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