Meet One of Our Most Famous Residents

If you have wondered why the countdown clock (above) on the Utah Rotary District Conference blog features a tortoise on the golf course, here is the explanation!

Washington County, as an environment, is both blessed and cursed as the unique circumstances of the terrain find three ecosystems converging in this, the state’s most southwestern county. Where the Mojave Desert, Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau come together, there is a large array of plants and animals, some found nowhere else in the world and many which are protected by the Endangered Species Act.

The most famous of these protected species is the desert tortoise, able to live in temperatures exceeding 140 degrees because of its ability to dig underground burrows to escape the intense heat. At least 95% of its life is spent in burrows which also create a subterranean environment beneficial to other reptiles, mammals, birds and invertebrates.

The gentle and unassuming Gopherus agassizii, native to the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, was at the center of a political fire storm in the mid-1990's when the federal government mandated Washington County to protect both the animal and thousands of acres of its habitat. After several years of controversy, land swaps and millions of dollars spent on both sides of the issue, a Habitat Conservation Plan was finalized and approved, which called for the creation of the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

The reserve is 62,000 acres of protected red rock desert where hiking, biking, horseback riding and other activities are allowed, but which protects the tortoise and other desert critters and prohibits forever the development of this spectacular land.

While it is unlikely you will actually see a desert tortoise during the Utah Rotary District Conference, May 13-15, 2010 . . . you may hear an occasional reference to one of our most famous residents so we wanted you to be familiar with his name and face!