Related CDFW Links

• Hunting Program
• Wildlife Investigations Lab
• Conservation Planning Program
• California Endangered Species Act
• Environmental Review and Species Take Permits

Survey and Monitoring Protocols and Guidelines

The protocols and guidelines available here are from various sources and are recommended as tested and reviewed methods for their intended purposes. These purposes include determining the presence or support for a negative finding for a particular species or its local status. In some cases, these protocols and guidelines represent what the Department believes to be the best available methodology for the intended purpose.

Plants

• Protocols for Surveying and Evaluating Impacts to Special Status Native Plant Populations and Natural Communities (Dept. of Fish and Game, 11/2009)
• Guidelines for Conducting and Reporting Botanical Inventories for Federally Listed, Proposed and Candidate Plants (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 1/2000)

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Invertebrates

• Survey Protocol For Aquatic Mollusk Species: Preliminary Inventory & Presence/Absence Sampling (Bureau of Land Management, 7/2008)
• Interim Survey Guidelines for the Morro Shoulderband Snail (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 6/2003)
• Conservation Guidelines for the Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 7/1999)
• Interim Survey Guidelines to Permittees for Recovery Permits under Section 10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species Act for the Listed Vernal Pool Branchiopods (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 4/1996)
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Vernal Pool Data Sheet - Wet Season Survey - Form
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Vernal Pool Data Sheet - Dry Season Survey - Form

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Amphibians

• Fieldwork Code of Practice (The Declining Amphibian Task Force)
• Survey Protocol for the Arroyo Toad (US Fish & Wildlife Service)
• Revised Guidance on Site Assessment and Field Surveys for the California Red-legged Frog California Red-legged Frogs (US Fish & Wildlife Service, August 2005)
• Interim Guidance on Site Assessment and Field Surveys for Determining Presence or a Negative Finding of the California Tiger Salamander (US Fish & Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Game, 10/2003)
• Generalized Range Map of the California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) (California Department of Fish and Game and US Fish & Wildlife Service, 10/2003)
• Potential Range of the Sonoma County California Tiger Salamander (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 10/2003)
• Survey Protocol for the Del Norte Salamander (US Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management)
• Sampling Procedures for Determining Presence or Absence of the Santa Cruz long-toed Salamander (Dept. of Fish and Game, US Fish & Wildlife Service, 5/1993)
• Survey Protocol for the Shasta Salamander (US Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management)
• Survey Protocol for the Siskiyou Mountains Salamander (US Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management)

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Reptiles

• August 2011 Survey Protocol for the Barefoot Banded Gecko (California Department of Fish and Game, 2011).
• May 2004 updated version of the Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard Survey Protocol (California Department of Fish and Game, 2004).
• Field Survey Protocol for any Federal Action that May Occur within the Range of the Desert Tortoise (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 1/1992)

• Giant Garter Snake:

  • Replacement and Restoration Guidelines (US Fish & Wildlife Service)
  • Items Necessary for Formal Consultation (US Fish & Wildlife Service)
  • Avoidance & Minimization Measures During Construction (US Fish & Wildlife Service)
  • Information to Include in a Monitoring Report (US Fish & Wildlife Service)

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Birds

• Staff Report Regarding Mitigation for Impacts to Swainson's Hawks (Buteo swainsoni) in the Central Valley of California (California Department of Fish & Wildlife, 1994)
• USFWS Interim Golden Eagle Inventory and Monitoring Protocols; and Other Recommendations (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2010)
• Swainson's Hawk Survey Protocols, Impact Avoidance, and Minimization Measures for Renewable Energy Projects in the Antelope Valley of Los Angeles and Kern Counties, California (California Energy Commission and Department of Fish and Wildlife, June 2, 2010)
• Protocol for Evaluating Bald Eagle Habitat and Populations in California (Garcia and Associates & PG&E, 2004)
• Bald Eagle Nesting Territory Survey Form and Instructions (Dept. of Fish and Game, 2010)
• Staff Report on Burrowing Owl Mitigation (Dept. of Fish and Game, March 7, 2012)
• Staff Report on Burrowing Owl Mitigation (Dept. of Fish and Game, 10/1995)
• Burrowing Owl Survey Protocol and Mitigation Guidelines (The California Burrowing Owl Consortium, 1993)
• Coastal California Gnatcatcher Presence/Absence Survey Guidelines (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2/1997)
• Great Gray Owl Survey Status and Evaluation of Guidelines for the Northwest Forest Plan (US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, 6/1997)
• Survey Protocol for the Great Gray Owl in the Sierra Nevada of California (US Forest Service, 5/2000)
• Least Bell's Vireo Survey Guidelines (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 1/2001)
• Methods for Surveying Marbled Murrelets in Forests: A Revised Protocol of Land Management and Research (Pacific Seabird Group, 1/2003)
• Southwestern Willow Flycatcher Protocol Revision 2000 (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2000)
• Protocol for Surveying Proposed Management Activities that May Impact Northern Spotted Owls (PDF) (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2011)
• Recommended Timing and Methodology for Swainson's Hawk Nesting Surveys in California’s Central Valley (Swainson’s Hawk Tech. Advis. Comm., 5/2000)
• A Willow Flycatcher Survey Protocol for California (HL Bombay et al., 5/2003)

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Mammals

• Survey Protocol for the Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 4/1996)
• San Joaquin Kit Fox Survey Protocol for the Northern Range (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 6/1999)
• Standardized Recommendations for Protection of the San Joaquin Kit Fox Prior to or During Ground Disturbance (Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office, US Fish & Wildlife Service, 6/1999)
• San Joaquin Kit Fox Habitat Evaluation Forms (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 6/2001)

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Monitoring

• Monitoring Program. US Geological Survey.
• Handbook of Field Methods for Monitoring Landbirds. US Forest Service.
• Photo Point MonitoringHandbook. US Forest Service.

Other Protocols and Federal Consultation Direction

• Guidelines & Survey Protocols. Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office, US Fish & Wildlife Service.
• Survey Protocols. Ventura Fish & Wildlife Office, US Fish & Wildlife Service.