For Members of the Nature Conservancy in Arizona
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IELD F NOTES FOR MEMBERS OF THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN ARIZONA INSIDE New life for bighorn sheep Student nature photo contest winners SPRING 2017 Field Notes: Spring 2017 | 1 Turning Conflict into Opportunity Dear Friends, We honor our partners — other conservation organizations, agencies, There are times and issues where communities, farmers and ranchers, conflict seems inevitable. Lately that and more. Their work often goes seems more the rule than exception. unseen because it lacks the drama Other times we marvel at what can get and conflict that makes news. Yet done working together. they and we are moved by knowing At first glance the articles in this issue we are contributing to something of Field Notes might appear to be a much bigger. collection of stories about nature: Our many volunteers also serve bighorn sheep, birds, rivers and as partners enabling us to do so forests. Within many of them there much more. Many of them work IELD is also the story of conflict turned F N OTES at our preserves and one of those, into opportunity. Published by Hassayampa River Preserve, is The Nature Conservancy Do we shoot more mountain lions changing hands to another partner. in Arizona, for our members or create more bighorn habitat? Do After 30 years under our care, and friends. we limit development or invest in Hassayampa, after a carefully solutions that keep our rivers flowing? planned transition, will be managed Field Notes welcomes Do we criticize the Forest Service for by Maricopa County Parks and comments and questions. the slow pace of forest thinning or serve as an important gateway to Please send to editor, Tana work to create systems that are more the 71,000-acre Vulture Mountains Kappel, at [email protected] or flexible, responsive and efficient? Recreation Area. It was a tough 520-547-3432. decision, like watching a child grow Turning conflict into opportunity Visit nature.org/arizona up and leave home. We thank those requires trust — that you will be heard, volunteers who have served at the respected and valued. Reasonable nature.org.arizona preserve for many years, and those people see the same situation and who will continue to volunteer there. @nature_arizona come to entirely different conclusions. It begins with being curious about the I hope you are inspired by the articles @nature_arizona other’s point of view and seeking areas in this issue. You make them possible of common ground to build upon. through your continued support. Please share these stories with others. Copyright 2017 When it works, we turn potential We hope they will be inspired as well. The Nature Conservancy adversaries into partners. Boy, do we need partners. No one has all the Sincerely, answers, all the resources or the time to solve these big challenges alone. COVER IMAGE Segoe lilies and Patrick Graham, State Director hedgehog cactus in bloom © Paul Gill THIS PAGE Pat Graham © Mark Skalny OPPOSITE PAGE Map © iStockPhoto.com 2 | Field Notes: Spring 2017 Turning Conflict into Opportunity OUR MEMBERS BY THE NUMBERS Colorado River Kingman Flagsta Colorado River Sedona Prescott Camp Kingman FlagstaVerde Verde River Verde Sedona Show Low Salt River Prescott Camp Hassayampa River Verde Verde River Verde Colorado River Phoenix nature.org.arizona Show Low Gila River Salt River @nature_arizona Yuma Gila River Hassayampa River @nature_arizona Colorado River Phoenix Santa Cruz River Gila River San Pedro River Yuma Gila River Santa Cruz River TucsonSan Pedro River Number of Members 1-50 Tucson Sierra 51-100 Vista Total Members 23,374 Bisbee SierraNogales 101-200 In Arizona: 23,012 Vista Bisbee 201-500 Out of state: 362 Nogales 501-2000 Legacy Club (TNC is in their estate plans): 1,257 2001-6000 Silverleaf Society (25+ years of membership): 2,875 Field Notes: Spring 2017 | 3 New Life for Bighorn Sheep The gates opened, cameras clicked and 11 desert bighorn sheep jumped to freedom. Within seconds, they had vanished into the rocky, saguaro-studded slopes of the Galiuro Mountains in southern Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness. s they sped away into the Conservancy’s Aravaipa Canyon the Galiuro Mountain complex, which wild desert landscape, I Preserve. Upon release, they bounded is the wildest, most remote area of thought, “Sorry guys for into bighorn nirvana, up the craggy, Arizona outside of the Grand Canyon. the disruption, but you’re 1,000-foot-tall slopes of the canyon. gonna love this place.” The Apaches named this place Aravaipa, Saving desert which means Land of Laughing These sheep were captured last fall in A Waters, because of the shimmering bighorns the Silver Bell Mountains northwest of stream that flows year-round through Capture and relocation are stressful Tucson. The day after their capture, the 10-mile-long canyon. for the animals, but necessary for they were trucked 130 miles to the their long-term survival. Without Meanwhile, an additional 20 bighorns relocation efforts to balance and from the Silver Bells were driven to new support the surviving herds, desert homes in the southern Galiuros — about bighorn populations will likely 25 miles south of continue to decline. Aravaipa — to Redfield Canyon Desert bighorns, like their cousins the in the Muleshoe larger Rocky Mountain bighorns, have Ranch Cooperative been on the decline over the last Management Area. century due to human development, competition with livestock for food Both groups of and water, and exposure to livestock bighorns are parasites and diseases. intended to augment the two Approximately 1.5 million to 2 million existing herds in bighorn sheep lived in North America at the beginning of the 19th century. Now they live on only 4 percent of their historical ranges. Today the overall population of bighorn sheep is about 25,000, with desert bighorn sheep numbering around 4,000, mostly in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts of California and Arizona. 4 | Field Notes: Spring 2017 Arizona’s Silver Bell Mountains – where One of the main keys to bighorn the relocated sheep came from — are survival is their ability to move to food a relatively small, isolated mountain and water without sacrificing security. range with a large number of sheep for The Nature Conservancy noted fire’s its size — about 175. Reducing this herd beneficial effects in the mid-90s, size will help reduce stress and disease when it collaborated with public potential, says the Conservancy’s Ron land managers on a large-landscape Day, who spent many years with the fire plan that has led to natural and Arizona Game and Fish Department controlled burns. working with large mammals. After a controlled burn on the Aravaipa On the other hand, the two existing Canyon rim in 2015, bighorns were bighorn herds in the much larger immediately attracted to the fresh Galiuro Mountain complex are small grass shoots of the newly burned areas. (an estimated 125 sheep), having What happens In 2016, the Conservancy and partners declined over the last century due to burned 22,000 acres on the Muleshoe next with the habitat degradation and livestock Ranch as part of a long-term plan conflicts. Without new genes, these relocated to burn 137,000 acres over the next bighorn herds would become inbred. bighorns? nine years. They’ll explore, looking for water, food and protection. And of course, they’ll keep a watchful eye out for predators. Muleshoe preserve manager, Ron Day, says the sheep from the transplant have been staying close to where they were released. “That indicates high quality habitat and probably means they are lambing,” he says. “They are tucked into spots and spending a lot of time in one location.” GPS monitors have indicated only one sheep death since the transplant; it This relocation is meant to augment These burns have not only helped was killed and eaten by a mountain these populations and enhance their bighorns, but many other wildlife lion, part of the natural cycle of life. genetic diversity. species, including native fish. Fires The good news, says Day, is that “we’re stimulate the growth of grass which getting data and learning what areas Fire for life provides shady overhangs and reduces they like to be in.” soil runoff into the streams. The Conservancy’s efforts to For a sheep, there’s a lot to like in the protect this landscape over the last All this burning could help re-unite Muleshoe’s red canyon walls and the four decades bode well for the the two populations of bighorns in the Land of Laughing Waters. bighorns. But just as important for Galiuros. GPS-enabled collars put on — Tana Kappel bighorn survival is fire. Regular fires some of the relocated sheep will help on the landscape keep shrubs at scientists track this process and bay – important for bighorns. They should provide clues on where more like open terrain where they can see burning would be advantageous. predators such as mountain lions. OPPOSITE PAGE Bighorn Sheep © iStockPhoto.com THIS PAGE LEFT TO RIGHT Desert bighorn sheep at the Muleshoe Ranch CMA © Stefen Doucette/TNC; A desert bighorn ewe is released into the Aravaipa Wilderness © Tana Kappel/TNC Field Notes: Spring 2017 | 5 The San Pedro River A Formula That Works fforts to replenish groundwater near the San Pedro River are working. Groundwater levels are rising near two recharge facilities along the river in southern Arizona’s Cochise County. The two facilities are storing water in the ground that would otherwise have been lost, thanks to the efforts of Ethe Cochise Conservation and Recharge Network. Given the success of these efforts, the network is planning two additional recharge projects. “Instead of losing the extra runoff that is generated in developed areas, or losing treated wastewater to The formula: evaporation, Cochise County and Sierra Vista are 1 billion gallons of recharging almost 1 billion gallons of water back into water captured the aquifer each year,” said Holly Richter, water projects + director of The Nature Conservancy.