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Tucson Audubon Society Conservation
Priorities discussed at first statewide Audubon Celebration Five conservation priorities were identified as follows: Water: Three chapters emphasized water issues. One was the need to change Arizona water legislation which fails to recognize that groundwater is linked to surface water flows, and that groundwater pumping can reduce surface flows and harm riparian habitat. A related issue was the need for counties and municipalities to require water budgeting before approving new developments. Urban Sprawl: Many expressed a need for legislation to control sprawl and make developments better “fit the land.” Counties and municipalities too often change or waive development codes to suit developers rather than create an environmentally-sensitive plan for growth. NEPA/ESA: This relates to a proposed land swap to privatize National Forest land near Superior, placing it in the hands of Resolution Copper Company in exchange for other environmentally-sensitive lands. One effect would likely be Resolution’s ability to circumvent the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) review that would be mandated if the lands remained public. There are also threats to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Not only is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service currently proposing removal of the Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl from the Endangered Species List, but there is also a movement in Congress to promote legislation to gut the ESA. Fossil Creek: There is a need for a baseline bird study, ongoing monitoring, and a visitation management plan at Fossil Creek where the Arizona Public Service Company has recently decommissioned a hydroelectric dam. As the area opens to nature enthusiasts, wildlife documentation and visitor management plans are needed. State Trust Lands: A proposed State Trust Land reform 2006 ballot initiative would protect 694,000 acres of State Trust lands from development (none are protected now). It would create an oversight board for the conservation lands, removing control from the political appointee currently in charge of State Trust Land sales. Eight percent of trust land sales proceeds would go into a fund to manage trust conservation lands. While this package is less comprehensive than earlier ones, many consider it to be a reasonable beginning with a chance of being passed by voters. Attendees ranked their top four choice priorities: State Trust Lands 163; Water Issues 115; NEPA/ESA 78; Urban Sprawl 71; and Fossil Creek 49. These issues, and their ranking, will be used by the Arizona Audubon Council to drive conservation work in the coming year.Sonoran
Desert Conservation Plan, Countdown to Completion
Successes So Far! What’s Left to Do In the meantime, we will continue to work with the County as they review and permit ongoing development activities, update current ordinances to be consistent with the plan, and develop management and monitoring plans for conserved lands. How You Can Help 2. Support the Coalition’s work. The Coalition has been successful so far only because of the support from our member groups and the community at large. Our policy work and our expanded public outreach over the upcoming months will be crucial to the plan’s success. Please visit our website at www.sonorandesert.org to find out how you can help. 3. Provide comments when the final draft is released. Like the Open Space Bond, the Coalition’s efforts can only go so far. When the draft is released, the County will again need concerned folks like you to remind them of the community support behind efforts to conserve our desert home. Completion of the SDCP will be our last and best opportunity to shape how growth and conservation will occur for up to the next 50 years—please help ensure that Pima County’s future will be a good one!Proposed Bridge over Sabino Creek This part of Sabino Creek, with its wide riparian floodplain, has been recognized as Important Riparian Area by Pima County and as an Important Bird Area by the Important Bird Areas Program. Several species of birds and other animals that environmentalists are concerned about are found there. A Snyder Road Bridge would bring heavy traffic to the area, vastly increasing wildlife roadkills, degrading habitat through noise pollution, and degrading viewsheds. No study has addressed the potential for disturbance of vegetation or the water table. Our region has lost 95% of this kind of streamside habitat, and Tucson Audubon has consistently expressed to planners the need to respect what remains. This effort has recently met with some success. The RTA voted on August 1 to exclude the bridge from the Regional Transportation Plan. They said that given traffic level estimates, the bridge would be four lanes and the price tag would be in the $80–100 million range. Bridge proponents, the RTA concluded, had not made a convincing case. The bridge issue will remain alive as proponents lobby the Pima County Board of Supervisors to build the bridge anyway. Tucson Audubon will continue to educate planners and the public about the critically scarce riparian resources that would be affected detrimentally by such a move. Your Help Needed to Save Arctic Refuge! After 25 years of fighting, our last best chance to protect the refuge will be in the House of Representatives on a vote in September. All Audubon chapters and members around the country will be using this opportunity to weigh in with their members of Congress and fight at this critical time for one of the most pristine places left in America! Critically important targets in the House of Representatives include: Bradley (NH), Ehlers (MI), Frelinghuysen (NJ), Ferguson (NJ), Smith (NJ), LoBiondo (NJ), Gilchrest (MD), Kelly (NY), Kennedy (MN), Kirk (IL), Gerlach (PA), Reichert (WA), Schwarz (MI), Ramstad (MN), Castle (DE), Bass (NH), Boehlert (NY), Johnson (IL), Shays (CT), Simmons (CT), Johnson (CT), Leach (IA), Saxton (NJ), Fitzpatrick (PA), Walsh (NY), Bartlett (MD), and Inglis (SC). Even if your lawmaker is not represented above, please make a point to call, write or e-mail your elected officials today! Every member of Congress will be voting on this measure and, right now, it is too close to call. Log on to Audubon’s special “Protect the Arctic” website—accessed via www.audubon.org—or contact Desiree Groves in Audubon’s public policy office in Washington, DC at 202-861-2242, ext. 3038 (dgroves@audubon.org) to find out more about how you can help!Rosemont "Copper Mine"? Historically, opposition from local groups, the Forest Service, and other entities proved influential in halting the plans of companies such as Anaconda and Asarco to mine Rosemont’s copper. Remember the "Save the Scenic Santa Ritas" campaign? In early June, 2005, Augusta Resource Corp., a Vancouver, British Columbia-based mining-exploration firm, announced that it had agreed to buy the 2,760 acres known as Rosemont Ranch for $20.8 million from local developer Triangle Ventures LLC. Triangle Ventures bought the property less than a year ago from Tucson-based mining company Asarco Inc. for $4.8 million. Don Diamond’s son-in-law, Yoram Levy, one of Triangle’s partners, said he would have preferred to sell Rosemont to the county, so it could preserve the area, and had offered the land at $11.5 million, a $6.7 million profit. Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan (SDCP) Update The MSHCP Implementation Agreement Committee continues to meet to explore mechanisms to fully implement the SDCP and delineate the terms of the Section 10 permit contract between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and unincorporated Pima County. Options currently under consideration include mechanism(s) to provide assured funding (a legal requirement for issuance of the permit) for adaptive management and monitoring of lands preserved in perpetuity for conservation of their biological resources—this could include the establishment and endowment of a charitable, tax-deductible, 501(C)3 foundation; the establishment of a management and monitoring fee schedule; and the establishment of mitigation standards and ratios for future impacts to the Conservation Lands System (CLS). On June 21, 2005, the county Board of Supervisors will meet to discuss adoption of revised Regional Plan Policies regarding clarification of CLS categories and set-asides. Pima County revised its Comprehensive Plan in 2002 in conformance with the growing smarter legislation adopted by the State of Arizona to govern growth, another essential step in implementing the SDCP. Requiem for a Pygmy-Owl Loss of 95% of riparian habitats in southern Arizona during the 20th century has contributed to the decline of this species. Recently, sprawling development has degraded occupied owl habitat in the old-growth ironwood/saguaro upland desert habitat of the Tortolita fan on the northwest side. The owl was listed as a federally endangered species in 1997, producing some hope that critical habitat would be designated, and that development would be regulated to protect the owl and support its recovery. Currently, the listing is in question after a lawsuit by a coalition of home builders associations that yielded a ruling requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to review, and potentially revise, the scientific data supporting the listing. Ivory-billed Woodpecker Found Alive The search team’s findings were published by the journal Science on its Science Express Web site on April 28, 2005. The findings include multiple sightings of the elusive woodpecker and frame-by-frame analyses of brief video footage. Experts made a total of 15 sightings between February 2004 and February 2005. Additional information can be found at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website, www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory, and the National Audubon website, at www.audubon.org/news/press_releases/IvoryBilledAnnouncement.html. Tucson Audubon helped celebrate the rediscovery at the University of Arizona Art Museum on June 12 at the opening of an exhibit of John James Audubon prints, which includes his painting of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers. The exhibit of 53 elephant folio prints, printed in London in 1858 by Havell and Son, will run through August 7, 2005. For more information on the museum’s exhibit, see its website at http://artmuseum.arizona.edu, or call 621-7567. Roadkill Recently, Natasha Kline reassessed these calculations and reports that the numbers are, indeed, much higher. According to Tony Davis’s recent piece in the Arizona Daily Star, Kline now says that over 50,000 vertebrates are killed every year on these roads. More comprehensive regional planning can address many of the causes of wildlife mortality related to infrastructure and transportation impacts. A few improvements have already happened, such as a joint Pima County and National Park culvert project for wildlife crossing Sandario Road. The Regional Transportation Authority’s 20-year plan, which may be on the May 2006 ballot, might include as much as $10 million to make roads safer for both humans and wildlife. This would require that voters approve a half-cent sales tax increase. For more information on regional transportation planning, check future issues of the Vermilion Flycatcher and go to the Pima Association of Governments website, at www.pagnet.org. Tice Supplee Named Arizona "Conservationist
of the Year" by Arizona Wildlife Federation Tice, recently named Director of Bird Conservation for Audubon Arizona, had a 30-year career with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, during which she served as Game Branch Supervisor and received the Commendation of Excellence. She received a Masters Degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Arizona. Tice is a life member of the Arizona Elk Society, and is on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Antelope Foundation. The Thomas E. McCullough Memorial Award is the most prestigious award given by the Arizona Wildlife Federation (AWF). It is presented annually at the AWF Convention banquet to two people: one to the "Outstanding Conservationist of the Year" in the professional category and one in the non-professional category. For more information on the Arizona Wildlife Federation and the Thomas McCullough Memorial Award, visit www.azwildlife.org/index.htm.
Bird questions? Check Birding | General questions? Contact: Tucson Audubon Society | Webmaster: Email This page was updated on 12/28/05 |
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