while the Marine 03:06.810 --> 03:10.040 Corps manages quite a large acreage of 03:10.040 --> 03:12.300 land , our ground footprint , meaning 03:12.300 --> 03:15.100 our roads , targets and other buildings 03:15.100 --> 03:17.267 associated with training is relatively 03:17.267 --> 03:19.640 small . In fact , we keep that ground 03:19.640 --> 03:21.862 footprint within the flat tailed horned 03:21.862 --> 03:23.973 lizard habitat to less than 1% of the 03:23.973 --> 03:26.029 land , And when you expand that to a 03:26.029 --> 03:28.251 view of the whole range , it's actually 03:28.251 --> 03:30.029 less than 5% , which leaves the 03:30.029 --> 03:32.084 remaining 95% available for wildlife 03:32.084 --> 03:33.960 habitat .