Present: Mette Brogden, Tom Chilton, Mac Donaldson, Carl Jones, Elsa Pesqueira, Dan Robinett, George Ruyle, Nathan Sayre, Tom Sheridan, Maeveen Behan, Linda Mayro, John Regan

Call to Order & Introductions: The meeting was called to order by Linda Mayro. Following this, there was a brief introduction of all present. Linda explained that Pima County staff are working on the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, which will address six key conservation elements that include ranch conservation, historic and cultural preservation, riparian restoration, mountain parks and preserves, habitat and environmental corridor conservation, and critical and sensitive habitat. She will be staffing two technical committees for ranch conservation and historic preservation. The purpose of this expert committee is to provide guidance to the steering committee and decision makers as we go through the process of identifying sensitive lands and areas for conservation purposes. Ranch land conservation is one of the critical variables.

The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan & Subarea Plans

Linda Mayro introduced Maeveen Behan who oversees the development of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. Maeveen gave a detailed report on how the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan came about, its timeline, who is involved, compliance with the Endangered Species Act, and the goals of the plan to provide the basis for a comprehensive land use plan that considers conservation of the six critical environmental and cultural elements. Maeveen distributed copies of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Concept Plan and the map Watershed Planning Units of Pima County. The conservation plan came about as a result of a Board of Supervisors study session in May of 1998, regarding issues pertaining to the pygmy owl and compliance with the Endangered Species Act under a Section 10 permit, which balances conservation, other land use, and economic interests. In December 1998, Department of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt came to Tucson and signed a Resolution with the Board of Supervisors formalizing the agreement to pursue a Section 10 permit. Interior will provide support for the Pima County Plan, including both funding and expert personnel.

Maeveen further explained the structure for development of the plan that involves both a Steering Committee, comprised of some 89 members representing various interests and 21 government agencies, and technical advisory teams for Science, Ranch Conservation, Cultural and Historical Resources, and Law and Economics. These teams will compile data relevant to their interests, which will be used to characterize Pima County and the watershed planning units. These reports will describe what is currently known about each watershed and inform the Steering Committee and general public about various land and resource issues relevant to their communities. Continuing studies are anticipated. A major status report on the progress of the SDCP will be issued in August, 2000.

Ranch Conservation Technical Report

Linda will prepare a descriptive technical report on Ranching in Pima County, and will circulate a draft outline to members of the advisory team. The outline will be "broad-brush" at this point becoming more specific as they get into the subarea plans. It is anticipated that additional studies and data will be collected and analyzed after the draft and general technical report is produced. Linda will try to get this out to team members as soon as possible, and requested team member input and assistance in defining data sources and contributing to the report. She reiterated that this is a "base-line" report that will characterize ranching in Pima County from a general perspective. From this general report, more specific data will be collected from each of the big valley systems. Each valley has a ranching history and tradition that is unique that has brought ranching to its current state today.

Maeveen added that all these reports are broad studies and status reports and are drafts and it is hoped the expert committees will improve on them. Tom Sheridan asked if there was funding to gather additional information. Maeveen responded yes, that the County will know fairly soon how much federal money is allocated and when it will be available.

4 Overview of GIS "Covers" and Data Gathering for the SDCP

John Regan , Pima County GIS, made this presentation. He began by handing out a report, State of the Pima County Department of Transportation Technical Services Geographic Information System (GIS), April 14, 1999. This is a computerized system that provides geographically referenced information. Usually, it is in the form of a map, but statistical manipulations are also possible. His department has developed some 178 data layers over the last 8-9 years. The GIS data are accessible through ARC-Info and mapped elements are linked with attribute data.. John emphasized that GIS is supporting the technical teams and technical reports, and the GIS resource is available to the Ranch Technical Team.

Ranch Technical Advisory Team and Draft Mission Statement

Linda passed out a draft statement and would like input for the next meeting now that the team has heard an overview of the goals of the SDCP and the role of the Ranch Technical Team. Tom stated that he felt it was important to get the mission statement out so that ranching members could take it to the ranching community.

Next Meeting & Agenda

The next meeting was set for Wednesday, September 15, 1999 at 3:00PM at the Arizona State Museum. Agenda items include finalizing the mission statement and reviewing the outline for the technical report. Linda would finalize other items for the agenda with Tom.

Announcements

No additional announcements were made.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00PM.