INSIDE: Tumacacori Highlands: threats and · PDF fileFall 2003 Sky Island Alliance 1 Newsletter of the Sky Island Alliance Vol. 6 Issue 3 Fall 2003 Peck Canyon, Tumacacori Highlands

Fall 2003 Sky Island Alliance 1

Newsletter of the Sky Island Alliance Vol. 6 Issue 3 Fall 2003

Peck Canyon, Tumacacori Highlands roadless area; powerline proposed to bisect this roadless area

INSIDE: Tumacacori Highlands: threats and opportunitiesplus... �After the fire �Fall outings � Sky Island events

2 Sky Island Alliance Fall 2003

SSSSS TTTTT A F FA F FA F FA F FA F F

David HodgesDavid HodgesDavid HodgesDavid HodgesDavid HodgesExecutive [email protected]

Matt SkrochMatt SkrochMatt SkrochMatt SkrochMatt SkrochField Program [email protected]

Acasia BerryAcasia BerryAcasia BerryAcasia BerryAcasia BerryProgram [email protected]

TTTTTrrrrrevor Harevor Harevor Harevor Harevor HareeeeeConservation [email protected]

Cory JonesCory JonesCory JonesCory JonesCory JonesGIS [email protected]

Janice PrzybylJanice PrzybylJanice PrzybylJanice PrzybylJanice PrzybylWildlife Monitoring [email protected]

CarCarCarCarCaroline “Froline “Froline “Froline “Froline “Frog” Tog” Tog” Tog” Tog” TinkerinkerinkerinkerinkerEvents [email protected]

Jennifer WJennifer WJennifer WJennifer WJennifer WolfsongolfsongolfsongolfsongolfsongLegal [email protected]

Lenny AlvaradoLenny AlvaradoLenny AlvaradoLenny AlvaradoLenny AlvaradoLegal Intern

[email protected]

Jennifer KatcherJennifer KatcherJennifer KatcherJennifer KatcherJennifer [email protected]

Lisa LabitaLisa LabitaLisa LabitaLisa LabitaLisa LabitaConservation Biology [email protected]

Board of DirectorsBoard of DirectorsBoard of DirectorsBoard of DirectorsBoard of DirectorsRod Mondt, PresidentRandall Gray, Vice PresidentNancy Zierenberg, SecretaryDale Turner, TreasurerGita BodnerCurtis BradleyPaul HirtLainie LevickRurik ListCarlos Lopez GonzalezSteve MarlattTodd Schulke

Seeking SIA newsletter submissions:Seeking SIA newsletter submissions:Seeking SIA newsletter submissions:Seeking SIA newsletter submissions:Seeking SIA newsletter submissions:Send us your poetry, your words of wisdom, your art!We want to keep this newsletter filled with inspirational, informative material, and we’d like your help! Do you write

poetry? Draw, sketch, paint, or photograph? Like to address regional conservation issues? Review books or websites?Anything that relates to the Sky Islands region is fair game! You can respond to items in our recent newsletter, comment onyour experiences as a volunteer or conference-goer, etc. Also, let us know if you’d like to be a regular contributor, e.g. with acolumn each issue. The deadline for our next newsletter is November 10, 2003. Material submitted after that date may besaved for subsequent issues. Please email submissions to [email protected], or mail them to Sky Island Alli-ance attn: Gita, P.O. Box 41165, Tucson, AZ 85717. Resolution of digital images should be at least 300 dpi if possible, but wecan work with some lower resolution images. Miss our restaurant reviews? Thank’s because no one sent us any! C’mon, folks,you know there are some great eats out there. Give your favorite small town restaurant a boost by letting us promote it!

Many Thanks toMany Thanks toMany Thanks toMany Thanks toMany Thanks to

Our Contributors!Our Contributors!Our Contributors!Our Contributors!Our Contributors!

Ellie Kurtz, Marshal Magruder,and Maggie Milinovitch, concernedcitizens against the powerlines;Bob VanDeven, photographer andwriter extraordinaire; Joe Cicero,SIA volunteer entomologist;Suzanne L. Collins, Center forNorth American Herpetology inLawrence KS; Sally Gall, assistantmanager of Buenos Aires NWR;Sky Jacobs, self-trained naturalistand artist; Albert Lannon, SIAtracker; Paul Mirocha, naturalistand professional artist; DennisPepe, owner of the excelent GreenFire Bookshop in Tucson, AZ;Mary Scott, local webmaster andphotographer (see more of herphotos at Birdingamerica.com);Lyn Wilson, Arizona League ofConservation Voters; and, ofcourse, the SIA staff.

Protecting

Our Mountain Islands

& Desert Seas

Gita Bodner andDug Schoellkopf, editors

News le t te rNews le t te rNews le t te rNews le t te rNews le t te r

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsTable of ContentsTable of ContentsTable of Contents

Sky IslandAlliance

520/624-7080 • fax 520/[email protected]

P.O. B ox 41165Tucson, AZ 85717

Office:Historic YWCA

738 N. 5th Avenue, Suite 201

Sky Island Alliance is a non-profitmembership organization dedicated torestoring and protecting the uniquediversity of the Sky Islands of South-eastern Arizona, Southwestern New

Mexico, and Northern Mexico.

Thumb Butte, Tumacacori Highlands

photo by Bob V

anDeven

Rambling Rants from the Director’s Desk.........................................3Rambling Rants from the Director’s Desk.........................................3Rambling Rants from the Director’s Desk.........................................3Rambling Rants from the Director’s Desk.........................................3Rambling Rants from the Director’s Desk.........................................3

On Wilderness..................................................................................................3On Wilderness..................................................................................................3On Wilderness..................................................................................................3On Wilderness..................................................................................................3On Wilderness..................................................................................................3

A Monumental Threat to Sky Island Wildlands.........................4A Monumental Threat to Sky Island Wildlands.........................4A Monumental Threat to Sky Island Wildlands.........................4A Monumental Threat to Sky Island Wildlands.........................4A Monumental Threat to Sky Island Wildlands.........................4

Protected Area Profile: Arivaca Cienega..........................................6Protected Area Profile: Arivaca Cienega..........................................6Protected Area Profile: Arivaca Cienega..........................................6Protected Area Profile: Arivaca Cienega..........................................6Protected Area Profile: Arivaca Cienega..........................................6

Canyon Perspective.........................................................................................7Canyon Perspective.........................................................................................7Canyon Perspective.........................................................................................7Canyon Perspective.........................................................................................7Canyon Perspective.........................................................................................7

After the Fires...................................................................................................8After the Fires...................................................................................................8After the Fires...................................................................................................8After the Fires...................................................................................................8After the Fires...................................................................................................8

Fabulous Fireflies............................................................................................10Fabulous Fireflies............................................................................................10Fabulous Fireflies............................................................................................10Fabulous Fireflies............................................................................................10Fabulous Fireflies............................................................................................10

Arizona Conservation Alliance Summit............................................10Arizona Conservation Alliance Summit............................................10Arizona Conservation Alliance Summit............................................10Arizona Conservation Alliance Summit............................................10Arizona Conservation Alliance Summit............................................10

Wild News...........................................................................................................11Wild News...........................................................................................................11Wild News...........................................................................................................11Wild News...........................................................................................................11Wild News...........................................................................................................11

Road Rattlings.................................................................................................12Road Rattlings.................................................................................................12Road Rattlings.................................................................................................12Road Rattlings.................................................................................................12Road Rattlings.................................................................................................12

Poetry.....................................................................................................................13Poetry.....................................................................................................................13Poetry.....................................................................................................................13Poetry.....................................................................................................................13Poetry.....................................................................................................................13

Book Notes: Michael Logan’s Book Notes: Michael Logan’s Book Notes: Michael Logan’s Book Notes: Michael Logan’s Book Notes: Michael Logan’s The Lessening StreamThe Lessening StreamThe Lessening StreamThe Lessening StreamThe Lessening Stream...............14...............14...............14...............14...............14

Tumacacori Highlands Map and Profile..........................................16Tumacacori Highlands Map and Profile..........................................16Tumacacori Highlands Map and Profile..........................................16Tumacacori Highlands Map and Profile..........................................16Tumacacori Highlands Map and Profile..........................................16

Front cover: Peck Canyon, Tumacacori Mountains, photo by Matt Scroch.The power pole shown is from the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (seepage four), one of two types proposed for this line that would either cross(western route) or run right down the middle of this canyon (crossover route).

Back cover: sunset over Atascosa Peak and Lookout Peak, photo by BobVanDeven. Powerline (western route) would cut straight across theforeground of this image.

Eratum: Yes, we goofed. Last issue’s cover shot was labeled as Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch. In fact, it was taken nearby on Fort Huachuca.Both sites have active prescribed fire programs.

Welcome back on the board to oneof SIA’s founding members, environ-mental historian Paul Hirt. Paulworked on the 1984 NationalForest Wilderness Act and the firstCoronado National Forest Plans, co-founded the Coalition for the Pres-ervation of Mt. Graham, and hasworked on many other campaignson public land, grazing, mining, wa-ter, and urban spraw issuesl. He isnow a professor of History andAmerican Studies at WashingtonState University, and author of anumber of books and articles includ-ing A Conspiracy Of Optimism:Management Of The National For-ests Since World War II. Paul andwife Linda live in Pullman, WA, butreturn frequently to their “realhome” in the Chiricahuas, whereSIA had its founding gathering wayback in 1991.• Roseanne Hanson has bowed outof board responsibilities, and wethank her roundly for her years ofservice!• Rachel Kondor has seized the op-portunity to reform WashingtonD.C., taking a position as congress-man Raul Grijalva’s cheif environ-mental aid. Go Rachel! Go Rachel!

Comings and goingsComings and goingsComings and goingsComings and goingsComings and goings


You ever get that feeling? You knowthe one I’m talking about, the one thatmakes you scratch your head in puzzle-ment and tear out your hair. Well, I’ve beenstruck by that feeling a lot lately–so muchso that I’m becoming a sorehead. Whatwith gutting environmental laws and regu-lations in order to save the environmentand cutting down all the trees to save theforest, I’m afraid if Bush gets re-elected,I’ll be bald by 2008!

One of the dumbest ideas that I’veheard in a long time is this roadless areapowerline proposal being advanced byTucson Electric Power (TEP). If approvedit would run for 30 miles through the heartof the Tumacacori Highlands, which, atalmost 85,000 acres, is the largest unpro-tected roadless area in Arizona. The High-lands consist of the Tumacacori, Atascosa,and Pajarito Mountains, as well as Sy-camore Canyon (a proposed and eligibleWild and Scenic River). Prior to the rein-troduction of the Mexican gray wolf, theArizona Game and Fish Department con-ducted a study of four potential releaseareas, one of which contained theTumacacori Highlands region. This area wasfound to have the best prey base for thewolf, and overall the area was rated a closesecond for reintroduction, behind the BlueRange Primitive area. This is also the areawhere a jaguar was photographed recently.Sky Island Alliance and others have longproposed the Tumacacori Highlands for for-mal, legislative protection under the Wil-derness Act. TEP’s proposal threatens this

What were they thinking?protective designation and the long-termhealth of this special area.

Recently, in the Arizona Daily Star, aspokesperson from TEP stated thispowerline would have no negative impacton the environment and the issue is simplyone of aesthetics. Several things bother meabout this nonsensical statement. One, theyfail to recognize the disruption to wildlife,as well as habitat fragmentation caused byroad construction. Federally listed speciesthat would be impacted by this powerlineinclude the jaguar, Chiricahua leopard frog,lesser long-nosed bat, Mexican gray wolf,Mexican spotted owl, cactus ferruginouspygmy-owl, Gila topminnow, Pima pine-apple cactus, Sonora chub, and the south-western willow flycatcher, as well as an-other 74 special status species.74 special status species.74 special status species.74 special status species.74 special status species.

My other problem with TEP’s state-ment is their failure to recognize the im-portance of aesthetics. People such as youand I, visit our public lands for many rea-sons and one of the most important of theseis the opportunity to get away from thecraziness of everyday life in the city. I amreminded of the writer Greta Ehrlich’s, “TheSolace of Open Spaces,” and the importanceof having places to “get away” to. We havea preponderance of areas in the Sky Islandswhere we can look at powerlines, roads,cars, houses and all the trappings of “civili-zation,” but we have very few places thatserve as a refuge when we just need to getaway. The Tumacacori Highlands is one ofthese rapidly disappearing places and mustbe preserved as such.

We need your help in stopping thispowerline. If we are going to retain ourrights to clean air and water, protect ourpublic lands, defend imperiled species, andretain our ability to participate in land usedecisions, it will be because of private citi-zens such as you. Those of us that careabout healthy landscapes must make ourvoices heard. We are asking you to takethe time today to write two letters, one tothe Department of Energy and the other tothe Forest Service. Many people underes-timate the effectiveness of this, but whenland management agencies and/or politiciansreceive letters (and lots of them), it doesinitiate change. On page 4, you will find“Monumental Threat to Sky Island Wild-lands.” This article contains information onhow to comment as well as talking points tomention in your letters; please feel free toplagiarize. We continue to successfully fightBush’s plans to eliminate your right to partici-pate in land use decisions–please take a fewminutes today and exercise that right.

We hope you enjoyed this and previ-ous editions of Restoring Connections. Notonly does it celebrate this region throughart, photography, poetry, food and book re-views, recipes, etc., but also contains timelynews on issues affecting those who care aboutour Sky Islands. We assume a considerableexpense producing this newsletter and needyour help to defray the costs.

If you are currently one of the many

On Wilderness Protection

Appreciation of wilderness is not a parti-san political position. Wilderness designa-tions are supported by a large, diverse ma-jority of Americans regardless of their po-litical affiliations. The original WildernessAct was passed by Richard Nixon’s admin-istration, passed the House of Representa-tives by a vote of 370 to 0, and has beenchampioned by Republicans and Democratsalike since then.

Friends of the Tumacacori Highlands--acoalition of landowners, conservation or-ganizations, and other concerned individu-als--is spearheading the citizen-driven effortto designate wilderness here. Working to-gether, we can suceed in giving this amaz-ing place the proactive, permanent protec-tion it deserves.

For more information on this campaignand how you can help, check outwww.tumacacoriwild.org or [email protected].–Gita Bodner, editor

One of the most frustrating aspects ofconservation work is the sense that we’realways putting out brush fires, alwaysfighting defensive battles, always hustlingto make sure this awful scheme or thatdestructive plan does not come to pass.Wouldn’t it be nice if we could work forsomething big instead of against an endlessline of smaller bad things? After winninga battle, wouldn’t it be nice if we could restassured that we wouln’t have to turnaround and fight the same battle again one,ten, or fifty years down the road?

Congress passed the Wilderness Act in1964 precisely for this reason, to perma-nently protect wild areas through the upsand downs of political cycles. Formalwilderness protection remains one of themost powerful tools in the conservationtoolbox. Wilderness areas must be desig-nated by an act of Congress. Once congresshas spoken on behalf of such places, theirprotection remains solid.

Back in the 1970s, public land managerswere directed by Congress to inventory allthe National Forest roadless areas in ananalysis called “RARE II” (roadless areareview and evaluation). The TumacacoriHighlands were one of 20 such areas iden-

tified on the Coronado National Forest.Seven received formal wilderness protec-tion; the rest were left hanging. Sky Is-land Alliance began re-inventorying theseremaining unprotected roadless areas in1998, starting with the Tumacacori High-lands, to promote and plan for wildernessdesignation for these neglected places.

There are many misconceptions aboutwhat wilderness designation actually doesand does not do.

Wilderness protection from Congress:Wilderness protection from Congress:Wilderness protection from Congress:Wilderness protection from Congress:Wilderness protection from Congress:•Prohibits entry of motorized vehicles;

ensures that backcountry users have a placeto go where they will not be bombardedwith the motors and wheels and generators;

•Does allow motorized rescues in emer-gency situations;

•Prohibits building of permanent structures(e.g., dams, powerlines, mines, buildings);

•Enables hunters who are willing to hikeor horse-pack to find game that is not killedor scared off by hunters on ATV’s and trucks;

•Provides refuges for many animals andplants that need large wild areas to survive,or are easily harmed by human activities;

•Makes it possible for more people toenjoy an area without damaging what they

dues paying members of Sky Island Alliance,THANK YOU. Your support allows us todo the important work needed to save spe-cial places. You can stop reading now, go topage 4, and begin writing your letters.

If you do notdo notdo notdo notdo not financially support SIA,please start today. Unfortunately, we canno longer continue to underwrite the costof this newsletter. If you enjoy our news-letter, believe in the work we do, and be-lieve that healthy landscapes in the SkyIslands are important for our future, pleasebecome a member. If you believe in thesethings and cannot afford a subscription atthis time, write or call us (520/624/7080)to let us know, and we will leave you onour mailing list. Otherwise, this may beyour last issue. Subscription info is on page15. You can also pay by credit card on ourwebsite, www.skyislandalliance.org.–David Hodges

came to enjoy. A single ATV rider who stayson roads might cause the same damage tosoils, plants, and animals as 20 people on foot;a single ATV rider off roads causes more dam-age than hundreds of people on foot;

•Makes it possible for more people toenjoy an area without disturbing each other.Hikers, birdwatchers, and horseback rid-ers can use the same area without disturb-ing one another; enter one ATV or othermotorized user, and the experience ischanged for everyone else.

WWWWWilderilderilderilderilderness designation DOES NOTness designation DOES NOTness designation DOES NOTness designation DOES NOTness designation DOES NOT:::::•Affect cattle grazing leases on public land.

It does not kick cattle off the land, nor does itlock in current grazing levels; grazing leasesare negotiated in an entirely separate process.

•Lock people out of the land; in fact, mostwilderness boundaries are designed to leavein place current access points, “cherry-stem-ming” around existing roads and camp-grounds. Anyone who wants to walk orpack in from these access point is welcome;

•Bring throngs of people flocking to seea place just because now it’s labeled on themap as Wilderness Area. Remote areas tendto stay remote. Wilderness areas with heavyvisitation would likely have even more visi-

tors —with a lot more impacts— if they didnot have wilderness protections.


Readers have two immediate opportuni-ties to influence key decision makers. TheDepartment of Energy (DOE) is solicitingcomments on this proposal. The ForestService would have to amend their Land andResource Management Plan to allow thisproject, and is simultaneously acceptingcomments on aspects that affect NationalForest land. This double-headed process mayseem redundant, but DOE and ForestService decisions work independently.DOE’s task is to determine whether a Presi-dential Permit is appropriate–which wouldgive TEP permission to build this specific linethrough the US into Mexico. The ForestService’s task is to determine whetherputting the powerline in the TumacacoriMountains is appropriate, and whether thepowerlines impacts would be too great tojustify granting a special use permit andforest plan amendment. If DOE and ForestService decisions are at odds with each other,TEP’s proposal would not be able to pro-ceed. Please take the time to write Please take the time to write Please take the time to write Please take the time to write Please take the time to write bothbothbothbothboththe DOE and the Forest Service by Oc-the DOE and the Forest Service by Oc-the DOE and the Forest Service by Oc-the DOE and the Forest Service by Oc-the DOE and the Forest Service by Oc-tober 14th.tober 14th.tober 14th.tober 14th.tober 14th. Talking points for each areshown below. The citizen-produced websitewww.stopthewesternroute.blogspot.comalso provides more information about partsof the proposal, and more arguments againstthe western and crossover routes.

The powerline–a towering series of 12 trans-mission wires and over 400 support struc-tures–would continue into Mexico to a pro-posed power plant at Santa Ana, Sonora.Energy would then be bought and sold be-tween the United States and Mexico, with asmall amount of power reserved as back-upelectricity for Santa Cruz County.

The TThe TThe TThe TThe Trrrrrojan Horse:ojan Horse:ojan Horse:ojan Horse:ojan Horse: In 1999, Santa CruzCounty experienced several hours of black-outs. The Arizona Corporation Commission(ACC) responded by issuing a mandate thata secondary source of power be delivered tothe county, to provide a back-up source ofpower to minimize future blackouts or brown-outs, and to provide long-term primarypower to supply increasing needs. The localpower company began plans to construct a115 Kilovolt (kV) powerline down SantaCruz Valley to comply with this mandate.This line would ensure sufficient power fordecades to come.

TEP saw opportunity. With deregulationtrends providing power companies with moreflexibility and leniency on power transfer, rates,and production, Mexico was seen as themother lode for both power markets and pro-duction. TEP and its parent companyUnisource saw dollar signs, and the ACC man-date provided the perfect excuse to go there.By 2000, TEP had formalized plans to build apowerline to Santa Cruz County to meet theACC mandate of providing additional elec-tricity. But they didn’t stop there. Instead ofproposing a reasonably sized line throughexisting right of ways, TEP proposed run-ning a much larger powerline through theCoronado National Forest with the capacityto power over 1,000,000 homes. Today only40,000 people live in the whole county.

Now, instead of the original plan to provideCounty residents with back-up and long-termpower, TEP’s main goal is to integrate theMexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa intothe US energy grid. Only a small fraction ofthis line’s power would ever be used in SantaCruz County. Who pays for the powerline?Santa Cruz County residents. Rates increasedover 20percent in 2003. TEP gets rich trans-ferring power to and from Mexico whileratepayers of one of AZ’s poorest countiesfoot the bill. Santa Cruz County is only anexcuse, a justification for TEP’s profit scheme,and Santa Cruz County’s interests get thrownout the window.

The Environmental Impacts:The Environmental Impacts:The Environmental Impacts:The Environmental Impacts:The Environmental Impacts: TEPcould not have picked a worse route to puttheir new powerline. The Tumacacori High-lands are an amazing landscape loved bybirders, hikers, botanists, hunters, families, andothers. TEP’s preferred “Western Route” runs

On August 27, 2003, the Department of Energy released TucsonElectric Power’s (TEP) proposal to build a 140-foot tallpowerline through one of Arizona’s most spectacular landscapes.

TEP’s preferred route would run 30 miles through the heart of theTumacacori, Atascosa, and Pajarito Mountains. Referred to as theTumacacori Highlands, this assemblage of mountains contains the largestunprotected roadless area in southern Arizona.

30 miles through the mountains and cutsthrough the center of the largest remainingunprotected roadless area in southern Arizona(and one of the largest in the Southwest). Theirproposed “Crossover Route” is equally bad.Impacts include:

·The powerline would slice though themiddle of a proposed Wilderness Area identi-fied by volunteers and citizens since 1998.

·20 miles of new roads would be bulldozedthrough rolling hills of oak savanna; thoughTEP proposes to close many of these roadmiles, such closures are often unsuccessful.

·191 towers on the Coronado NationalForest (each 140 ft. high) would reduce morethan 18,000 acres of wildlands from a ForestService scenic rating of ‘High or Very High”to “Moderate or Low.”

·The route would cross habitat for 10 fed-erally listed Endangered or Threatened spe-cies and 74 special status species includingjaguar, Mexican spotted owls, Southwesternwillow flycatchers, lesser long-nosed bats, andChiricahua Leopard frog.

·200 acres on the Coronado National For-est would be disturbed permanently.

·The route comes within ½ mile of the exist-ing Pajarita Wilderness Area and GoodingResearch Natural Area, and a stretch of Sy-camore Canyon eligible for Wild and ScenicRiver status.

·Powerline corridors are notorious for chan-neling spread of invasive weeds, disruptingwildlife movement, and providing access toillegal off-road drivers and smugglers

Subjective changes wrought by this projectare perhaps just as relevant. No longer wouldvisitors appreciate the unfettered views fromRuby Road or the quiet haven of upper PeckCanyon. Apache Pass–a high point betweenBartolo Mountain and the larger Tumacacorispine - would forever be marred by roads andtowers. Birders would look at hawks atopmonopoles instead of oak trees, and hunterswould scan for deer between buzzing trans-mission lines. A sacred, respected, beautifullandscape would be severely degraded.

Who supports this proposal?Who supports this proposal?Who supports this proposal?Who supports this proposal?Who supports this proposal? Citi-zens and politicians are rallying against theproposed route today. Residents of SantaCruz County and southern Pima County rec-ognize the lack of purpose and need for sucha huge powerline. The Santa Cruz CountyBoard of Supervisors asked only for a 115kV line; the Nogales City Council and Mayorare actively fighting the proposal, Congres-sional Representative Raul Grijalva won’tsupport it, and land managers see it as a hugeburden. County citizen’s electrical rates aregoing through the roof. The TohonoO’odham Nation, Gila River Indian Com-

munity, Salt River Indian Community, andPasqua Yaqui Tribe have all registeredobjections to this large powerline, withespecially strong cultural objections toWestern and Crossover routes. Where’s thereal benefit? We still haven’t found it. Theonly folks who now support this currentproposal are the politicians of Sahuarita,where the powerline would originate, andthe Arizona Corporation Commission,which approved the Western Route beforereviewing any biological or cultural analyses.

AlterAlterAlterAlterAlternatives and What Ynatives and What Ynatives and What Ynatives and What Ynatives and What You Canou Canou Canou Canou CanDo:Do:Do:Do:Do: There are better ways to solve SantaCruz County’s power needs. The mostobvious option is to run a smaller powerlinedown existing utility corridors. This wouldbetter suit local needs and have less impacton visual, economic, environmental, andproperty concerns in the county. A smallerpowerline is cheaper, easier to build, shorter,less noticeable, and less dangerous. Exist-ing utility corridors are already impacted,offer much easier access for maintenanceneeds, and would reduce construction costs.Plans have also been floated to build a small,clean burning natural gas power plant inNogales. Locally generated power providesmore reliability, more jobs, and more effi-ciency than long powerlines–plus less de-pendence on energy production elsewhere.

by Matt Skroch, SIA Field Program Director

Make Your Voice Heard: write by October 14thMake Your Voice Heard: write by October 14thMake Your Voice Heard: write by October 14thMake Your Voice Heard: write by October 14thMake Your Voice Heard: write by October 14th

Write to the DDDDDepareparepareparepartment of tment of tment of tment of tment of EEEEEnernernernernergygygygygy: Address letters to: Dr. Jerry Pell, Office of FossilEnergy, US Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. 20585. State that your com-ments refer to the “Tucson Electric Power Sahuarita-Nogales Transmission line DEIS.”

·The preferred Western Route is the longest, most expensive, and most environmen-tally damaging of all alternatives considered. The Crossover route is almost as damaging.

·The western and crossover routes slice through a citizen’s proposed Wilderness Areaand would forever scar the outstanding natural characteristics of the area.

·There is no “need” stated for a 345 kV line by either the applicant (TEP) or agencies;because most of the energy transmitted on the line would not benefit Santa Cruz County,why is the 345 kV, and not a smaller line, needed?

·A smaller, less obtrusive 115 kV powerline was not considered for any route. Whynot? A 115 kV line is cheaper, can more easily be run along existing utility corridors andburied near homes, and would serve the long-term needs of Santa Cruz County.

·I do not support the proposed routes because they do not serve Santa Cruz County’sinterests, as originally intended under ACC order 62011. They are an unnecessary eco-nomic, environmental, and cultural burden on Southern Arizona. Please consider with-drawing this Draft Environmental Impact Statement and issuing a new assesment thatproperly analyzes real solutions to power needs in Santa Cruz County and includes asmaller powerline and/or locally run power plant.

Write to the CorCorCorCorCoronado National Foronado National Foronado National Foronado National Foronado National Forestestestestest: Address letters to: Sue Kozacek, ActingForest Supervisor, Coronado National Forest, 300 W. Congress, Tucson, AZ 85701. Statethat your comments refer to the “Tucson Electric Power Sahuarita-Nogales Transmissionline DEIS and needed Forest Plan Amendments.”

·The Tumacacori and Atascosa Mountains are an exceptional area for primitive recreation.This powerline is incompatible with the natural characteristics there.

·I enjoy bird watching, hiking, biking, canyoneering, hunting, picnicking, etc. in the areaaffected by the powerline and would be negatively affected by the construction of thepowerline in the Western or Crossover Routes.

·TEP proposes to build over 20 new miles of road for the Preferred Route. Road densityin the Tumacacori EMA is already above acceptable limits as set forth in the current ForestPlan. More road building, even with associated closures (often unsuccessful) would violatethe Forest Plan.

·I urge you to deny any special use permits for the Western and Crossover Routesbecause these plans are not compatible with the current uses of the affected area.

·A Forest Plan Amendment would only decrease the already dwindling supply of remoterecreational experiences in the region and would impact many sensitive wildlife and plantspecies that are an important aspect of our southern Arizona natural heritage.

Monumental Threat to Sky Island Wildlands:


The quiet remoteness where we hike orride our horses, where we can enjoy thetruly awesome beauty of the mountains,coming upon a hidden waterhole, decipher-ing the tracks around it—all of this is a bless-ing to us. But that all could change.

Now that the draft EIS for Tucson Elec-tric Power’s proposed transmission line hasbeen published and distributed by DOE wecan see in black and white the environmen-tal impact risks that all of us who know andlove this area were aware of even beforethe formal documentation was done. Manyenvironmental questions are still not an-swered and there are many other equallyimportant questions about the effect uponthe historic, cultural, aesthetic and personallife which require serious consideration.

Regardless of which route is taken by

My husband and I feel so lucky to have had the good fortune tolive here at the base of the Tumacacoris for nearly 30 years.We feel a deep kinship to the land and feel that it now more

than ever needs a protector. Land is not just a commodity, something tobe leveled and built upon or crossed by wires. The land has a very reallife quality to it, and to simply rush in with development of any kindwithout thought for the ramifications is foolhardy and irresponsible.

these 345kV transmission lines there will behuge impacts. Those unfortunate enoughto live on the route will see their homes de-valued or condemned. Even if the ownerswere to receive “fair market value” theywould be uprooted from their chosen homeswhere they have not only invested theirmoney and hard work but also their hearts.Those people living west of Green Valleyand east of the Sierrita Mountains near thecommunity of McGee Ranch would be themost affected and vulnerable because allproposed routes go across their property.There are already a number of powerlinesoccupying the utility corridor in this area.Though the existing lines are not of as highvoltage the cumulative effect could have adefinite impact on health, physical and men-tal, as well as on the general aesthetics of

the area. More and more studies are docu-menting the negative effects of electro-mag-netic fields (EMF’s) on the whole environ-ment.

The “self-weathering” poles that are pro-posed for this route are ugly. There is anexample of one (a small one) along I-19atthe El Tiro Road overpass. It looks likenothing so much as a massive old recycledpiece of rusting iron. Depending upon theroute selected, there will be from 373 to431 of these 140 foot high poles marchingsouth across the land compromising thebeauty of wide open space that lies betweenthe Sierritas to the north, crossing theArivaca Road and then continuing southwith a backdrop of the beautiful cliffs of theTumacacoris and Atascosas in the CoronadoNational Forest.

The new information (draft EIS) showsfour miles of these poles placed right on thescenic Ruby Road in the forest, crossingSycamore Canyon. Sycamore is not onlyone of the unique biological areas of theworld but a place where one can rechargementally and spiritually and have fun—allat the same time!

The entire area from Sahuarita south tothe Mexican border is regarded as cultur-ally sensitive by the Tohono O’Odham Na-tion, because it contains many significantcultural sites including traditional culturalplaces, archaeological sites, sacred sites, re-ligious sites, plant collection areas for bas-ket materials and medicine and burialsites.(From a letter sent by the TohonoO’Odham Nation to the Arizona Corpora-tion Commission dated 12/12/2001.) OtherNative American groups including the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Gila River IndianCommunity, Salt River Pima-Maricopa In-dian Community, the Hopi Tribe, theMescalero Apache Tribe and the PascuaYaqui tribe concur.

This beautiful land would be forever in-truded upon by the gigantic poles and lineswith their crackling transmission noiseswhich increase as the lines age. The feelingsof remoteness and tranquility of the untram-meled out of doors would be gone. For-ever.

To me, it would be a profound loss of oneof the most beautiful, soul recharging areasin Arizona—if not the world.

by Ellen Kurtz, Arivaca Junction, AZ

TEP plans massive powerline through cherished roadless area

In 1999, the Arizona Corporation Com-mission (ACC) Arizona’s branch of govern-ment responsible for siting transmissionlines, determined that Nogales, Arizona andparts of the Santa Cruz Valley served byCitizens Utilities needed a second source ofelectric power to improve reliability. Eithera smaller line—a redundant, 115KV 60-footon telephone poles (H-frame)—or a small,back-up power station, would suffice.

Beginning in December of 1998, the Pub-lic Service Company (PNM) of NewMexico presented a series of proposals forhigh-voltage, transmission lines to run be-tween the Palo Verde Nuclear GenerationStation and Santa Ana, Mexico, sixty milessouth of the border. Trading electric poweracross a US border, requires a “PresidentialPermit” from the Department of Energy(DOE). An Environmental Impact State-ment (EIS) is required by the DOE if sig-nificant damage to the environment, mayresult from a project. Public hearings, con-sidering the twelve proposed routes, wereheld by PNM in locations that would beaffected. PNM met with extreme opposi-

Our own Tumacacori Mountains, west of the Santa Cruz Valley,have remained remote and relatively peaceful for eons. TucsonElectric Power’s proposed 345 kV double-circuited line along

and through these mountains could change this tranquility. It would be,perhaps, a good time to review events leading up to this juncture.

by Marshall Magruder, Amado, AZ

tion at most meetings.Tucson Electric Power then decided they

too would like to be in on this possible, fi-nancial opportunity. They likely consideredas a “local” utility with political conections,there would be little or no opposition. TEPapplied for a Presidential Permit in Augustof 2001 and, later, applied for the requiredstate permit. TEP’s “preferred route” entersthe Tumacacori section of the CoronadoNational Forest to the north heading southto Bear Canyon, skirting Sycamore Can-yon, past Peña Blanca Lake to the naturalgas line easement and south to the border.

Several of the routes proposed, involvepenetration of isolated and wild areas. Newroads would be required to carry the, on-average, 145-foot tall towers and to installthe twelve conducting wires for the doublecircuit, 345 kV (500 Watts of energy) lines.

The smaller 115kV line would probablycost ratepayers (those who pay for these“improvements”) between $20 and $25 mil-lion, while the huge 345 kV line would costratepayers over $85 million. Since the lat-tice and monopole towers required for the

345 kV line are so large andugly, keeping them away frompublic view is a major “publicrelations” ploy. These utilitiesseem to think out-of-sight is thesolution to everything. The lastjaguar siting in the US was inthe affected area less than twoyears ago. Many other endan-gered species live in this area.Most certainly, people prefer tovisit their National Forests andnot see power lines.

Why are the electric utilitycompanies so persistent? BothTEP and PNM see the “rent-ing” of space on their electric-ity highways as a way to makehuge profits.

The Santa Cruz CountyBoard of Supervisors approvedand recommended the smaller115 kV line. Another group isseeking to build a new genera-tion plant fired by natural gaswhich avoids new power lines in theCoronado National Forest. Finally, there areno known customers in Mexico, nor willthere be until a very-unlikely amendmentto the Mexican Constitution is passed by theMexican Congress. According to the Mexi-can Constitution as it is, purchasing powerfrom a foreign and private utility is illegal.

Our bottom line

A profound loss

photo by Maggie M

ilinovitch

Why should Santa Cruz Countyratepayers pay $85 million for a backup 345kV TEP powerline when a $50 million localpower station or $18-21 million for a sec-ond 115 kV (backup) line are far cheaperwith less environmental impacts? This is ourreal “bottom line.”


by Sally Gall, assistant manager, Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

The last Tarahumara frog in Arizona wasspotted in 1983 in the Santa Rita Mountains.The populations in the Atascosa-PajaritoMountains disappeared in the mid 1970s. Dis-ease (chytrid fungi, Batrachochytriumdendrobatidis), climate change (flooding, se-vere drought, colder winter), introducedpredators (bullfrogs, non-native fish), andpollution (acid rain, heavy metal poisoning)are all potential causes of the extirpation in theUS and continuing impacts in Mexico.

The Tarahumara frog is a medium sized drabgreen-brown frog (2.5 to 4.5 inches from noseto rear) with small, dark spots on its body

The Tarahumara frog (Rana tarahumarae) once ranged from theSierra Madre Occidental in Mexico into the Santa Rita and Atascosa-Pajarito Mountains of southernmost Arizona.

and dark crossbars on its legs. Because it livesin the water, its hind feet are extensivelywebbed. Both males and females call—a lowgrunt that lasts about half a second. The frogs’habitat is composed of high-gradient streamsand deep plunge pools in pine-oak woodland,thorn scrub, and tropical deciduous forest.Tarahumara frogs eat a wide variety of prey,including fish, juvenile mud turtles, snakes,and beetles and other insects. In turn,Tarahumara frogs are probably eaten by ring-tails, birds, snakes (especially garter snakes),other frogs, rosy salamanders, fish, water bugsand other invertebrates.

In 1992t h eTarahumaraF r o gConser-v a t i o n

Team was formed to promote the recovery ofthe frog. Members include representativesfrom research institutions, state and federalwildlife management and land managementagencies, and interested members of the pub-lic. A conservation program for theTarahumara frog has been developed by theConservation Team that calls for the reintro-duction of the frog back into at least two of itshistoric localities in Arizona. The team has iden-tified Big Casa Blanca Canyon in the SantaRita Mountains and Sycamore Canyon in the

Pajarito Mountains as the two best prospec-tive reintroduction sites.

Reintroductions are authorized by the Ari-zona Game and Fish Department in their 1987Procedures for Nongame Wildlife and En-dangered Species Reestablishment Projects.The Conservation Team and the Departmentare currently working their way through thisprocess and will be seeking approval from theGame and Fish Commission to reintroducethe frog in 2003. To facilitate the reintroduc-tion Tarahumara frog, eggs were collected atthe closest known population to historic lo-calities in Arizona in the Sierra la Madera,Sonora, in May 2000, and were transferredto the Fish and Wildlife Service for rearing.Additional collections and reintroductions willbe needed to establish viable populations.

Compiled from AZ Game and Fish De-partment and US Fish and Wildlife Servicereports, with special thanks to Stephen Hale.

Tarahumara Frogs Returnby Trevor Hare, SIA Conservation Biologist

photo by Mary S

cott

photo by Mary Scott

photos by Mary Scott

vaded the area and have choked out thepond so viewing the water is difficult. Ref-uge fire personnel conduct prescribedburns every few years to reduce the cat-tails and minimize the threat of fire tonearby homes. Controlling the cattailshas become a difficult task, however, asfire seems to stimulate growth. Refugemanagers are currently working on waysto reduce the cattail invasion to allow formore open water for bird watching andwildlife.

For more information on the Cienegaor the Buenos Aires National WildlifeRefuge, please call (520) 823-4251 x116,or visit www.fws.gov.

The Arivaca Cienega became part of the Buenos Aires NationalWildlife Refuge in 1989, providing protection for this very unique,highly threatened wetland habitat in southern Arizona. The protec-

tion of this land is an effort to preserve the existing surface water stream toenhance the habitat for the benefit of fish, wildlife, and recreational use.

The Arivaca Cienega isfound near the small com-munity of Arivaca, AZ, inthe semi-desert grasslandsabout 11 miles north of theMexican border. The nameArivaca comes from thePima words ari bac, or“small springs,” referringto the seven springs thatfeed the Cienega andArivaca Creek. Cienegasprovide key hydrologicfunctions such as waterstorage, ground water re-charge, sediment deposi-tion, stream meanderingand organic nutrient up-take. The Arivaca Cienega (“a hundred wa-ters”) contains a perennial stream and is adelightful mix of seasonally wet marshlandand meadow, large cottonwoods, and hack-berry and mesquite groves.

The overflow from the Cienega formsArivaca Creek and flows down into theAltar Valley. The Refuge has also acquiredland along Arivaca Creek and now pro-tects a large part of the stream, which islined with magnificent 100-foot-tall cot-tonwood trees. The addition of ArivacaCreek and the Cienega to the Refuge helpssave our precious riparian, or wetland,habitats for the benefit of plants, animals,and people.

Surface water flow is one of the key ele-ments sustaining Arivaca riparian andcienega habitats. These habitats are criti-cal to many wildlife and fish species insouthern Arizona.

The Cienega is often used by migrating

Arivaca Cienega: a True Desert Oasispendent on this areafor water and cover.The riparian corri-dors provide coverand access to otherupland habitat formany mammal spe-cies such as deer, jav-elinas, mountain li-ons, coatimundi andrabbits. Other ani-mals such as bats, ro-dents and amphibiansoften reside in thesehabitats. Nearly 75percent of the wildlifein Arizona depend oneither wetland or ri-parian habitat duringtheir lives.

Arivaca Cienega isopen to the public year-round for hiking andbird watching. Refugepersonnel maintain thetrails by mowing andbranch trimming tokeep the one-and-a-halfmile trail/boardwalk ac-cessible. Tables andrestrooms, due to arrivein November 2003, will make the trailhead anice place to picnic before or after a hike.

Arivaca Cienega Bird Walks are led byAudubon Society members every Satur-day morning, November through April.Meet at the trailhead at 8 a.m., one quartermile east of Arivaca. No reservations are

needed, and the event is freeof charge.

A viewing deck withspotting scopes is foundalong the trail for view-ers to watch the vari-ous water birds in thenearby pond. Cur-

rently, cattails have in-

Photographed atArivaca Cienega (leftto right): blue-throatedhummingbird, ash-throated flycatcher,and gray hawk

Arivaca Cienega is one of thefew places in AZ to view theblack-bellied whistling duck.

Lush, thriving wetlands attract more than 300 bird species.

neotropical birds, migrat-ing dove species, water-fowl, shorebirds, raptors,and resident birds such asquail. More than 300 birdspecies have been docu-mented on the Refuge.Yearly bird surveys con-ducted by Refuge per-sonnel document trendsin the avian populationand indicate that the ri-parian and cienega habi-tats provide neededcover, water and food foralmost all avian speciesfound in the area. Theponded water found in

the cienega provides year-round openwater necessary for waterfowl. Loss ofsuch habitat would result

in declines inpopulationsfor those

avian spe-

cies that occupy the highfoliage density of these vegetationtypes.

Other wildife species are highly de-

photo by Suzanne


I have come to this quiet garden in thedesert for the past 30 years. Echoes of pastvisits and the promise of its enduring beautygreet me as I round each bend in the mean-dering stream. Reassuringly the canyonnever changes yet is never the same. Also,no matter how often I return, I have adifferent perspective with which to appreciateit and new eyes to see what I missed before.

The lower canyon begins just off theserpentine, dirt, one lane Ruby Road andruns to the international boundary withMexico. While all around may be dangerousterritory, Sycamore is always a safe, protectedplace. No mule trains with illegal cargosventure this way. The tumble of rocks andwater-filled pools carved of solid stone blocktheir way to northern destinations. It is adesignated wildlife and plant research area;there are no roads, no hunters, no motorhomes, no ATVs, and no ghetto blasters.Alone, I feel safe - at home.

Sycamore runs, in its own way, north tosouth so that even on the hottest summerday there is shade to be found within itssteep rock walls. Or, at high noon, coolrespite can be had under the many large,water-loving trees along its year-roundstream. The east-west track of the sun sendsslanted light into the canyon; at one timethe light defines the pock-marked rockfaces, then moves to hide them in shadow-unlike the open desert where the glare ofthe sun surrounds and illuminates everyobject from dawn til dusk.

A short hike into the old parking area andI spot the huge oak tree where years ago,when my children were very young, weoften pitched our huge old canvas tent. Thehomestead of Hank and Yank Bartlett sits

This is the place of my heart where I come to heal, to celebrate, toappreciate. Sycamore Canyon is more than the sum of its rocks,water, wildlife and flora. It fills the empty places in my soul: a by-

product of “civilized” living. A day of listening to the cascading call ofthe Canyon Wren reverberating off the red rock canyon walls, lazingunder a willow tree chomping on carrot sticks while considering a deli-cate wildflower is about all I need to get me back in tune with the rest ofthe planet, for a while.

Canyon PerspectiveBy Maggie Milinovitch, Arivaca AZ

nearby. With each visit a little less is left ofthe melting adobe walls from a time whenthe West was young and Apaches werefierce. The rains that wash the canyon cleanalso wash out a bit of history.

Today insects rule the canyon. Butterfliesin a bright parade wobble on the light breeze.Bright orange dragonflies with transparentwings hover over the water showing theiraerodynamic prowess despite being engagedin double-decked co-mingling. I watch fora convention of ladybugs; a few years backI came upon thousands of them meeting onthe shady side of a large boulder. I scoopedup a handful to join in their party and waswelcomed by their using my body as a play-ground. In my hair, under my shirt and overmy face they skittered until they bored of meand flew back to the congregation.

Coming to the first nature-provided swimming poolechoes a time when, as thekids grew older, we ven-tured further into the can-yon. The pools are home totiny fishes that nibbled on ourskin if we stood too long inone place. Their hungryprobing sent shivering sen-sations up our spines and wehad contests to see whocould stand still the longestwithout giggling.

Many side canyons flowinto the main. Some are sonarrow, steep and cloggedwith scrub they defy explo-ration. Others made of solidrock reward mountain goatclimbing skills with waterfalls

and clear pools for swimming. The refresh-ingly cool water can, even in the summer heat,feel chilly in the lower levels of these undis-turbed, temperature-stratified pools.

Passing by one of the larger side canyons, Irecall a hot summer day with my sons. Wehad been scrambling over the water-strewnboulders of this side canyon and I let the kidsgo on ahead. (My children were noisy and Iwanted some peace.) I sat quietly by a smallpool in the shade of a twisted, stunted oaktree. In that shade grew velvet textured, brightgreen moss clinging to stones moistened bythe seep water trickling over them. I couldstill hear the kids, but barely. Relaxing,contemplating nature’s application of variousshades of green, I caught movement out ofthe comer of my eye. I froze. A band of coatihad come with their young for a sip of water.I must have blended into the surroundingslike a homely girl at the prom, because theydidn’t notice me just a few feet away. I couldn’tcall to my children to share the experience

nor could I reach for my camera; I didn’t wantto disturb the band. Instead, concentrating allmy powers on observation and conservationof movement, I sat and rejoiced in the mo-ment.

This time my visit is with a heavier heart.Sycamore Canyon, a large part of my life andmy history, with my hopes for its future un-troubled by the advances of “civilization,” arenow threatened.

Tucson Electric Power wants to put a mon-strous, power transmitting abomination veryclose to this canyon. But Sycamore is not theonly area in jeopardy. Peck Canyon, theAtascosa Mountains, along with miles andmiles of wild areas are being considered forpathways to corporate riches. Please join mein putting a stop to this madness.

~This story is reprinted from the Septem-ber 2003 issue of The Connection.

Maggie Milinovitch is the editor of TheConnection, a monthly newspaper servingcommunities of Arivaca, Amado, Rio Rico,Tubac, Tumacacori, and surrounding areas.To keep up on local news, you can subscribeto The Connection for $14 per year bywriting to P.O. Box 338, Arivaca AZ85601 or emailing [email protected].

So what’s up with the similarity in namesbetween Sky Island Alliance’s quarterlynewsletter and this excellent local monthly?Pure accident; there’s no connection.

I’ve talked to no one who wants thisline or for that matter, any powerlinerunning through our National Forestlands. Especially through lands so farunmarred by visual pollution otherthan a twisting dirt road. No one im-pacted by the line will benefit. To myknowledge the only beneficiaries willbe the power company’s stockholders.

The stated cause is to provide reliablepower to Nogales and to get the areaon the national power grid.

The August power black-outs in theeast tend to suggest that the all-pow-erful grid system is not the answer to

Note from Maggie:reliable power. The only people in the eastthat had power were the people not on apower grid.

A powerline that no one wants, that will notserve the people impacted by its ugliness,more land trashed, for what? The usual.Money chasing more money, yet againthreatening our wildlands.

It is very important for everyone who caresabout preserving this area to get active. TheDEIS is available at most area libraries.There is a local website with current infor-mation about what is happening atwww.StopTheWesternRoute.blogspot.com

The Department of Energy is holding

hearings on Thursday, September 25 from3 to 5pm and another from 7 to 9pm at theSanta Rita Springs Rec Center, 911 W. ViaFuerte and on Friday from 1 to 3pm and 5to 7pm in Nogales at the Santa CruzCountyCourthouse on Congress Drive.

WWWWWrite letters to DOE and to the Forrite letters to DOE and to the Forrite letters to DOE and to the Forrite letters to DOE and to the Forrite letters to DOE and to the For-----est Service by October 14. est Service by October 14. est Service by October 14. est Service by October 14. est Service by October 14. See page fourfor adresses and talking points. If after youhave all the information you need, you donot feel comfortable composing a commentto send in response, please feel free to con-tact The Connection office and an Englishmajor (or a reasonable facsimile thereof)will be made available to help you.

Echoes of past visits and the

promise of its enduring

beauty greet me as I round

each bend

sketch by Paul Mirocha


A Lockheed P2V drops a load of re-tardant on the flames and returns twomore times to do the same before the dayis through, but the fire shrugs it off. Thisone has been waiting for decades, a lampon the horizon just barely visiblethrough the clutter of dead wood anddog-hair thickets. Progression maps pub-lished by the Forest Service tell the storybest. On day 1 the burn barely coversMarshall Peak, by day two it has quin-tupled in size and then, day three, itrushes north into the little town ofSummerhaven, rummaging through theflammable and the fireproof, consum-ing what it can with the organic lust of acreature that has stalked the woods forhalf a billion years. It comes up hardagainst the northern boundary of lastyear’s Bullock Fire, then begins a slowcurl to the west and south, wrappingaround its own aftermath day after day,week after week until its flaming pseudo-pods begin to descend the rocky slopesabove Tucson. At night people gather atthe end of Sabino Canyon Road andwatch the show from lawn chairs. Whenthe blaze is finally brought under con-trol a month later it has come nearly fullcircle, reduced to snuffling through thelovegrass and hardy succulents at thesouthern boundary of the Bullock fire.There really is not much left to burn.

Today the streets of Summerhavenseem wider for lack of cabins, and thepines of four months ago are sluicingdown the canyons like so much dish-water. When we look at the way Ameri-cans have dealt with wildland fire overthe past 50 years or so a regrettable pat-tern emerges. Prior to a blaze we plan,we theorize, sometimes we cut trees orstart prescribed burns, other times wejust resign ourselves to hope. Thencomes the inevitable—a spark off an ex-haust pipe, a bolt of lightning—and sud-denly there’s a fire threatening to sweepaway a cabin, maybe even a town, butalmost always a thicket of rationaliza-tions and mistakes. Next comes the

cleanup. But the Aspen fire took outmore than just trees and cottages, it lefta smoldering gap in the collective psycheof all those who treasure the Catalinas.There were things we loved up there,things we left behind. We’ve come tothe fourth stage in the pattern and we’redealing with more than the tangibleproducts of combustion, we’re dealingwith uncertainty and loss and the kindof blame that seems to come spinningback like a boomerang no matter whowe aim it at. It will be decades beforethe gap grows over, and in the mean-time a single question echoes across thatonce-forested space: “What now?” Atleast part of the answer lies next door.

All but overlooked in the news, theHelen’s 2 fire started barely 20 milesaway in the Rincon unit of Saguaro Na-tional Park on the same day as the As-pen Fire. It burned through the sameplant communities—ponderosa, mixedconifer, oak savannah—and with simi-lar intensity. “We had trees torching out,”said Kathy Schon, Fire Ecologist for theNational Park Service, “Some days weweren’t able to control it the way wewould have liked.” Yet for all their fe-rocity both fires exhibited something ofa mosaic pattern, touching approxi-mately half of the acreage within theirreach with what the agencies considerlow severity. Look much further, though,and the resemblance begins to fade. TheHelen’s 2 fire was sparked by lightningwhile the Aspen fire was human-caused,not that origins are really important; ig-nition is ignition and if it’s one thingwe’ve learned after a string of record-breaking fires it’s that forests will burn,period. The Helen’s 2 fire did not getnearly as much attention as her siblingnext door although at one time there werenearly 700 firefighters trying to keep herin check. But the most dramatic differ-ence between the two blazes is this: evenwith fewer personnel on the ground andfewer choppers in the air the Helen’s 2fire only reached 3,500 acres, barely four

percent of the size of the Aspen fire. Thereasons for this are complex, but one can’thelp thinking that two fires so closely al-lied by geography and timing yet so dif-ferent in magnitude might have somethingto teach us, both about what we’ve donewrong and what we’ve done right.

Some have argued that natural conditionsfavored the Aspen fire while at the sametime working against the Helen’s 2. Thewind from the southwest pushed the As-pen fire through Summerhaven and up thethickly forested slopes of Radio Ridge butherded the Helen’s 2 toward rocky terrain.Pines in the Catalinas were infested withbark beetles and many were standing deadand dry when the fire began but theRincon Mountains, owing to the trademarkisolation that makes the Sky Islands unique,do not yet have a bark beetle problem. But

these claims are not enough to explain thedisparity between the two fires, and theymiss the one extant condition that trulyhelped keep the Helen’s 2 fire in check,namely the existence of past burns.

A glance at a fire history map of theRincons is instructive: Old blazes, bothprescribed and natural, surround theHelen’s 2 like amoebas, essentially hem-ming it in on the west, south, and south-east sides. When the Helen’s 2 fire reachedthe edges of these historic burns it had nochoice but to drop from the crowns to theforest floor where grasses and brush hadbegun to grow. Like an old yellow lab itsimply poked around the bushes, basicallyharmless. The Park Service has a long his-tory of letting fires burn where possibleand using prescribed fire when necessary.In fact, much of the acreage taken by the

After the firesby Bob VanDeven

It’s the middle of June and somewhere near the top of the SantaCatalina Mountains a tiny flame crackles to life amid a crowd oflanky young conifers and heaps of dry duff. Conditions are

perfect, or terrible. Thermometers in the valley register 102 degreesand humidity is down in the teens. Five years of drought and a stiffbreeze out of the southwest usher the new fire across the forest floorand eventually into the crowns; by the time firefighters arrive onfoot and begin scuffing lines around the blaze it’s too late. Theyretreat in less than an hour.

Then comes the inevitable—a

spark off an exhaust pipe, a

bolt of lightning—and suddenly

there’s a fire ...


Eating Out and

Reflections

Helen’s 2 would have eventually been burnedby the Park Service. In an email interviewChuck Scott, Fire Management Officer forSaguaro National Park, states, “This particu-lar area has been on my radar screen for anumber of years in regards to a prescribedfire. We had intended to burn it in a series ofburns starting slowly. The Helens Fire sim-ply advanced the reintroduction of fire a littlesooner. We had more intense fire than hadinitially been desired, but I think for the mostpart the fire accomplished some good thingsfor the resource.” These good things includerecycling nitrogen and other nutrients, creat-ing a diverse patchwork of open ground andsurviving canopy, and significantly reducingthe burden of fuel and young trees that, if leftunchecked, would have fed even greater con-flagrations in the future. This last point isfleshed out particularly well by Park Servicestatistics gathered from previous fires. Forexample, fall fires decreased the density ofpole-sized trees (those with a diameter of 2.5to 15 cm) by about 50 percent on experimen-tal plots while the density of overstory trees(those with a diameter greater than 15 cm)remained nearly the same, decreasing by onlyabout 12 percent.

Some of the bad things to come out ofHelen’s 2 included severe damage to patchesof mixed conifer which were inhabited byMexican spotted owls and peregrine falcons.Prior to the Helen’s 2 fire the Park Service

had wanted to treat these areas with a combi-nation of thinning and prescribed burning, butfederal law prohibits this type of disturbanceto spotted owl habitat. Now in an unfortunatetwist of fate the very habitat protected underthe law has been all but destroyed, in truthbecause of the exclusion of fire.

Lest one think that fighting fire with fire isan easy prescription for forest health we oughtto consider the differences between SaguaroNational Park, where burning has served theecosystem well, and places like the Catalinas,which have indeed suffered from the lack offlame. To begin, the risk to private propertyand the continuous presence of human beingsin the Catalinas makes it hard to simply letfires burn and slows the planning and imple-mentation of prescribed fire. In a recent inter-view Bill Hart, Fuels Specialist with the SantaCatalina Ranger district, pointed to the me-ticulous and site-specific planning that mustbe done by the Forest Service. “The Park Ser-vice has almost no interior prep to do, it’s mostlyline prep, whereas we (the Forest Service) havea tremendous amount of work to do on theground before a prescribed burn can be com-pleted.” So while it’s no secret that fire sup-pression in the Catalinas contributed to the se-verity and extent of the Aspen Fire, balancingthe equation was and will remain problematic.That said, it should be noted that the ForestService continues to take an especially ferventapproach to fighting fire, extinguishing over

99 percent of all blazes, some of whichmight better be managed than snuffedas a matter of course.

The same evidence that argues for thebenefits of fire and a wider return of thisprimeval force to public lands speaksstrongly in favor of protection for thosecommunities on the wildland/urban in-terface. Fires are inevitable and the onlyquestion is what they will burn. Thinkof it this way—if a defensible space hadbeen cleared around every structure inthe Catalinas, if yards had been rakedfree of duff and debris, if no one hadpiled their firewood next to their pro-pane tank, if no building had been lost,would we have mourned the way wedid? “We can’t fireproof the mountains,”asserts Kathy Schon. Indeed, there isgood data showing that ponderosa pineforests historically withstood low to mod-erate intensity fires every two to 10 years.

Yet for all the necessary advantages offire its presence (or absence) still amountsto management decisions. “We needlandscape-scale projects,” says Schon.Bill Hart agrees, but there is conflict overhow much humans will be required todo and how much fire can do on its own.Park Service data seems to suggest thatburning, even in dense forests withheavy fuel loads, will leave enough ofthe big trees and follow a mosaic patternallowing recovery and an eventual re-turn to lower intensity burns. But theultra-high fuel loads on many nationalforests call to question the wisdom ofsuch a let-burn policy, at least in somesituations. Still, for all the differences be-tween various chunks of public land,the Rincons stand as an impressive ex-ample of fire and forests coexisting theway they should. Over time, a landscapethat endures multiple fires can build re-sistance to the kind of conflagrations thathave swept across Arizona and much ofthe west. Where necessary, we can treatareas to prevent crown fires and we cansee fire restored to our public lands fortheir benefit. Someday we may look atflames on the horizon with wonder andgratitude rather than fear. For anyonewho doubts these assertions, a return tothe Catalinas offers a kernel of hope.

The Aspen vista point is near the endof the Catalina Highway, perched be-tween the aftermath of two devastatingyears. To the east, ranks of standingmatchsticks crowd the steep slopes thatdescend to the San Pedro River. TheBullock fire burned hot here, playingthe topography and leaping from tree totree, pre-drying the thick forest upslope

as it moved. To the west, the Aspen firecame charging through after consumingmore than 300 homes and businesses.Looking for hope here seems like a fool’serrand but in the fall of 2001 humanswere at work in the forest to the north-east, thinning young trees and cuttinglow branches, protecting 170 acres justbelow the Mt. Lemmon Fire station. It’sdown there still, a tiny raft of green float-ing on a sea of ash. The Bullock Fireburned right up to this treated area andthen dropped out of the crowns when itreached the edge. In a similar fashionthe Aspen fire was unable to consumethose 170 acres as it had so many others.What we value we can save. It will taketime, much capital, intelligent decisions,and the participation of those who liveand play in the woods, not just thosewho manage them.

Like fires themselves, personalresponses to fire are viceral,untamable, and leave behindsmoldering patches even oncetheir main flames have beenquenched. Understanding publicreaction to fire issues is critical tofire management. Yet our collectiveexperiences and personal responsesto fire cannot be boiled down to asimple formula. We would like to provide avenue for exploring these personalexpressions by publishing here acollection of reactions and re-sponses to the fires that have re-cently affected us so deeply. Pleaseshare with us your poems,sketches, photographs, essays,comments, and other thoughts. You can mail your responses top.o. box 41165, Tucson AZ 85717or email them to us [email protected].

10 Sky Island Alliance Fall 2003continued on next page

Fabulous Firefliesby Joe Cicero

The first group consists of three species,perhaps more, that fly and flash at night infiercely competitive mating protocols liketheir eastern counterparts. The secondgroup consists of six or so species that flyduring the day and either have no lights, or,when lights are present, they are faint likethose radium-painted notches on the wrist-watches we used to wear. These lights haveno known function. The third group con-sists of nocturnalspecies whose fe-males arebrightly lumi-nous but cannotfly. Their maleshave faint lightstoo, and don’t usethem for matingsignals. Instead,they have huge,dragonfly-likeeyes for spottingthe female glowas they flythrough thenight sky insearch of a mate.

Sky Island Alliance’s conservation effortstargeted this southwest section of theHuachuca Mountains during June of thisyear. In one trip to Scotia Canyon, just eastof Parker Canyon Lake, we were blessed tosee representatives of all three of these fire-fly groups. The canyon is richly decked with

a full gradient from ponderosa/chihuahuapine-silverleaf oak woodland, through thepinyon-oak belt and on down to the mes-quite flat. Early residents of Sunnyside in-stalled several large ponds to retain springwater in the upper region of the canyon,and these are slowly leaked to the creekbelow them. This perennial water supportsa lush streamside flora with lots of snails,on which larvae of the aerial flashing fire-

fly Bicellonycha w.w i c k e r s h a m o r u mfeeds.

Bicellonycha is a ge-nus of about 30 speciesthroughout central andsouthern Mexico. Thisone species somehowmade it up to the SkyIslands, and back in1982, I named it afterthe Wickershams,then residents ofHuachuca City, wholet me study the mat-ing behavior in theirbackyard. B.wickershamorum per-

forms a “flash-answer” routine wheremales advertise by flashing once every 5or so seconds as they fly. Females wait inthe grass until a male flies overhead andperforms to her liking. She blinks back atthe male who captures her attention, andhe then bolts down to her as fast as he can,

hopefully before any collateral males see theexchange and try to interlope. This basicflash-answer protocol is highly modifiable de-pending on the terrain and ambient light in-tensity the males have to work in. They scalethe height and speed of their search path tooptimize their chances of finding a female.They vary the intensity of their lights, thetime of evening they emerge, and the dura-tion of their search, all of which depend onecological, ergonomic and genetic factors webarely comprehend. Our second most com-mon member of this group, Photinus knulli,deserves mention, but has not yet been re-ported in Scotia Canyon. It is the only knownlekking firefly in the New World. Gatheringtogether in congregations (leks), males syn-chronize their flashes as part of an extremelycomplex mate-location strategy. A huge popu-lation occurred at Pena Blanca Canyon ofthe Pajarito Mountains that somehow gotwiped out many years ago, and is just nowcoming back. An occasional male can be seenat Sycamore Canyon, 20 miles west of PenaBlanca, and these probably represent straysfrom a larger, undiscovered population withan epicenter deeper in the range. The specieshas also recently been reported in the Tuc-son Mountains and at the West Branch of

the Santa Cruz River. There’s anight-flying/flashing click beetletoo, that is known from some ofthe Huachuca Mountain can-yons, as well as those of thePajaritos.

The second group can be seenanytime during the day flittingabout on vegetation and flyingthrough the air in slow, straight-line paths. Entomologists theorizethat their ancestors flew andflashed at night like those of thefirst group, but intense competition

moved the whole mate-acquisition prerequi-site out of the night and into the day, and fromluminescent signal recognition to pheromonerecognition. Sycamore Canyon holds 3 ofthese species, all of which can be seen on anysame day during the early summer.

The third group is my favorite. They per-form a “glow-find” mating protocol, wherethe male flies through the night in search of aspark in the grass. In the first group, malestake most of the risk during sex-location. Butin this group, females expose themselves byglowing as a beacon for any males that maybe overhead. Females are flightless becausethey quit metamorphosis earlier than theirmales; earlier, in fact, than the onset of winggrowth. This condition is called neoteny.Many of these species occur in the Pajarito-Atascosa-Tumacacori Mountain Ranges alsobut they are very, very hard to find becauseof the sedentary habit of the female.

Luminescent insects are a fertile groundfor discovery. Distributions are poorly re-corded for even common species. A lot ofbehaviors are completely unstudied. A newgenus just turned up in California’s south-eastern desert, and Sonora is profuse withspecies, almost all of which are undescribed.So much left to discover!

Focusing on action, working groups meton topics of air quality, energy, growth man-agement, environmental justice and borderissues, funding, and wildlife habitat andresource protection. Each group identifiedpriorities the larger Arizona conservationcommunity could accomplish and developeda plan to do just that. We expect to see lots ofgreat work coming from this gathering!

Arizona Conservation Alliance Summitby Lyn Wilson, Arizona League of Conservation Voters, and Acasia Berry, Sky Island Alliance

Representatives from 55 Arizona conservation groups convergedon the San Carlos Apache Reservation in August to map out acommon strategy for the upcoming year. The Arizona League

of Conservation Voters (AZLCV) brought together groups working ona wide range of environmental issues facing Arizona residents, bondingthe conservation community of the state into a unified powerful voice.People working on state land reform shared tables with those workingto improve indoor air quality. Those doing on-the-ground restorationmet with folks keeping tabs on the state legislature.

Presentations were inspiring. SanCarlos Apache Tribal CouncilmanWendsler Nosie gave a moving welcomeaddress that noted the auspiciousness ofthe conservation groups’ convening at theApache reservation. Longtime politicalactivist and grassroots organizer DebbieLopez and AZLCV Executive DirectorStephanie Sklar spoke of the large over-

lap in candidates chosen by pro-conserva-tion voters and by Latino voters. We wereall moved to strengthen our ties and con-solidate our collective voting powers. USRepresentative Raul Grijalva received astanding ovation as he lent hope for some-thing good to come out of D.C.

This was the second Conservation AllianceSummit called by AZCLV. Individually con-servation groups have been making hugestrides in guaranteeing the future health ofour state. Thank you to the League for hav-ing the vision and determination to bring usall together! Jointly we can make a differ-ence in the upcoming elections and conser-vation in Arizona.

Sky Island Alliance is pleased to be a partof the Arizona Conservation Alliance. Thisyear’s participants left the Summit energizedby the potential for achieving conservation

success through continued collaboration.By working together, we can build andstrengthen the conservation community inArizona and become more effective at pro-tecting our land, air, water, and quality oflife. It is our goal to create a culture of trustand cooperation between the diverse orga-nizations, citizens, and interest groups thatcare about Arizona’s future. With the helpand dedication of the many members of theArizona Conservation Alliance, it seems weare on the road to achieving that goal.

~AcasiaAs part of the environmental justice and

border issues session, it was exciting to workwith progressive and dedicated people whoreally “get it.” These issues, particularly bor-der policy and talk of constructing additionalwalls, affect not just the human beings alongour borders but the wildlife that use those

Fireflies, in Arizona?? Most residents would glare in disbelief iftold that fireflies actually occur in our state. They may be reminded of fond experiences back east where the night sky is filled

with flashing insects, but have neither seen nor heard of such displayshere in the west. Fact is, there are twenty or so different species confirmedin Arizona, and they can be sorted into three behavioral groups.

Flightless, larva-like “glow worm” femaleattracting big-eyed male

Big-eyed male that flies in search of females on the ground.


ways, ranch buildings, fences, stores,ranchettes, golf courses, paved roads, withall the subsequent occupants including sub-urbanites, barking dogs, stray cats, and mo-torized vehicles from ATVs to semi-trucks.Attempting to get safely and unnoticed tothe other side, the lion will try his darndest toavoid any contact. Maybe he’ll keep to thedrainages. But what about the four lane high-speed highway your vehicle glides over at75 mph? What are the lion’s chances of suc-cessfully crossing all four lanes? Or are therebig culverts and high bridges he can passthrough or under?

These are the questions our Wildlife Moni-toring Program attempts to address. We mo-bilize volunteers to collect data in areas weidentified as possible wildlife corridors that areat-risk from expanding development. One ofthese regions is the stretch of land betweenthe Tumacacoris and the Santa Ritas. Tentrained “grassroots naturalists” are now col-lecting data on wildlife presence along their“adopted” transects in drainages and canyonson both sides of Interstate-19.

Maybe it was volunteers Janay Brun,Dyna Chin, and Wade Goyetche who dis-turbed our mountain lion’s nap. What werethose crazy humans doing, anyway? Theywere documenting the lion’s tracks by photo-graphing, measuring, taking GPS readings forlocation, and determining direction of travel.They most certainly wondered where themountain lion went. Our volunteers also

by Janice Pryzbyl,

Now lower your eyes and imagine thatsame route on the ground. Pretend you are ayoung male mountain lion. You just spent youryouth with “mom” and “sis,” primarily in thePajarito Wilderness, with occasional huntingexcursions into the surrounding mountainranges, perhaps the Atascosas. But now“mom” is not too keen on your hanging aroundanymore, so it’s time to strike out on yourown, establish your own home base, andmaybe even find a mate. But where to go?There’s definitely strong signs of another malearound “mom’s” home. It may be your dad,but he definitely does not want to competewith you for food or mates. Best to say “adios”and head out.

Moving north, you pad along the familiarcanyons and ridges of the Atascosa Moun-tains. With “mom” you often encountered thescent and even watched groups of humanshiking, hunting, and sightseeing. “Mom”taught you to be cautious and leery of thesetwo-legged critters, so you stay clear.

One morning, you settle down on a rockledge overlooking a small canyon. Soon youhear some noisy critters headed up canyon.You look down and see three of those uprightcreatures. They seem to be excited and arepointing to where you just walked. They fol-low the tracks you made in the dusty canyonbottom until the tracks disappear amidst a scat-tering of rocks. What are they doing now?They yak and point and poke at your tracks.You wish they’d go away so you could nap.You especially hope they don’t look up andcatch you in your hiding spot. Sounds fromtheir activity drone on and you doze. Whenyou wake up, all that is left is their stale smell.You get up, stretch, and sniff the air, catchinga fresh scent as they retreat back down thecanyon. Sniff. Crazy humans! You turn andslink off in the other direction.

You wander further north and explore theTumacacori Mountains. Hmmm. “Mom”taught you to hunt deer and javelina. There’s

Next time you travel the Interstate-19 corridor between Tubacand Tucson let your eyes trace an “as the raven flies” route fromthe Tumacacori Mountains on the west to the Santa Rita range

on the eastern edge of your view. It’s approximately a 15-mile straightline from the proposed Tumacacori Wilderness to the existing Mt.Wrightson Wilderness in the core of the Santa Rita’s.

Getting from Here to There

plenty here, and water too. Maybe this canbe your new home. But, uh-oh, what’s that?Under an oak tree, you spy a scraped-up pileof leaves. You cautiously sniff. Eeoww. That’s“dad’s” scent! And what’s that over there? Apile of scat, and it’s fresh too. You must still bein “dad’s” territory; he’s obviously left his call-ing card. Better high-tail it outta here or he’llkick your butt.

With renewed haste, you scramble upSardina Peak. At the top, with the settingsun warming your back, you check out theview and your options. Across the valleyfloor, a large mountain range glows red inthe evening light. The Santa Rita’s are beau-tiful with the sun highlighting the sheer cliffsof Elephant Head. Just the place for a youngmountain lion to call home. But how do youget from here to there? You look south, fromwhere you just came, and notice drainagesflowing out of the Tumacacori’s. Negro, RockCorral, Tinaja, and other canyons all lookeasily navigable down to the valley floor. Youreally don’t want to backtrack, so you looknorthward at Chivas, Toros, and SoporiWashes. Down on the valley floor there is athin ribbon of bright green cottonwood trees.A river flows through it, offering a respitefor resting and refueling on the journey. Adrainage on the other side of the river leadsto a large canyon–Cottonwood–providingaccess to your new dwellings. Seems easyenough. The coolness of the night enticesyou to start the journey down the mountainand across the valley below.

How easy will the journey be? Back inyour vehicle, with your human eyes you cansee that the landscape is more than a combi-nation of geology and vegetation. As heedges closer to the valley the mountain lionwill encounter more and more obstacles tohis passage. He already scooted over onemajor dirt road–Ruby Road. Skirted camp-sites and cattle tanks. Down in the valley itwill be an obstacle course of utility rights of

document the territorial markings left bymountain lions and bobcats. With swipes oftheir hind feet, male mountain lions mounddirt, pine needles, or other organic litter andthen spray the mound with urine. Just likethe calling card left by the lion’s “dad.” Bob-cats also mark by scraping, however theseare notably smaller than mountain lionscrapes. Scat– fecal matter–deposited bymountain lions is also collected as evidence.

In addition to the three volunteers men-tioned above, Nick Bleser and Birdie Stabel,Laurel Clarke, Carolyn McCallister, JudithMusick, and Bill and Ellen Kurtz also ven-ture out every six weeks. Most of theproject’s volunteers work and live in the im-mediate area–four are Tubac residents andtwo live near Sopori Wash. Four volunteerscome down from Tucson and other outly-ing areas. Not only do the volunteers searchfor signs left by mountain lion and bobcat,but also by black bear, coati, and jaguar.

Sky Island Alliance is collaborating withArizona Department of Transportation to in-vestigate wildlife movement under I-19. Soon,a series of remote cameras will be installed inculverts and under bridges. (See sidebar toWildNews! in last summer’s Restoring Con-nections.) The information gathered fromthese remote cameras will supplement thetrack data collected by our volunteers. Sup-ported by these data, Sky Island Alliance is indialogue with numerous stakeholders and of-ficials about preventing obstruction to wild-life movement through major drainages in theSanta Cruz River Valley.

Now when you travel the I-19 corridorbetween Tubac and Tucson, gaze at the land-scape and reflect on the work Sky Island Alli-ance does to protect our mountain islands anddesert seas–especially our current efforts forwilderness designation in the TumacacoriHighlands. Contemplate the profusion of wild-life living in the large protected core areas–the mountain islands. Speculate about the cor-ridors through the desert seas that enable wild-life movement between those cores. And con-sider joining Sky Island Alliance’s awesomevolunteers and supporters whose tireless ef-forts ensure that mountain lions, jaguars, andother critters can continue to live in the SkyIslands and travel the desert seas.

corridors as well.Our breakout group chose to treat envi-

ronmental justice issues and border issuesas separate components with equal weight,though these obviously overlap. In review-ing the general goals set forth in the firstSummit, we found we had made littleprogress in the last year, and decided thisyear we would set action goals and assigntasks to group members with deadlines toinsure that the goals were met. Border policyis a vast issue and goes far beyond access tohumans and wildlife. To engage the conser-vation community in the border issues, how-ever, we agreed that our role should be tofocus on issues dealing with wildlife corri-

dors and habitat. Jenny Neely volunteeredto research groups working on borderwildlife issues from Texas to California, andto discover what each is actually doing.

On the environmental justice front, ourgroup also acknowledged that too oftenpersons impacted by environmental justiceissues resent the larger, more well knownconservation groups because these groups“come in and tell them what they need todo” to fix their problems. As one member ofour group pointed out, “You people haveall the money, and we are the ones work-ing in our communities to stop the injusticeto our families.” It was a sobering moment.

Some of this problem is clearly due tolack of understanding about who is doingwhat in this expansive network of grassrootsactivists. To tackle this problem, we agreedto design a survey that would go out to allSummit participants asking them to iden-tify people in their urban, rural, and tribalcommunities that are already working onthese border problems. Our intent is to iden-tify projects all across Arizona where peopleare struggling to protect their communi-ties, and get to know who they are andwhat they need. We will help develop a toolbox for these groups and individuals to useto further help themselves, and where pos-

sible, offer assistance which may mean sim-ply helping to open a door for them. Cur-rently, Joel Foster is hard at work on thetool box, and I have the first draft of thesurvey ready. For those who were at theSummit, you should receive it within thenext three weeks. If you weren’t there, Ienthusiastically encourage each of you tosign up for the 2004 Summit and becomean active participant in crafting the nextArizona Conservation Alliance Agenda.You won’t be sorry!

~Lyn


We, of course, have also seen way toomany roads, way too many degraded ripar-ian areas, and way too many campsites. Someof those camps were definitely Mexican Na-tionals’ waypoints on their trip north look-ing for a better life. We also stumbled acrossa camp in the Burro Mountains that was fullof the trash from Oriental and Middle East-ern food products, European cigarettes, andbus tickets from Los Angeles. The worst wehave seen though was caused by that scourgeof all wildlands—the Yahoo. On the ApacheForest overlooking the Black River, we founda camp that looked like it was attacked by aBoy Scout troop gone insane. Trash every-where, toilet paper and beer cans, egg shellsand banana peels, and the worst was the treesaround the campsite. They had been attackedwith abandon. Some had been hacked down,and others were barely standing. The attackon the trees must have happened over the

Road Rattlingsby Trevor Hare, SIA Conservation Biologist

Wolves and bears, leopard frogs and Apache trout, Gila mon-sters and Sonoran whipsnakes, tree frogs and rattlesnakes,trogons and gray hawks; these are a few of my favorite things.

These are also what we have encountered out there doing road andwilderness surveys this summer.

The Tumacacori Highlands continued from back cover

greater Tumacacori Highlands regionhighest of all areas studied in terms ofavailable wild prey, but decided that con-ditions surrounding this wild core areawere too uncertain to merit bringingwolves back here yet. The abundanceof deer and javelina continues to attractother predators, from stealthy mountainlions and the occasional jaguar to thenumerous human hunters who stalk thisarea each fall.

Plant diversity in these mountains isat least as noteworthy. The chiltepin(Capsicum annuum var.glabriusculum), wild ancestor of mostchiles we now cultivate, reaches unusu-ally high densities here. The Forest Ser-vice has dedicated a special Zoologicaland Botanical Area to protect thechiltepin, and to honor the wild plant’scontribution to our crop diversity andculinary traditions. And much is leftunknown. Botanists remark that thispart of Santa Cruz County is the placeto go if you have fantasies of discover-ing plant species unknown to science;three new species have been found nearhere in the last decade!

The roadless area’s only major hikingtrail runs from the southern boundarynear Ruby Road up Atascosa Peak,passing a fire lookout once manned bychampion-of-the-wild Ed Abbey him-self. Because of the large size of this unit,opportunities to escape the sights andsounds of civilization abound. Scrambleup any of the numerous peaks, lookwest, and your sweat and scratches will

be rewarded by unobstructed natural viewsfor hundreds of miles. But look east, andyou may glimpse beyond a far ridge thesprawling valley settlements whose contin-ued expansions make clear the need to de-fend remaining wild places.

Human history in this area bears all thehallmarks of borderland Wild West. Ar-chaeological remains suggest human pres-ence since at least A.D. 850. When the Span-ish missions arrived in the late 1600’s, thearea was peppered with O’odham villages.Spanish missionary and military installations

at Arivaca, Guevavi (near present-dayNogales), Sopori, Tubac, and Tumacacoribecame sites of cyclical clashes betweenthese relative newcomers and the long-timeindigenous residents. In 1751, O’odhambands succeeded in driving the Spaniards

out of the area, though the Spaniards re-turned and rebuilt over the following de-cades. The next 250 years have seen manyhomesteads, ranches and mines come andgo, changing hands via sale, violence, andsleight of law. Flags flown in the region rep-resented first Spain then Mexico then the

United States.The Gadsden Purchase of 1854 moved

the US-Mexican border from just southof Phoenix down to its present location,which divides our northern block of theTumacacori Highlands from their geo-logically contiguous sisters to the south.Although many of us take the currentborder placement for granted and treatit as though it were an immutable conti-nental division, this area is perhaps asdynamic as ever. Activities peculiar toborders throughout the world—flurriesof commerce, smuggling of people andgoods, patrolling of armed forces, bitterinternational rhetoric, and the blendingof families with their languages and culi-nary and cultural traditions—achieve clas-sical dimensions here.

Under wilderness designation, accessinto the mountains is preserved but theirinterior is protected from injury by forcesmore scarring than feet and horses. Somuch human damage is done unwittingly,as tires crush and gouge without theirdriver breaking a sweat, or as animalswe’d not think of killing intentionally aresmashed under speeding hulks of steel.Wilderness designation also protects alandscape from profit-mongering com-mercial schemes like the powerline fea-tured in this issue, just as it protectsagainst accidental injury.

—Editors note: For a great overview of the his-tory of the Arivaca area, read Mary NoonKasulaits’ 2002 paper in The Smoke Signal, pub-lished by the Tucson Corral of the Westerners.

course of a couple days as more than 20 treeshad been damaged. It was a sad sight, whichI had hoped to never see in this day and age.

We are the friends and protectors of thesewonderful wild places, we do not and cannot understand what these people werethinking, but once again I have to lament thefact that I wasn’t there in time to stop thedestruction. But back out we will go, andwhile I hope I never have to witness some-thing like this, I secretly harbor a wish Iwould. What would I do in that case? Calmlyexplain that what they are doing is wrongand illegal? Yell at them and put myself be-tween them and the object of the their bentdestruction? Or would I follow them home,pee on their flower garden? Chop down theirlandscaping? Bust out their windows?Maybe all of the above!

Enough with the ranting and raving, it’stime to get back out there! We had won-derful trips into Aravaipa Canyon Wilder-ness, the Burro Mountains in New Mexico,and into the Blue Range and Black Riverarea since my last column. We were in theChiricahua Mountains over Labor Dayweekend to look at the boundary of the ex-isting wilderness and to document some

roads just north of it. This fall we will of coursecontinue to visit some of the most beautifulareas in the Sky Island region. TheTumacacori Mountains will be the settingin September to kick off the Sky Island Al-liance push for Wilderness in the area andto finish off the road surveys. In the begin-ning of October we will return to one ofour favorite places, the southern PeloncilloMountains, to do road, riparian area, andbiological surveys to support our push forpermanent protection for the area. In themiddle of October the Burro Mountains willbe the scene of another joint trip with theNew Mexico Wilderness Alliance and theUpper Gila Watershed Alliance, where wealways have way too much fun! We also hopeto have two or three road closure weekendsthis fall, so stay tuned!

In the new year we will visit AravaipaCanyon, Turtle Mountain, the Dos CabezaMountains, the Santa Rita Mountains, theHuachuca Mountains and the San RafaelValley, the Blue Primitive Range, thePeloncillo Mountains, the western PajaritoMountains and the Canelo Hills. So staytuned, stay fit, stay informed, stay active, andstay happy!elegant trogon, by Sky Jacobs

View to the west toward Baboquivari from the Tumacacoris

photo by Trevor Hare


el norte

the creature stirred in springsniffing the air, catching a hintof something familiar come overa long distance. the creature,young and without obligations,moved north through desert washesand over mountain passes, movingswift and sure, pads soft on thebaked Earth, finding water by smell,by genetic memory; traveling mostlyat night, when its dappled hide wasalmost invisible in the light of the moon;avoiding people. heading to el norte.swimming across a river, capturingsmall meals here and there; for milesand miles and miles the creature strode,heading for a place ancestors called home.mountains. a sacred peak. prey. andwater. the young animal brought downa deer and fed, and slept, awaking tothe sound of hounds; gliding swiftly upthe slopes of harsh desert mountains,hiding, until, one day, it was gone.there was a jaguar in the Baboquivarisa few years ago. seen. photographed.and now it is gone. no one knows, orno one tells. but the jaguar is gone.

— Albert Vetere Lannon


In the hierarchy of rivers, the SantaCruz does not place very high, especiallywhen compared to its neighbor, the oncemighty Colorado. For perhaps a half-mil-lion years the Santa Cruz meandered 205miles from its headwaters in the CaneloHills of southern Arizona to its terminusat the Gila River just south of Phoenix.Its route takes it south across the interna-tional border with Mexico until it elbowsnorth again, crossing the border nearNogales, Arizona, and running along theeastern flank of the Tumacacori Moun-tains before passing through Tucson andcontinuing north to the Gila River. In thelate 1800s the Santa Cruz River Valleyattracted many settlers with its prospectsfor good grazing and fertile soil along itsbanks. Even with the threat of violentApache raids, the allure of the river wastoo much for the homesteaders to passup. There is no exact date of when theSanta Cruz actually lost its above surfaceflow. Through a combination of naturalchange to the watershed and human in-fluence on the river, the above surface flowjust gradually disappeared into the sand.

At one time or another I’m sure we’ve all tried to imagine howTucson looked in the past with the multitude of changesthroughout its history. Sure, we can kind of picture the early

settlements down by the base of Sentinel Peak (“A” Mountain), and wecan try to imagine the Santa Cruz as a flowing stream with possible bea-ver dams and lush banks lined with towering cottonwood and sycamoretrees, but with the absence of a photographic history, our imaginationsare left to their own devices. In The Lessening Stream: An Environ-mental History of the Santa Cruz River, Michael Logan gives our imagi-nations a major boost in understanding the history of the Santa CruzRiver and its many changes throughout the years.

In this environmental history of the river,Logan takes an analytical approach in hiswriting and relies on scholars, scientists,and engineers from a wide variety of fieldsfor their insights on the river’s history.

While the book does give a good over-view of the basic geologic and hydrologicprocesses that helped form the SantaCruz, its main focus is on the changinghuman use of the river. For thousandsof years the Santa Cruz nourished an ag-ricultural lifestyle along its banks. Na-tive American farmers, Spanish mission-aries, and Anglo settlers all diverted wa-ter away from the river into their sun-dried fields. Then the Industrial Revo-lution was born and with it came thetechnology to tap the river’s under-ground flow. Still today we pump waterfrom even greater depths, water that hasexisted in the river’s aquifer for morethan 10,000 years. The trees are longsince gone, and newcomers to Tucsonknow the Santa Cruz River now asmerely a dry dusty bed, which fills onlyafter heavy rains and has the potentialto transform itself into a rampaging flood.

The Santa CruzRiver has been, andwill forever be, a riverof change. Geologicevolution will con-tinue to occur along itsbanks and in its water-shed, but the changescaused by humans liv-ing along the river areeven more obviousand especially hazard-ous. We’ve pumpedaway the river’s sur-face flow. We’ve dam-aged the watershed byovergrazing the sur-rounding hillsides andits banks. Unfortu-nately, we are onlynow beginning to un-derstand the ways inwhich we have dam-aged this ancient river.Michael Logan doesan excellent job in hisexhaustive researchon this ever-changing river of the South-west. As small as the Santa Cruz River is,it plays a large role in our understandingof the high profile water issues of the west.If you are interested in the history of theSanta Cruz River, or even the history ofsouthern Arizona as a whole, this book is amust read. If you are interested in waterpolicy issues and a historical overview ofwhat’s happening to one small river run-ning through the Southwest, this book isfor you.

The Santa Cruz still flows. Barring ma-

Michael Logan Chronicles Destruction of the Santa

Cruz Riverby Dennis Pepe, owner of Green Fire Bookshop, Tucson, AZ

jor geologic change in the region, the riverwill continue on. Sure, it may look sadnow with its dry dusty bed and polluted,sporadic running water, but it will survive.Just as the Colorado will one day run freeagain, the Santa Cruz will continue on.The Lessening Stream: An Environmen-tal History of the Santa Cruz River re-minds us that because water has been, andwill remain, a major focus of human activ-ity in the desert, we desperately need amore complete understanding of its placein our lives.

Call for papers:Abstracts due November 15, 2003

Sky Island Alliance is co-sponsoringa major conference on biodiversity andmanagement of our Sky Island region.Mark your callendars, and send in ab-stracts for papers!

In 1994, the landmark conference“Biodiversity and Management of theMadrean Archipelago” was the firstmajor gathering to focus on the uniquefeatures and needs of our region. Thisconference raised a huge amount of in-terest in the Sky Island Region (formallyreferred to as the Madrean Archipelago),bringing together land managers, aca-

Sky Island Alliance co-sponsors four-day conference; calls for papers

demic scientists, naturalists, and membersof the general public to increase apprecia-tion and understanding of the region. A lothas happened in the last 10 years, and it’stime to meet again! [Connecting MountainIslands and Desert Seas is two conferencesin one; it includes the 5th Conference onResearch and Resource Management inSouthwestern Deserts.]

At this event, 15-minute talks will fillfour concurrent sessions on four of thefive conference days. Two separate postersessions will take place on two days of theconference. Short abstracts for talks andposters will appear in the conference pro-gram. Feature-length papers for both talksand posters are due at the time of the con-ference, and will be published following

the conference and distributed to attendees.The USDA Forest Service Rocky Moun-tain Research Station (Southwest Border-lands Ecosystem Research Project) ismaking a major contribution to this con-ference by both funding and publishingthe proceedings.

Our all-star lineup of features, speakers,and topics includes Julio Betancourtspeaking on climate change; LeonardDeBano and Peter Ffolliott, Madrean Ar-chipelago 1994-2004; David Goodrich,San Pedro River watershed; Diana Hadley,comparative land use history; Ann Lynch,insects as agents of change in the Sky Islands;Paul Martin, biogeography and deep history;Gary Nabhan, cultural and natural history;

Biodiversity and Management of the MadrBiodiversity and Management of the MadrBiodiversity and Management of the MadrBiodiversity and Management of the MadrBiodiversity and Management of the Madrean Arean Arean Arean Arean Archipelago II: Connecting Mountain Islands and Deserchipelago II: Connecting Mountain Islands and Deserchipelago II: Connecting Mountain Islands and Deserchipelago II: Connecting Mountain Islands and Deserchipelago II: Connecting Mountain Islands and Desert Seast Seast Seast Seast Seas

May 11-15, 2004 at the DoubletrMay 11-15, 2004 at the DoubletrMay 11-15, 2004 at the DoubletrMay 11-15, 2004 at the DoubletrMay 11-15, 2004 at the Doubletree Hotel in Tee Hotel in Tee Hotel in Tee Hotel in Tee Hotel in Tucson, Arizonaucson, Arizonaucson, Arizonaucson, Arizonaucson, Arizona

and Tom Swetnam, fire history and climatecycles.

For more information on the confer-ence, including conference program (asit develops), instructions to authors onabstracts and paper submissions, costs,scholarships, and accommodations, go towww.skyislandalliance.org and click onBiodiversity and Management of theMadrean Archipelago II: ConnectingMountain Islands and Desert Seas.


• Mexico—the Chihuahua ResearchStation in Janos, and the JaguarProgram in Sonora.

Please make your check out to SkyIsland Alliance, with a note in the Memoline about which fund you’d like tosupport. We’ll make sure your moneygoes to the programs that mean the mostto you, and we’ll send you reports!

All the necessary road closures, track-ing workshops, and wilderness advocacygets done only with extra funding, soplease consider a special donation to oneof the following funds:

• Roads & Restoration,• Wildlife Monitoring (Tracking),• Missing Link,• Wilderness, and

Become a SIA Program

Fund Donor

Stories in recent newsletter issues have featuredprojects in ourRewilding Program: road inventory and restoration, wildernesswork, wildlife monitoring, and ecosystem defense.

Join UsJoin UsJoin UsJoin UsJoin UsSky Island Alliance

If you received this newsletter and it’s time to renew your member-ship, please send in your check! If you are reading a friend’s news-letter, consider joining us! We rely on members for our basic opera-

tions. Contributions are tax-deductible; we are a 501(c)3 organization.Basic membership is only $25, but if you add a little to that, here’s

a sampling of what your dollars can do:•$50 will help us survey 30 miles of roads.•$75 will sponsor volunteer training workshops.•$100 will close one mile of road.

Your Name ________________________________________________

Address____________________________________________________

City ____________________________ State _____ Zip ____________

Phone _______________ E-Mail ______________________________

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!Sky Island Alliance

P.O. 41165Tucson, AZ 85717

SIA Fall 2003 Field SchedulePlease contact the Sky Island Alliance office at 520.624.7080 [email protected] if you are interested in attending anyof the following events.October 03 – 06. Roads, Riparian Areas, and Biological Surveys.October 03 – 06. Roads, Riparian Areas, and Biological Surveys.October 03 – 06. Roads, Riparian Areas, and Biological Surveys.October 03 – 06. Roads, Riparian Areas, and Biological Surveys.October 03 – 06. Roads, Riparian Areas, and Biological Surveys.Peloncillo Mountains and San BerPeloncillo Mountains and San BerPeloncillo Mountains and San BerPeloncillo Mountains and San BerPeloncillo Mountains and San Bernarnarnarnarnardino Vdino Vdino Vdino Vdino Valleyalleyalleyalleyalley. . . . . The Peloncillos are theonly Sky Island mountain range that stretches from Mexico to the GilaRiver! We will be doing a variety of work both in the mountains anddown in the valley. 4.0 hours from Tucson.October 17 –20. Joint New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and Sky IslandOctober 17 –20. Joint New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and Sky IslandOctober 17 –20. Joint New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and Sky IslandOctober 17 –20. Joint New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and Sky IslandOctober 17 –20. Joint New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and Sky IslandAlliance TAlliance TAlliance TAlliance TAlliance Trip to the Burrip to the Burrip to the Burrip to the Burrip to the Burrrrrro Mountains.o Mountains.o Mountains.o Mountains.o Mountains. Help us finish the roads surveys ofthe Burro’s, a gorgeous mountain range just south and west of Silver City.3.0 hours from Tucson.October 25. VOctober 25. VOctober 25. VOctober 25. VOctober 25. Volunteer and Supporolunteer and Supporolunteer and Supporolunteer and Supporolunteer and Supporter Apprter Apprter Apprter Apprter Appreciation Dayeciation Dayeciation Dayeciation Dayeciation Day. On the T. On the T. On the T. On the T. On the TanqueanqueanqueanqueanqueVVVVVerererererde Wde Wde Wde Wde Wash! ash! ash! ash! ash! Join the Sky Island Alliance staff and board as we cook,brew, and sing for our supporters! Food, drinks, live entertainment willbe provided. Camping on-site is available. Eastern edge of Tucson.November 07 – 09.November 07 – 09.November 07 – 09.November 07 – 09.November 07 – 09. Road Closure and Restoration Project .Road Closure and Restoration Project .Road Closure and Restoration Project .Road Closure and Restoration Project .Road Closure and Restoration Project . Get yourhands dirty and play a direct role in improving the ecological health of yourpublic lands! Contact Matt at [email protected] for more info.November 22. Fiesta de Las Islas benefit. November 22. Fiesta de Las Islas benefit. November 22. Fiesta de Las Islas benefit. November 22. Fiesta de Las Islas benefit. November 22. Fiesta de Las Islas benefit. Join Sky Island Alliance as wecelebrate the “Islands” and raise money for our outstanding programs.Food, live bands, drink, fun, and frivolity! At the Wilson House in Tuc-son. Watch our website for details!December 05 – 07. TDecember 05 – 07. TDecember 05 – 07. TDecember 05 – 07. TDecember 05 – 07. Turururururtle Mountain Roads Inventortle Mountain Roads Inventortle Mountain Roads Inventortle Mountain Roads Inventortle Mountain Roads Inventoryyyyy. Join the Sky Is-land Alliance in one of the most gorgeous areas of central Arizona. Birdsgalore! Flowing Water! Great Wilderness potential! Threatened by min-ing and ORV use. We will be looking at the wild northern boundary. 3.0hours from Tucson.

Sky Island Alliance invites you to;Winter in the DesertWinter in the DesertWinter in the DesertWinter in the DesertWinter in the Desert

A benefit gathering to celebrate good friends and wild places!December 13December 13December 13December 13December 13ththththth, 2003, , 2003, , 2003, , 2003, , 2003, 2 pm2 pm2 pm2 pm2 pm

In the Old YMCA courtyard, north entranceYou are cordially invited to an afternoon holiday reception, art show and

silent auction. We will be serving wine and hor d’ourves. Meet Bob VanDeven, andsee the Sky Islands through his eyes. He has donated a special selection of his worksfor a silent auction to benefit the Sky Island Alliance. This will be VanDeven’spremier show in Tucson. We will host local musicians for your entertainment.

Thank you for your support,David Hodges, Executive Director

Wish List• Comfortable office chairs in good condition

• Table-top paper cutter

• Office supplies: copier paper, postage stamps, etc.

Thanks, Tim, for the computer monitor! It’s great!

Track large mammals in the Peloncillo corridor!Track large mammals in the Peloncillo corridor!Track large mammals in the Peloncillo corridor!Track large mammals in the Peloncillo corridor!Track large mammals in the Peloncillo corridor!

SIA to hold next WWWWWildlife Monitoring Wildlife Monitoring Wildlife Monitoring Wildlife Monitoring Wildlife Monitoring Workshoporkshoporkshoporkshoporkshop at The Nature Conservancy’sLitchy Center in Gila, NM, November 7- 9 November 7- 9 November 7- 9 November 7- 9 November 7- 9 and December 6- 7, 2003December 6- 7, 2003December 6- 7, 2003December 6- 7, 2003December 6- 7, 2003.

Sky Island Alliance is seeking dedicated “grassroots naturalists” who can commit to anexciting conservation program on a long-term basis and monitor transects in our newproject area–the Peloncillo Mountains. Volunteers will adopt transects located nearStein Pass or Antelope Pass.

Wildlife Monitoring Program volunteers monitor the presence of large mammals,such as mountain lion, black bear, jaguar, and Mexican gray wolf between the mountainranges of the Sky Island region. Volunteers collect data by conducting “track surveys”where they search for and document signs left by wildlife. Volunteers must follow strictguidelines and adhere to a six-week survey interval to ensure the scientific viability of ourdata. Collected data strengthen Sky Island Alliance’s efforts to advocate for protectionof important wildlife corridors.

During the training workshop, regional wildlife experts join SIA staff to teach track-ing techniques and wildlife sign recognition–such as the difference between canineand feline tracks. Workshop participants learn where to look for sign and about theecology and behavior of local mammal species. Classroom instruction is supplementedwith field trips.

To qualify for the program you must attend all five days of the training workshop.Once a transect is assigned, volunteers must commit to a full day of transect monitoringevery six weeks. Volunteers form permanent teams of three to four volunteers. To ac-commodate team members’ busy lives, the every six-week survey schedule is cushionedby a two-week window.

If you are interested in our Fall 2003 New Mexico workshop, please contact JaniceJaniceJaniceJaniceJanicePrPrPrPrPrzybyl, Wzybyl, Wzybyl, Wzybyl, Wzybyl, Wildlife Monitoring Prildlife Monitoring Prildlife Monitoring Prildlife Monitoring Prildlife Monitoring Program Coorogram Coorogram Coorogram Coorogram Coordinatordinatordinatordinatordinator, at [email protected], at [email protected], at [email protected], at [email protected], at [email protected] (520) 624-7080 x203.or (520) 624-7080 x203.or (520) 624-7080 x203.or (520) 624-7080 x203.or (520) 624-7080 x203.

Fiesta de las Islas—Celebrating the Sky IslandsFiesta de las Islas—Celebrating the Sky IslandsFiesta de las Islas—Celebrating the Sky IslandsFiesta de las Islas—Celebrating the Sky IslandsFiesta de las Islas—Celebrating the Sky Islands

SaturSaturSaturSaturSaturdaydaydaydayday, November 22, 3:00 p.m.-late…, November 22, 3:00 p.m.-late…, November 22, 3:00 p.m.-late…, November 22, 3:00 p.m.-late…, November 22, 3:00 p.m.-late…

Celebrating the music, dancing, food and drink from the Sky Islands Celebrating the music, dancing, food and drink from the Sky Islands Celebrating the music, dancing, food and drink from the Sky Islands Celebrating the music, dancing, food and drink from the Sky Islands Celebrating the music, dancing, food and drink from the Sky Islandsecoregion!ecoregion!ecoregion!ecoregion!ecoregion! Location: Location: Location: Location: Location: The W The W The W The W The Wilson Courilson Courilson Courilson Courilson Courtyartyartyartyartyarddddd, (outdoors) 405 N. W, (outdoors) 405 N. W, (outdoors) 405 N. W, (outdoors) 405 N. W, (outdoors) 405 N. Wilson. On theilson. On theilson. On theilson. On theilson. On thecorcorcorcorcorner of 7th St. and Wner of 7th St. and Wner of 7th St. and Wner of 7th St. and Wner of 7th St. and Wilson Ailson Ailson Ailson Ailson Ave. 2 blocks west of Tve. 2 blocks west of Tve. 2 blocks west of Tve. 2 blocks west of Tve. 2 blocks west of Tucson Blvd.ucson Blvd.ucson Blvd.ucson Blvd.ucson Blvd. A benefit for the A benefit for the A benefit for the A benefit for the A benefit for the Sky Island AllianceSky Island AllianceSky Island AllianceSky Island AllianceSky Island Alliance. Admission: $10 for entry ,. Admission: $10 for entry ,. Admission: $10 for entry ,. Admission: $10 for entry ,. Admission: $10 for entry ,Sonoran cuisine and a trial membership with the Sky Island Alliance, $5Sonoran cuisine and a trial membership with the Sky Island Alliance, $5Sonoran cuisine and a trial membership with the Sky Island Alliance, $5Sonoran cuisine and a trial membership with the Sky Island Alliance, $5Sonoran cuisine and a trial membership with the Sky Island Alliance, $5for for for for for SIASIASIASIASIA members. Children under 12 FREE. Many thanks and we’ll see members. Children under 12 FREE. Many thanks and we’ll see members. Children under 12 FREE. Many thanks and we’ll see members. Children under 12 FREE. Many thanks and we’ll see members. Children under 12 FREE. Many thanks and we’ll seeyou soon! you soon! you soon! you soon! you soon! Sky Island AllianceSky Island AllianceSky Island AllianceSky Island AllianceSky Island Alliance – Protecting our mountain islands and – Protecting our mountain islands and – Protecting our mountain islands and – Protecting our mountain islands and – Protecting our mountain islands anddesert seas. Thank you for your support! desert seas. Thank you for your support! desert seas. Thank you for your support! desert seas. Thank you for your support! desert seas. Thank you for your support! For more information, 520-624-For more information, 520-624-For more information, 520-624-For more information, 520-624-For more information, 520-624-7080, www7080, www7080, www7080, www7080, www.skyislandalliance.or.skyislandalliance.or.skyislandalliance.or.skyislandalliance.or.skyislandalliance.org or [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected]


Sky Island AllianceP.O. Box 41165

Tucson, AZ 85717

Sky Islands Wilderness

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PPPPPAIDAIDAIDAIDAID

Permit # 1156Tucson, AZ

Friends of the Tumacacori Highlands, an ad-hoc coalition of land-owners, conservation organizations, and other concerned individualsis spearheading the effort to permanently protect this area underwilderness designation. For more information, check outwww.tumacacoriwild.org or email [email protected].

The Tumacacori Highlands

The Tumacacori Highlands are celebrated for their spectacularlichen-drenched cliffs, undulating hills of grass and Madrean oaks,and sharp-cut canyon streams. The mix of subtropical and north-

ern plants and animals that typifies all our Madrean SkyIslands is skewedhere toward the tropical. Ball moss—a relative of pineapples—hangs fromtreebranches climbed by coatamundi and ringtail cats. Just two yearsago, remote cameras snapped the fleeting form of a jaguar in an isolatedpart of this region. Indeed, these mountains host more than 50 sensitivespecies—one of the highest concentrations of rare and imperiled plants andanimals in the Southwest, including several species that exist nowhereelse in the US.

The Tumacacori Highlands—a complexof small ranges known as Tumacacori,Atascosa, and Pajarito Mountains—sit onthe western edge of the Sky Islandbioregion. The mountains are northernextensions of a continuous chain of mid-elevation uplands that connect to other SkyIsland ranges in Mexico, making them anatural movement corridor for wildlife. Itis also the largest unprotected National For-est roadless are in Arizona. Wilderness des-ignation will defend the area against bothcurrent and future threats, protecting its richnatural history and allowing the commu-nities of southeast Arizona to appreciatethis landscape in its truly wild characterfor generations to come.

Rising from 3,500 to 6,400 feet in eleva-tion, its grassy hills are shadowed by tow-ering cliffs and cut by canyons that hideastonishing flashes of waterside greenery.Rolling hills pour runoff back into inter-nal drainages, leaving hidden pools andsprings amidst the parched-looking cliffs.Surely water in such a place is as ephem-

eral as a mirage, yet these streams harbornative fishes. The range’s endangeredSonora chub is found nowhere else in theUnited States. What rain makes it past thefish’s plunge pools soon washes east intothe Santa Cruz River, or south intoMexico. This southern range barelyreaches high enough for pines, but steepdrainages pull down higher, colder air thanthe daytime heat portends.

The Tumacacori Highlands borrowmany of their fascinating species from thesubtropics to the south. Yellow-billed cuck-oos, elegant trogons, Mexican vine snakes,Sonora chubs, and gray hawks may besighted on any given day. Animals withbroader distributions in the US also findthis area particularly valuable. The GhostRanch lineage of Mexican wolves, one ofthree lineages used to establish today’s lobopopulation, was sired by a male wolf caughtin the Tumacacoris in 1959. More recently,AZ Game and Fish’s assessment for Mexi-can grey wolf reintroduction ranked the

continued on page 12

photo by Bob V

anDeven

Documents

INSIDE: Tumacacori Highlands: threats and · PDF fileFall 2003 Sky Island Alliance 1 Newsletter of the Sky Island Alliance Vol. 6 Issue 3 Fall 2003 Peck Canyon, Tumacacori Highlands