72 TUCSON LIFESTYLE / April 2020 TucsonLifestyle.com last call for the

he fading daylight and steady drizzle make it hard to see the Native Southwest plants hole in the trunk of the mesquite tree that we have been watch- and animals are rapidly ing for the last half hour in hope of hearing or seeing the owl disappearing from our we believe will come out for the evening. My husband Ben and wild?I are in northwest Tucson, having spent the day on this site area of the state. Jennifer taggingt saguaro and barrel cacti, mesquite, palo verde, and ironwood Patton, a local landscape trees as part of a native plant inventory, required prior to the site being architect, and her husband graded for a proposed residential development. During the day we startled a large covey of Gambel’s quail, observed a red-tailed hawk and business partner constructing her nest in a multi-armed saguaro, flushed a pair of great Ben Wilder investigate horned owls from an immense and ancient foothills palo verde tree, the reasons why, and and surprised a small flock of reclusive black-throated sparrows. And toward the end of the day, as we were tying a red flag around the what can be done to stop branch of a mesquite slated for removal, we noticed movement inside a the extinction. cavity of the tree. Something feathered and gray, watching us. We have never seen a cactus ferruginous pygmy owl in the wild (few have, as this species is rapidly diminishing in Southern Arizona due to habitat loss). But we know we are in prime pygmy owl habitat — the parcel we are inventorying, 40 acres or so, is undisturbed and thick By Jennifer Patton and Ben Wilder with ironwood and saguaro — key habitat for the bird. It could be a Photography by Ed Flores (except where noted) pygmy owl. With the aid of a game camera and several visits back to the site, the mystery bird revealed itself as a ladder-backed wood- pecker. A year later, while doing research for this article, we realize that the site we were on is right in the middle of the 1990s battleground of the pygmy owl versus development. At that time, roughly 20 owls made their home in Northwest Tucson. Today — none. Another victory for development. Another loss for diversity.

TucsonLifestyle.com April 2020 / TUCSON LIFESTYLE 73 What is Species Loss? Extinction is the disappearance of a species from the planet. The ivory billed woodpecker, the western black rhino and the passenger pigeon are well-known examples of animal species that were driven to extinc- tion. In Southern Arizona, the jaguar and ocelot, both endangered species, have headlined recent news stories, as shrinking habitat and loss of connectivity threaten to extirpate these species from Arizona, and heighten the eventual likelihood of their extinction. These majestic cats capture our attention more than numerous other species in our region facing similar fates, includ- ing six species of chub fish (Sonoran, Gila, bonytail, Yaqui, humpback, Virgin River), desert pupfish, the Sonora tiger salamander, the Chiricahua leopard frog, and the south- western willow flycatcher. Gaining even less coverage than amphibians are hundreds of insect and plant species disappearing before many of us have ever noticed them. Extirpation is extinction on a local scale. A species once common in an area is no longer found there, although populations still exist in other areas. The pygmy owl is an example of local extinction. Once common in Southern Arizona, and recently (1990s) in Northwest Tucson, the owl is now found only in Mexico. When the desert is bladed for development, the animals living there must find somewhere else to go, and as the human footprint increases, there is more frequently becoming no “other place.” In addition to the loss of local population, the remaining species as a whole suffers, as there is less genetic diversity and less resil- ience to further loss in numbers. Extinction follows on the heels of extirpation. Cactus wrens, phainopepla, black- throated sparrow, black-tailed gnatcatcher, flicker — once common birds in Tucson — are seeing declines from 30 to 80 percent since the 1960s. Even the verdin, a small energetic bird that is a mainstay of urban areas, is declining. The National Audubon Society attributes this to the loss of habitat and insufficient native vegetation, as well as the corresponding drop in insects that the birds depend on for food. The Main Culprits Species loss is typically due to a conflu- ence of factors. Shrinking and splintered habitat, water depletion, invasive species, pollution, overhunting – each is like an axe blow to the trunk of the biome. Enough blows, and eventually the tree is felled. ”For many species there is more than one threat,” observes Randy Serraglio, Southwest Conservation Advocate with

74 TUCSON LIFESTYLE / April 2020 TucsonLifestyle.com “It’s when you pile on one threat and another and another, and a species habitat gets fragmented into increasingly smaller pieces. — Randy Serraglio

the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s more of the planet into our service. At some when you pile on one threat and another and point, unless we have sci-fi type technology another, and a species habitat gets fragment- breakthroughs, we will have to command ed into increasingly smaller pieces. Then the entire planet to service our collective this little population winks out, and that hunger and wants. Imagine a planet with us, little population winks out, and all you’ve our pets, our domestic livestock, our food got left is one small group and it’s extremely crops, and not much else. vulnerable to single localized events. The At 7.28 million people today, Arizona is resilience is gone and the genetic diver- the 14th largest state by population and the sity suffers. They’re less able to deal with 7th fastest growing state by either percent or stresses. It’s a scientific domino effect once number. It is estimated that new construction things start getting carved up like that. It’s a devours 10 square miles of desert every year. slippery slope to extinction.” Along with land, humans gulp up water. The current world population is 7.8 billion The year-round flow of the Santa Cruz people, increasing by roughly 83 million River, once flanked by cottonwoods and people each year (227,000 people per day). willow, dried up by the late 1800s. As Every person born demands a chunk of the groundwater pumping increases to keep up planet to supply it with food, water, space, with human demand, the water table drops and an ever-improving standard of living. — falling several hundred feet in the last 50 The demands tax the planet’s resources and years. Humans deepen wells and pump in stress the other species with which we share water in response. Plants and animals can- the planet. not. Instead, they take up residence in more Human expansion leading to extinction is favorable habitat or disappear. not a new problem. With each technological The desert bighorn sheep, with herds revolution the human population expands. once ranging throughout the Southwest, Technology may reduce our per capita eco- is emblematic of the struggle that species footprint, but it also enables us to press ever face with increasing human population.

Left: Randy Serraglio, Southwest Conservation Advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity Above: The jaguar known as “El Jefe” (The Boss or Chief), who has been spotted numerous times in Southeastern Arizona. Photo courtesy of Conservation CATalyst/Center for Biological Diversity Right: Desert Bighorn Sheep, a species that has been reintroduced in our region.

TucsonLifestyle.com April 2020 / TUCSON LIFESTYLE 75 Bighorns historically roamed between southern-facing slopes, or the expanses of mountain ranges, trekking through the Santa wildflowers after sufficient fall rains. We are Catalina, Tortolita, Rincon, and Tucson in awe of the resilience of the trees, shrubs, Mountains. They move to find mates, water, and cacti that flourish on only 12 inches of food and to avoid predation. Genetic mixing rainfall per year, and we enjoy in the intoxi- between smaller populations makes for a cating fragrance of creosote and bursage healthy gene pool. But as human population after a monsoon rain. Why is it then, that increases, areas of suitable habitat become people eradicate the desert plants that flour- Plant Migration smaller and more fragmented. Roadways, ish around their home, replacing them with walls, population centers, the CAP canal, plants from the Mediterranean, Asia, South Can you picture a throng of saguaros, slowly but steadily making even solar fields have created barriers lead- America, and other continents? Our lust for their way south? It is not something ing to isolated populations. exotics comes with a high price to the birds we typically think of, but just like In areas that bighorn remain (often and animals that depend on native plants for humans and wildlife, plants migrate through re-introduction), fire suppression food and cover. in response to climatic factors such degrades habitat. Underbrush thrives, hin- Take a guess at what percentage of vegeta- as shifting water availability and dering movement and blocking sightlines to tion cover in urban Tucson is native. Only 10 temperature. Over the last 2.6 mil- predators. On top of this, humans hike, bike, percent, believe it or not. The showy birds of lion years (the Quaternary geologic and bring their dogs into these remaining paradise and mounds of yellow lantana that period), there have been 50 or so “natural” areas. Without ample room to meet are staples in developed landscapes origi- glaciation cycles in which continental their basic needs, and no way to move to nate in Central and South America. People ice sheets blanketed Canada and the northern U.S. We are currently living other areas, these small, in-bred populations are drawn to the bright flowers and long- in one of those relatively warm and are easily wiped out with the onset of once lasting blooms, ignorant or uncaring of the relatively brief inter-glacial periods survivable drought or disease. fact that these plants have little value for our that began around 12,000 years People travel to Tucson and marvel native wildlife (nectar-seekers visit the flow- ago. It is only during these brief inter- at the stands of saguaros massed on ers, but the plants do not support the larvae glacial periods, 10 percent of time, that the Tucson desert looks like the desert we know, with cacti and thorny shrubs and trees. The other 90 percent of the time, the Tucson basin is populated with pinyon pine, Take a guess at what percentage of juniper, shrub live oak and associated cool-season shrubs — plants that favor the cooler ice sheet climate vegetation cover in urban Tucson is native. with its changed rainfall regime. Where does our frost-sensitive Only 10 percent, believe it or not. desert go? South and west, and to lower elevations. Thanks to packrats and the preserved biological artifacts in their middens, we know a bit of the timeline of this plant migration. As the northern ice sheets and our local pinyon-juniper-oak woodland retreated 12,000 years ago, the desert began its return march north, from where it had been biding its time in the warmer southern regions. Saguaros and brittlebush arrived first after 1,000 years. Two thousand years later the desert scrub arrived. Last to return, 7,500 years after the end of the glaciation, were the legume trees (ironwood and foothills palo verde) and organ pipe cactus, completing the plant community that we recognize today. How do plants move? Some seeds are spread by wind, others sprout where they fall, and many plants rely on animals to carry their seed. Seed may get caught in the fur of a coyote, or be ingested and carried by a bird, deposited far from its origin. The survival of plants and animals are intertwined, and the Sweetwater Preserve, a picturesque ability to move freely and adapt to 880-acre Pima County Natural changing environments is critical. Preserve and Trails Park.

76 TUCSON LIFESTYLE / April 2020 TucsonLifestyle.com plant that becomes invasive here is not one of the last still relatively wild places in invasive in its place of origin. Introduced Southern Arizona and beyond into Mexico. plants often lack predators that keep them No matter how you cut it, or what your in check in their home range. In their new politics, the border wall will limit movement environment, they may exhibit characteris- of plants, animals, and natural drainage in tics such as early flowering, abundant seed addition to people; the mine will open a huge production, and rapid vegetative growth that hole in the ground and bury a canyon; and catapult them to the top. the Villages will add 100,000 new residents Native animal species are highly cor- to the Benson area. All three will have seri- related to native vegetation. The presence ous implications for the water table, native of thorny desert scrub plants such as desert vegetation and wildlife. hackberry and catclaw acacia is associated At a height of up to 30 feet, bollards with the presence of ash-throated flycatch- tightly spaced and supported with massive ers, Gambel’s quail, northern cardinals, and footings reported to be up to 3 feet wide and verdins. Desert scrub plants provide great 10 feet deep, the border wall is a formidable foraging (they host a variety of insects), barrier. With longer ladders and deeper protection (due to thorns and density) and tunnels, humans will assuredly breach the nesting sites. Every non-native plant takes wall, but wildlife and native flora likely the place of a native that could be provid- will not. With the wall comes a 60-foot ing food and habitat. Retention of native cleared no-man’s land on either side. Lit up wildlife species requires retention of native and frequented by border patrol vehicles, Pima County’s Cienega Creek Natural vegetation – it is that simple. the lights, noise, and absence of vegetative Preserve. Photo courtesy of Pima County cover are a kind of barrier. In addition to Natural Resources Parks & Recreation Barriers to Survival the roads along the wall, border patrol has Pull up Google Earth and look at the blazed a network of roads and trails through landscape between Arizona and Mexico. the desert, including through Organ Pipe of the pollinators). Fountain grass, produced This land, in the heart of the Sonoran Desert, National Monument. Disturbed soils, roads in a multitude of varieties by the nursery is a tapestry of mountain ranges flowing and vehicle tires are conduits for invasive industry in response to consumer demand, between Tucson and Hermosillo. These species, bringing another environmental now choke nearly every watershed in the Madrean “Sky Islands” provide an incred- threat to this embattled area. valley. African sumac, a tree popular due to ible diversity of elevation and species. Serraglio explains that the wall is a bar- its lack of thorns and evergreen appearance, American biologist/naturalist/author E.O. rier for more species than we might think. clogs our washes, displacing native riparian Wilson lists the Madrean Archipelago as The ferruginous pygmy owl, still surviving and xeroriparian plants. one of the “best places in the biosphere.” in these borderlands after being extirpated Non-native species also are introduced Conservation International calls it a “biodi- from urban Tucson, is unlikely to breach a for erosion control and animal forage. versity hotspot.” wall of this height. Pygmy owls tend to fly Buffelgrass — now wreaking havoc with This area also is becoming a “last-stand” low to the ground. They, like many other our Sonoran Desert ecosystem and carry- for numerous environmental issues. The birds, also prefer areas with vegetative cover ing fire into areas that are not fire-adapted border wall, the Rosemont Mine, and the that allow them to hide. The question is not (saguaro cacti do not recover from burn- proposed Villages at Vigneto are hotly con- whether they could fly over the wall, but ing) — was introduced by the U.S. Soil tested in part because they are threatening whether they would. The wall will likely Conservation Service in the 1930s. Due to its drought tolerance, high seed production, and ability to withstand heavy grazing, it was determined to be a perfect candidate to hold soil in place and feed a growing cattle population. What could possibly go wrong? Carianne Campbell, The American Bullfrog was stocked in our owner of Strategic Habitat watercourses for sport hunting through the Enhancements, is a restora- early 1980s. Today, the bullfrog eats its way tion specialist, working in through native populations of fish, frogs, wild and urban landscapes turtles and gartersnakes. Non-native fish in the Southwestern U.S. and Northwestern Mexico. that have been stocked in our lakes wreak She has been involved with havoc on our native amphibian species. Save projects of vastly different the bees? It is the hundreds of species of scales and notes that, “It is native bees we need to save. The introduced possible to make a difference European honeybee consumes enormous for native plants and wildlife amounts of pollen and nectar, leaving that in small urban spaces. These much less food for native insect, bat and bird areas — especially when pollinators. To boot, the European honey- linked together — can provide bees are less effective pollinators of our a refuge for many native native plants – so they take the pollen, but species even when wildlands are suffering.” don’t do the plant any reproductive favors. Why don’t our native species successfully compete with invasives? An introduced

TucsonLifestyle.com April 2020 / TUCSON LIFESTYLE 77 The only way to reduce the need for copper mines is to reduce the demand for It is obvious the Rosemont site is fragile copper. And that gets back to the numbers of humans on the planet. For those of us and deserves protection. But what about who enjoy modern conveniences, it might be time for us to step up and know our cop- per mine. It is obvious the Rosemont site is all the other mine sites in Arizona, the fragile and deserves protection. But what about all the other mine sites in Arizona, the U.S., and other countries? U.S., and other countries? Sprawling across 13,000 acres of undis- turbed grasslands between the Whetstone Mountains and the San Pedro River, The further divide the owl population, creating Villages at Vigneto promises to bring 28,000 Copper and Renewable smaller sub-populations that are more sus- homes, 100,000 new residents (almost ceptible to extinction. doubling the current population of Cochise Energy Sources People use a lot of copper. Copper is County), five golf courses, and retail and Since 1900, human consumption essential for making and powering the commercial centers over the next 20 years. of copper has risen times 50. Copper multitude of devices we can’t live without. Vigneto sits one valley east of the pro- plays a ubiquitous role in our stan- Copper deposits are finicky, their loca- posed Rosemont Mine. The San Pedro dard of living: energy, transportation tions pre-determined and not necessarily River, dubbed “the last free-flowing river and electronics. As the rest of the in locations advantageous for extraction. in the Desert Southwest” meanders to the developing world aspires to the same standard, copper use will increase. In the case of Rosemont, the concentrated development’s east. The river’s flow has copper deposit is in the heart of the already been reduced over the last 100 years due to besieged, ground-water-thirsty Cienega the influx of humans and resulting increased Creek Watershed. The mine would cover well drilling and groundwater pumping. 4,400 acres, and include an open pit 3,000 Today, stretches of the San Pedro only flow feet deep and more than a mile wide. The intermittently, in response to rainfall. The footprint includes roughly 2900 acres of average depth of a well drilled today is 150 piled waste rock and tailings placed at the feet deeper than a well drilled 50 years ago. headwaters of Davidson Canyon, which Many of the endangered and threatened Copper Facts: flows into Cienega Creek. species described earlier in this article exist World copper mine production Water use at Rosemont is estimated to in the San Pedro River basin area, dependent in 2018 was 20.6 million tonnes be 5,000 acre-feet per year. The mine will on the stretches of perennial water. Like (metric tons). pump groundwater to meet this demand. the mine, the Villages pit those trying to To offset the extraction of groundwater, preserve the state of the terrain against Raw copper consumption in the U.S. in 2018 was 1.8 million tonnes. CAP water is being banked and proposed those who preach the benefit of economic to be piped and pumped to recharge basins development, new jobs, better schools, and Arizona is a copper state; 66 percent within the Cienega Creek watershed to ways to keep local kids from leaving Benson (0.8 million tonnes) of the annual offset the demand. after graduating. U.S. copper production is mined in Arizona. There are 12 copper mines currently active in the state, and nine new mines are slated for production. The view toward the site of the Rosemont Mine Over its 19-year life, Rosemont is with the Santa Ritas in expected to produce 1.9 million the background. tonnes of copper, or enough to build 9.5 million single family homes, or about six years of homebuilding in the U.S. at today’s rates. To convert the non-renewable based portion of the U.S. power grid to solar, ignoring the additional resource requirements of battery storage, would require 5.5 million tonnes of copper. To convert the non-renewable based portion of the U.S. power grid to wind, ignoring the battery requirement, would require 3.9 million tonnes of copper. To swap all internal combustion passenger vehicles in the U.S. with electric ones would require 21.5 million tonnes of copper.

78 TUCSON LIFESTYLE / April 2020 TucsonLifestyle.com Carolyn Campbell at the Sweetwater Preserve.

the Coalition’s stance has been to focus development in less environmentally sensitive areas rather than protest it all together.

Just how much water would 100,000 new details how economic activities such as residents use? A typical four-person house- mining, development, and agriculture can hold uses about one-third of an acre-foot, or go hand-in-hand with the conservation of around 108,000 gallons of water per year. For species. Rosenzweig states that, ”Right now, the estimated residents at the Villages, this our footprint is too big. Going barefoot is not adds up to 8,286 acre feet per year (house- the answer but the time has come to trade in hold water use only), or approximately 65 our jackboots for the grace and elegance of percent more than the Rosemont Mine would ballet slippers.” use in each one of its 19 years of operation. What Wilson and Rosenzweig are saying is that we cannot take wildlife for granted. Nurturing the Wild Human impact, while always large, has Most people — even miners and develop- become so enormous that the rest of nature is ers, and regardless of political party — love forced out at every turn. It isn’t some distant the wilderness. We are part of nature, and rain forest that is threatened, it is our home there is something about the bleating call here in the desert. of the spadefoot toad during the summer Carolyn Campbell is the Executive monsoon, the knowledge that jaguars still Director and founding member of the A mule deer crosses Oracle Road on the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, Wildlife Bridge. Photo courtesy of Arizona roam the mountains, and the ability to gaze Game and Fish Department out at a desert horizon, unbroken by houses an alliance of 30 conservation and neigh- or humans, that thrills us. borhood groups working to preserve con- So how do we reconcile meeting our nectivity between mountain ranges, along human needs with preservation of sufficient watercourses, and through urban areas. construction of an overpass on State Route habitat to keep the wild wild? Ecologists In the spirit of “win-win,” the Coalition’s 86 near Kitt Peak to accommodate bighorn and conservationists have been discussing stance has been to focus development sheep movement, and the championing of this concept for decades. Wilson, a biolo- in less environmentally sensitive areas the 2004 open space bond that allowed for gist, author, and passionate proponent of the rather than protest it all together. When the protection of more than 200,000 acres of preservation of biodiversity, proposes Half- I ask how she stays optimistic in light of open space. Earth — the setting aside of “half the land the habitat loss that is occurring, she lists “Well that’s the only way I can keep going and sea to safeguard the bulk of biodiversity, the many positive impacts made with the because there have been so many victories,” including ourselves.” support of the Coalition. These include the Campbell says. “Sometimes I think of it as Michael Rosenzweig, ecologist and for- construction of the first wildlife overpass you have to get really high when you have a mer Director of Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, in the Sonoran Desert, crossing over Oracle success and you can’t get too low when you authored “Win-Win Ecology” in which he Road in Northwest Tucson, the upcoming have a little defeat.” TL

TucsonLifestyle.com April 2020 / TUCSON LIFESTYLE 79