Desert tortoise #634, a 30 to 40 year-old female, was found while searching for juvenile tortoises in the Tonto National Forest. Arizona Game and Fish Turtles Project Coordinator Cristina Jones and Wildlife Specialist Audrey Jones are conducting the desert tortoise survey. One of the greatest risks to desert species is fragmented habitat, when cities, canals, fences, freeways, even a dirt road in the forest chop up landscape that once let indigenous species roam freely in search of the sparse food and water sources. "There are eight times as many road miles in national forests as on the interstate freeway system," said Matt Skroch, executive director of the Arizona Wilderness Coalition. "A lot of them might be dirt, but just a de-vegetated strip can act as a barrier."