California State University, Stanislaus Endangered Species Recovery Program

News

In Memoriam

The biologists and support staff of the CSU Stanislaus, Endangered Species Recovery Program would like to extend sincere condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of Clu Cotter, Kevin O'Connor, Tom Stolberg, and Mike Donovan. We are deeply shocked by the helicopter accident in Madera Co. yesterday that took the lives of these fine wildlife professionals. This tragedy is an enormous loss to their families, friends, and the California Department of Fish and Game, and a terrible blow to natural resources and wildlife management in California.

The Western Section of The Wildlife Society has kindly placed biographical summaries for our deceased colleagues on its web site.

Patrick Kelly
Professor of Zoology & Coordinator
Endangered Species Recovery Program
California State University, Stanislaus
6 January, 2009


Condolences & Donations

Anyone wishing to send condolence cards or letters to the victims' families, should specify the family's name on the envelope and send them to:

c/o Condolences for Crash Victims
California Dept. of Fish & Game
1234 E. Shaw Ave., Fresno, CA 93710


Anyone wishing to send a donation, can make a check out to the State Biologists' Memorial Fund and send it to:

State Biologists' Memorial Fund
c/o California Association of State Scientists
455 Capitol Mall, Suite 500
Sacramento, CA 95814




---




Recently added publications

• 2006 A Synthesis of Restoration Research Conducted near Tranquillity, California.
• 2009 Conservation of San Joaquin Kit Foxes in Western Merced County, California.
• 2007 Habitat Suitability and Potential Corridors for San Joaquin Kit Fox in the San Luis Unit, Fresno, Kings, and Merced Counties, California.



---




• Dr. Patrick Kelly receives U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Champion Award for riparian brush rabbit conservation

  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2008 Recovery Champions, Region 8

  Dr. Patrick Kelly
  California State University, Stanislaus
  Riparian brush rabbit
  
  Dr. Patrick Kelly is a Recovery Champion for his work in conserving riparian brush rabbits. His leadership in recovering this species is particularly notable in that after the 1997 Central Valley floods there was concern that riparian brush rabbits no longer existed. Dr. Kelly has been applauded for his “watchful eye, passionate commitment, scrupulous focus and leadership.” His work has included capturing animals for a propagation program, health-checking the young, radio-collaring and tagging, releasing into the wild, and then monitoring the rabbits for survival, healthy reproduction, and habitat use. Dr. Kelly has introduced riparian brush rabbits onto the San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge and adjacent private land. He has saved the riparian brush rabbit from the brink of extinction and transported it to the road to recovery.

  
  

  ---

  
  

• CSU Stanislaus scientists honored for kit fox scent dog research work

  A research project on the endangered San Joaquin kit fox conducted by a group of California State University, Stanislaus scientists and collaborators at the Smithsonian Institution has been recognized with a prestigious award by the Southwestern Association of Naturalists for their paper Relative abundance of endangered San Joaquin kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis mutica) based on scat-detection dog surveys.

  
  Deborah Smith with Rio, a dog specially trained for scat detection.

  The Arkansas-based conservation organization awarded the 2007 George Miksch Sutton Award in Conservation Research to a seven-member scientific team that included Dr. Patrick Kelly, CSU Stanislaus Professor of Zoology and Coordinator of the University's Endangered Species Recovery Program (ESRP); Dr. Dan Williams, retired CSU Stanislaus Professor of Zoology and founder and former coordinator of the ESRP; and Dr. Brian Cypher, ESRP Associate Director and Research Ecologist who directs the University program's Bakersfield office. The project was led by Dr. Deborah Smith of Hughson, a founding partner of the non-profit Working Dogs for Conservation Foundation, toward completion of her Ph.D. at the University of Washington. Dr. Katherine Ralls and Dr. Jesus Maldonado of the Smithsonian Institution and Howard Clark Jr., formerly a wildlife biologist with ESRP, were also actively involved in the research.

  Full copy of press release

  
  

  ---

  
  
• Return of the Rabbits, ESRP featured cover story in California State University, Stanislaus Magazine.
  
  

  ---

---

About the Program

The Endangered Species Recovery Program is a cooperative research program on biodiversity conservation in central California, administered by California State University, Stanislaus.

The program was established in August 1992 at the request and with the support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation, under the direction of Dr. Dan Williams at CSU Stanislaus. Over the past decade, ESRP has grown into a cooperative research program working with local, State, and Federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, corporations, and private land owners.

ESRP is composed of about 18 biologists, students, and support staff, several research associates, and numerous collaborators in government and universities worldwide whose combined expertise and contributions are integral to the recovery of threatened and endangered species in Central California. ESRP biologists are based in Fresno, Turlock, Bakersfield, and the Bay Area.

Mission Statement

The Endangered Species Recovery Program's mission is to facilitate endangered species recovery and resolve conservation conflicts through scientifically based recovery planning and implementation.

Narrative

The central elements in the recovery of endangered and threatened species are: identifying the biological processes critical to achieving self-sustaining populations of jeopardized species and their ecosystems; developing sound species recovery and natural community management prescriptions; and identifying the social interests and entities that must be reconciled and work together in implementing recovery strategies. Such a recovery process necessarily implies the integration of all planning and implementation actions within a broadly inclusive public-private partnership to achieve a product that is environmentally sound, economically feasible, and socially equitable.