Call to Order
Minutes from the August 21st Meeting
Minutes for the August 21, 2000 STAT meeting were approved by
the STAT with one correction of a typographic error in the first
sentence of the second paragraph under "Decision-Support
Model subcommittee."
News from other elements of the SDCP
Bill Shaw and Maeveen Behan have had active correspondence with
the Ranch Conservation Technical Advisory Team (i.e., attending
meetings and making brief presentations).
A "Scoping Meeting" for the Environmental Impact Statement for the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan will be held by Pima County on October 4, 2000. The meeting will be held at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum at two different times, one from 3:00 - 5:00 P.M. and another from 6:00 - 8:00 P.M. The same information will be provided during each time period. The purpose of this meeting is only for soliciting public input into the development of the EIS; no decisions will be made as a result of this meeting. Public inputs will be presented in a scoping report.
RECON and Maeveen Behan met with Coronado National Forest to discuss land management issues.
The Ranch Conservation Technical Advisory Team (RCTAT) is scheduling a field trip to the Empire-Cienega area for Friday, September 29, 2000. All STAT members are welcome to attend. Julia Fonseca will provide details by E-mail as they become available.
Pima County has completed a draft "Preliminary Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan," which provides a summary of what has occurred to date regarding all of the elements in the plan. This draft will be presented to the Pima County Board of Supervisors during a study session on September 26, 2000. Pima County will provide copies of the report to the STAT.
Gary Nabhan has moved from the Tucson area, and will no longer be a member of the STAT. Bill Shaw suggested to invite Tom Van Devender, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, to replace Gary. Comments regarding this replacement should be addressed to Bill Shaw.
Julia Fonseca introduced Don Ward, Pima County Flood Control
District, who will take over the responsibilities of preparing
the minutes to the STAT meetings and providing notifications to
the meetings. Also introduced was Lauren Harvey, Pima County Parks
and Recreation, who will be working on the SDCP.
Review RECON Schedule
RECON distributed a two-page, detailed schedule and a one page
summary schedule of future meetings and deliverables for the SDCP.
Another schedule was distributed, showing RECON's completed tasks
and suggested review focus for the STAT up to June 2001.
Regarding STAT's review of deliverables from RECON, Bill Shaw suggested that workshops should be scheduled. RECON reports should be red- flagged as much as possible to focus the STAT's efforts. RECON will provide highlight sheets to help guide the STAT during the scheduled workshops.
Expert Review of Priority Vulnerable Species
Packages were sent out to the 27 species experts who volunteered
their time to review priority vulnerable species information from
RECON/SWCA. The packages consisted of species accounts and distribution
maps tailored to each reviewer's field of expertise. So far, 22
of the reviewers have responded, with most of the comments pertaining
to the habitat analysis report. E. Linwood Smith and URS Corporation
have nearly completed red-lining the habitat analysis report based
on these comments. Reviews for the data compilation report (species
accounts) are due by September 22nd.
Biology of Effluent Dominated Waters
URS Corporation, in cooperation with Pima County Wastewater Management,
is performing a study on water quality of effluent discharges
along the Santa Cruz River in Pima County. This study is the result
of a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to look at
water quality standards for discharging effluent in the arid west.
The Pima County site is one of seven areas in the arid western
states within the scope of the study.
Current work involves characterizing habitats downstream of effluent discharges and looking at how the aquatic biota compares with areas upstream of the discharges. Characteristics studied include stream geomorphology, hydrology and biology. The study also involves characterizing the banks of the channel, to determine the effects on communities surrounding the stream. Project completion is scheduled for mid-January, at which time a paper will be submitted to a scientific journal.
Julia Fonseca brought up a question of how this study will affect the allocation of effluent for the SDCP. E. Linwood Smith believes that it will help justify the use of effluent for wildlife enhancement projects. Dr. Smith said a new habitat for water quality standards rule-making might be created.
Species Goals
Dr. Robert Steidl has been working on developing criteria to formulate
species goals for the SDCP. The criteria includes the following
characteristics:
- broad habitat tolerances versus limited habitat tolerances
- large range versus small range
- large body size versus small body size
- rarity of the species (global status versus status in Pima County)
Bill Shaw suggested that a document be developed to list and briefly
describe this criteria.
Riparian Vegetation Mapping Update
Lisa Harris displayed a representative copy of the riparian habitat
maps and explained what has been done so far. A handout was distributed
that displays the vegetation codes for the mapping.
The Harris Environmental Group will begin making field visits on September 20th to check some of the areas where data is known and discern areas where there is uncertainty. A copy of the field form was distributed to STAT for their review. Field observations will be placed on these forms, and the sites field checked will be placed into the database as points on the maps. STAT members should contact Russell Duncan if they have any comments on the field forms.
Harris Environmental Group and the riparian mapping subcommittee scheduled a workshop for October 16, 2000 to review the updated mapping based on the field work performed in September and early October. Other people familiar with riparian communities in Pima County and the Sonoran Desert region will be invited to attend this workshop.
A draft of the GIS database will be released to RECON on October 31, 2000.
Habitat Suitability Analysis
John Regan displayed some examples of the Geographic Information
Systems coverage for the conservation targets selected by the
STAT for the Decision Support Model. The coverages were displayed
to help show the challenges of developing criteria for measuring
suitability of habitat for each species based on current information.
John reviewed mapping information that has been developed for the Pima pineapple cactus and other targets. Areas should probably be masked out where there is no data, little data, or where the species does not occur. A suggestion was made to have the subcommittees focus on the validity of existing map covers and determine if they need improvement or if improvement is possible.
Sherry Ruther will obtain a more recent Bighorn Sheep coverage than is currently available to the county. Robert Steidl will evaluate the suitability of having Desert Bighorn as a conservation target in the Decision Support Model when that coverage is available.
A question was asked about the progress for two other conservation targets selected: Sacaton and Kit fox. Mima Falk said that information for sacaton has not been looked at yet. Natasha Kline is head of the subcommittee looking at Kit fox, and had no comment on the progress for this conservation target.
Review of Vegetation Mapping Scope of Work
A three-page handout containing recommendations for developing
a GIS data layer on vegetation and other land cover was provided
to the STAT in the package for this meeting. Leslie Smith suggested
using orthophotos and 1-meter satellite imagery for interpreting
this information. Pima County will superimpose upland vegetation
maps onto these two sources and provide the results to STAT at
the next meeting.
Adaptive Management Planning and Monitoring
Neva Connolly is currently updating and expanding the information
base on management of reserves in Pima County. Lori Woods has
been meeting with representatives from different agencies responsible
for the preserves to determine what is being managed. A handout
was distributed to STAT, outlining the adaptive management plan
recommendations for the SDCP. Any comments on these recommendations
should be directed to Paul Fromer or Lori Woods.
Exotic Species Report
A call was made to the STAT for any comments on the exotic species
report from RECON/SWCA. Sherry Ruther provided some supplemental
information from the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum for this effort.
A comment was made to address human translocation of exotic species
in the report.
Riparian Element Report
A copy of the riparian element report was distributed to STAT
and members of the consulting team. Julia Fonseca indicated two
sections of the report (Pages 30 and 37) that STAT should review
and provide additional input. The one section lists guidelines
for restoration of riparian areas (provided by Dr. Julie Stromberg)
and the other discusses measures to consider in light of missing
information..
Announcement
Sherry Barrett distributed a paper by Dr. Tom Scott on "Selection
and Design of Multi-Species Habitat Preserves."
Next meeting date
STAT Members Present:
William Shaw School of Renewable Natural Resources, University
of Arizona
Steve Prchal Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute
Mima Falk U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Sherry Ruther Arizona Game and Fish Department
Cecil Schwalbe U. S. G. S. School of Renewable Natural Resources,
University of Arizona
Natasha Kline Saguaro National Park
Robert Steidl School of Renewable Natural Resources, University
of Arizona
Doug Duncan U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Tucson)
Staff:
Julia Fonseca Pima County Flood Control District
David Scalero Pima County Flood Control District
Neva Connolly Pima County Flood Control District
Don Ward Pima County Flood Control District
Others:
Sherry Barrett U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
John Regan Pima County Technical Services (GIS)
Gail Kobetich Department of the Interior
Lori Woods RECON Environmental, Inc.
Paul Fromer RECON Environmental, Inc.
Leslie Smith RECON Environmental, Inc.
Ken Kingsley SWCA
E. Linwood Smith URS Corporation
Lisa Harris Harris Environmental Group
Jen Wennerlund URS - Dames and Moore
Russel Duncan R. B. Duncan and Associates
Nathan Sayre Arizona State Museum; Ranch Conservation Technical
Advisory Team
Trevor Hare Tucson Herpetological Society
Christina McVie Desert Watch
Lauren Harvey Pima County Parks and Recreation
Dennis Rule City of Tucson
Carl D. Jones Ranch Conservation Technical Advisory Team
Marc Fink Pima County Planning
Dale Turner USGS-BRD
Karen Sierra Pima County WWM/WQRP
Paul Bennett Pima County Wastewater Management
Kathleen Chavez Pima County Wastewater Management