Bureau of Reclamation

Description

This project will continue ongoing surveys of the ZTL population at the Diamond Creek Dune and translocate species from Peach Springs Canyon to Diamond Creek. This will support genetic diversity for reproduction of the population. While the ZTL exists in the middle Peach Springs Wash drainage, which is the only ZTL population in the Colorado River ecosystem (CRE) in the Grand Canyon, they previously existed in the super-riparian sand dunes at the mouth of Diamond Creek on the Hualapai Indian Reservation. That population was extirpated in the mid-1980s when high flows on the Colorado River flooded the mouth of Diamond Creek and large trucks used the dune-top area for staging river take-outs. Repeated censuses for ZTL at the mouth of Diamond Creek from the late 1980’s through 2010 have consistently failed to reveal any of these conspicuous, diurnal lizards, and the population has been extirpated. Reclamation funded the Hualapai Tribe in 2012 to conduct translocations of the ZLT which proved to be successful. In August, 2014, nine individual zebra-tailed lizards were detected on the monthly survey suggesting that the zebra-tailed lizard population at Diamond Creek was viable and growing. It is important to continue the monthly surveys over the next five years to quantify the ZLT population, document future reproductive evidence, and diversify the species population, and translocate species to support their conservation.

Who can apply

• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)

Contact

Deborah Chorlton <br/>Grants Management Specialist <br/>Phone 801-524-3734
dchorlton@usbr.gov