A clearance survey is the step before ground disturbance (grading and the like) to remove the federally protected, threatened desert tortoise. Trained biologists comb through 100 percent of the project footprint multiple times and transmitter or translocate every animal they find out of the project footprint. The goal of a clearance survey is to remove every tortoise possible ahead of groundbreaking. (USFWS 2009, Desert Tortoise Field Manual)

This is a different job from the presence/absence survey in Part 1. A presence/absence survey answers whether tortoises use the site and, on larger projects, how many. It is used for project planning and NEPA compliance. A clearance survey acts on that information by physically clearing the footprint immediately ahead of construction. One does not replace the other.

Western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) turns up on project after project across the Desert Southwest, and on many federal projects it is also a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sensitive species. If your footprint sits in California, Nevada, or Arizona, plan to answer three questions early: is there suitable habitat, are owls present, and what has to happen before the ground is disturbed?

Field work looks about the same in all three states. The compliance path does not. California is far more involved than Nevada or Arizona, and that gap can reshape a schedule and a biological budget. This guide walks through the shared field work first, then breaks down requirements state by state so you can plan and budget with confidence.

This three-part series walks a project from first look to final grading. Part 1 (this article) covers presence/absence surveys, the pre-project step that answers whether tortoises use your site.

Is your project in the Mojave desert tortoise range? If your project sits within the range of the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), a pre-project survey is very likely part of your path to approval, and it needs to happen before any grading, access work, or other ground disturbance begins. The USFWS defines the Mojave population as the tortoises north and west of the Colorado River in California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

Desert Shield’s most recent Avian Identification & Monitoring Techniques Workshop had a different feel from the earlier trainings.

For the June 6–7, 2026 Montane Edition, participants headed to Kyle Canyon in Mt. Charleston, Nevada, for two days focused on bird sounds, nesting behavior, and learning how to follow clues in the field.

After the success of Desert Shield’s first Avian Field Identification & Monitoring Techniques workshop, it was clear there was a real need for more hands-on biological training in the Southwest.

In April, Desert Shield Environmental Professionals and Alex Harper of Nature in Mind expanded the program with two additional workshops held April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 27, 2026. These workshops gave participants ample time in the field, repetition with bird identification, and lots of practice connecting what they saw to biological monitoring work.

In December 2025, Desert Shield Environmental Professionals hosted its first-ever Introduction to Avian Field Identification & Monitoring Techniques workshop in Las Vegas, Nevada.

It began with a simple idea to create meaningful training opportunities that could help veterans build new careers in environmental compliance, biological monitoring, and field biology.