RALPH COSTA (RCWO LLC & Milliken Forestry Co.)
JOEL CASTO (Casto Environmental Services LLC & Milliken Forestry Co.)
WILL McDEARMAN (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)
RCW Recovery Defined
Criterion # (Name) # Pops. # PBGs # Pops. Available
1 (Primary Core) 10 350 12
1 (Primary Core) 1 1000 1
2 (Secondary Core) 9 250 10
3 (Essential Support) 6 40 ea.(250 in SCFRU) 10
4 (Essential Support) 3 100 ea.* 3
*The 3 populations are:
• Northeast North Carolina & Southeast Virginia
• Cumberlands/Ridge & Valley (Alabama)
• Sandhills West (North Carolina)
RCW Range-wide Recovery
Year of Data RCW Territory Source
1993/1994 4,694 Costa & Walker (1995)
2001 5,627 Costa (2004)
2003 5,800 Costa & Jordan (2003)
2005 5,903 USFWS (unpubl. data 2005; Costa)
2006 6,254 USFWS (unpubl. data 2006; Costa)
2011 7,000 USFWS (unpubl. data 2011; McDearman)
2012 7,100 USFWS (unpubl. data 2012; McDearman)
2013 7,250 USFWS (unpubl. data 2013; McDearman)
2016 7,730 USFWS (unpubl. data 2016; McDearman)
SoCo Recipients’ Trends
Ownership # Properties States 2004 2016
Federal 8 AL, FL, MS 83 379
State 11 FL, GA 133 388
Private 3 FL, GA 3 56
TOTAL 22 4 states 219 823
Federal: 8 partners
(AL, FL, MS)
• U.S. Forest Service (5) (AL, FL, MS)
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (2) (FL)
• U.S. Air Force (1) (FL)
State: 11 partners
(FL, GA)
• FL Fish & Wildlife Conservation Comm. (4) (FL)
• Florida Forest Service (3) (FL)
• Florida Department of Military Affairs (1) (FL)
• St. John’s Water Management District (1) (FL)
• South Florida Water Management District (1) (FL)
• Georgia Department of Natural Resources (1) (GA)
Private: 3 partners
(FL, GA)
• Disney’s Wilderness Preserve & Park (1) (FL)
• Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center (1) (GA)
• St. Joe Land & Timber Company (1) (FL)
SoCo Impact: Partners
Recipient Population Accom lishments
• RCWs translocated
• Total increase for 22
populations
• 5-year average annual
geometric growth rate for
22 populations
• Estimated Recovery Plan
population goal for 2016
• “Off-line” populations
349 since 2004: X = 27 per year
219 to 823 territories
7.6% vs. 5% in Recovery Plan
10 of 14 recovery populations
exceed 2016 Goals: averaging
11.1 years “Ahead of Schedule”
11 of 20 (55%) were Power of
Flight recipients
METRIC RESULT
Southern Range Translocation
Cooperative (SRTC) TOTAL
PoF
Contribution
RCWs translocated (2004-2016) 1452 349 (25%)
RCW territories (1998) 262 192
RCW territories (2016) 1158 845
Recipient populations N=33 N=22* (67%)
“Off-line” populations (2016) 20 11 (55%)
SoCo Impact: SRTC
*18 (82%) PoF recipients designated recovery populations
SoCo IMPACT: RECOVERY
Criterion # (Name) # Pops. # PBGs
# Pops.
Available
SoCo
Contribution
1 (Primary Core)
10 350 12 (2)(4 recovered)
1 (Primary Core)
1 1000 1 (1)(not recovered)
2 (Secondary Core)
9 250 10 (4)(0 recovered)
3 (Essential Support)
6* 40 ea. 103 @ recovery
(4 offline)*
4(Essential Support)
3 100 ea. 3 (0) (1 recovered)
* SoCo has contributed to 70% of the
SCRFU’s 10 Essential Support populations
that are now recovered or “offline”
Ongoing SoCo
contributions to recovery:
3 Primary Core
4 Secondary Core
4 Essential Support
4 Significant Support
13 of 20 populations required for down-listing are at
their goal…criteria could be achieved in 10-15 years
Foundation of the Project’s Success
Joel Casto, Wildlife Biologist349 RCWs and Counting!
SoCo IMPACT: Flying Toward Recovery