Southern Arizona residents, activists and organizations are working with federal officials to designate part of the Santa Cruz River as Arizona’s first urban National Wildlife Refuge.
The federal designation ensures future protection of critical habitat following recent revitalization.
Prominent landowner Andrew Jackson, who owns thousands of acres of critical habitat, is also participating in the effort. Continue backlash Last year, he began working with an organization in the town of Liorico after receiving a request for rezoning from residents who feared a mine would be brought to their town. Santa Cruz River Conservancy Alliance to preserve part of his land adjacent to the river.
“It was kind of a call to action to take care of (the land) and put it in the hands of people who can sustain it over the long term,” Jackson said, adding that he believes in regenerative farming practices and water conservation. He pointed out that he was investing.
In September, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in collaboration with the Santa Cruz River Conservancy Coalition, developed a landscape protection design to begin the process of proposing an “Urban Partnership” program in Tucson, creating a new riverfront design. The possibility of establishing a national wildlife sanctuary was considered. Santa Cruz River.
The agency manages more than 100 wildlife sanctuaries in the state that are within 40 kilometers of population centers of more than 250,000 people. Currently, only one urban wildlife refuge exists in the Southwest, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Santa Cruz River will become Arizona’s first urban national wildlife refuge.
The Santa Cruz River Conservancy Coalition wants an “archipelago” of protected properties at risk of development along the Santa Cruz River, stretching from the U.S.-Mexico border to the northern tip of Pima County. Coalition members say the designation will provide permanent wildlife habitat, outdoor access and ecotourism.
The protected area includes high Sonoran Desert scrub habitat, canyons that provide habitat connectivity, and approximately 11 miles of riparian habitat approximately 40 miles south of Tucson.
“We are excited about how the National Wildlife Refuge System continues to work with partners, elected officials, tribes, and other stakeholders to identify conservation opportunities in the Tucson and Santa Cruz River regions. We’re excited,” said Amanda McAdams, regional director for the National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Region.
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Why landowners support this project
Volunteer organizer Logan Phillips said urban wildlife refuges offer another option for landowners who own land on both sides of the Santa Cruz River channel who want to sell their properties but don’t see development. He said he would give it.
“We know there are landowners across the river channel who want their land permanently protected,” Phillips said.
Mr. Jackson is one such landowner. He owns a historic property known as Baca Float #3. This is a remnant of a Spanish land grant given to Luis María Cabeza de Vaca in 1818 for his services to the King of Spain. The land became part of Mexico after Mexico gained independence from Spain, and then part of the United States with the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.
Located in the heart of one of the most sensitive and biologically rich regions in the United States, this historic landmark includes 19 miles of the Santa Cruz River, 9 miles of the Josephine Canyon Wildlife Corridor, and more than 4,700 acres of San Cayetano Mountain. Masu.
After a community meeting was held earlier this year about an unpopular rezoning request for another piece of land, Jackson said the community is considering how Santa Cruz County’s natural landscape should be preserved now that mining pressure is mounting in the area. He said he realized how much he wanted to preserve it.
“In our lifetime, we need to get this into the hands of someone who can preserve it longer than it is here,” Jackson said of his property.
The coalition says it hopes establishing this designation will help protect the progress already being made to improve the river’s conditions. The designation will also protect critical green space, preserve wildlife connectivity and continue to ensure local communities have equitable access to the river, coalition member Sonora Institute said.
The coalition has support from local officials who are some of the group’s founding members, including Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva and Tucson City Council members Kevin Dahl and Lane Santa Cruz. .
What happened to the river?
The Santa Cruz River was once a flowing desert oasis, watering meadows and miles of trees. Accounts from the mid-1800s. The river’s floodplain also contains some of the earliest recorded instances of irrigation in the Southwest. As Tucson and other southern Arizona communities grew, diversions and groundwater pumping lowered the water table and caused rivers to dry up, he said. central arizona project.
In recent years, the area has been revitalized by sewerage facilities that drain reclaimed water into the river. The facilities will provide 55 miles of perennial streams and improve water quality, vegetation and wildlife populations, according to American Rivers, a national organization dedicated to protecting stream habitat. In April, the organization named the Santa Cruz River one of the most endangered rivers in the United States by 2024.
The site of Baca Float #3 in upper Santa Cruz County reflects what the river once looked like. In its landscape design report, the association describes the property as featuring “flowing water, a mature gallery forest, and dappled sunlight filtering through a shady understory.” Other examples of abundant rivers can be seen in lower Pima County at Sweetwater Wetland Park and at properties near Roger Road where reclaimed water is released.
The area of the river currently receiving reclaimed water includes 24 miles near Nogales from Rio Rico to Amado. 1 mile in downtown Tucson. 37 miles northwest from Tucson to Marana. One mile south of Tucson, highly treated water is being released from the Tucson Restoration Project.
The importance of restoring the Santa Cruz River
Phillips called the Santa Cruz River and other riparian corridors “wildlife superhighways.” A riparian area is land adjacent to a river or stream. Although they cover only 2 percent of the land area, the Southwest has the highest density and abundance of plants and animals of all habitat types, according to the National Park Service.
The Santa Cruz River is home to several federally listed species, including the southwestern willow flycatcher, western yellow-billed cuckoo, and Mexican garter snake. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the area is also connected to critical habitat for jaguars and Chiricahua leopard frogs, as well as birds of “conservation concern” that use riparian corridors for breeding and migration.
The Santa Cruz River is also an important part of the region’s indigenous history.
“The Ali Aku (Santa Cruz River) brought human, plant and animal life to this region of our Mother Earth. That’s why our ancestors thrived in this region for thousands of years. ,” San Xavier District President Austin Nunez wrote in the project design documents submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “We have exploited river and aquifer water for the past several decades, but now is the time to restore the river to its pre-population state for the benefit of us and those who remain. It’s coming. It’s coming,” he wrote.
The Waku Hikdan Riverbank Restoration Project in the San Xavier District on Tohono O’odham lands served as a model for the coalition.
The Wa:k Hikdan project used water from the Colorado River to restore riparian habitat in the San Xavier neighborhood just south of downtown Tucson. central arizona project. The coalition said that as a result of the Wak Hikdan project, trees have regrown, vegetation has become abundant again and animals have returned. The project brought the community together in the process and served as a model for the Santa Cruz River Evacuation Plan.
Mr. Phillips reiterated that the importance of having nature reserves is not only important for flora and fauna, but also for communities that have historically been excluded from wild places.
“What I love about the designation of urban wildlife areas is that people are part of the solution, and communities of color who have been excluded from access to wild spaces can benefit from this wildlife conservation. “The district’s intent is to invite them into these spaces,” Phillips said. Environmental racism in groundwater south of Tucson and urban renewal in the 1960s..
Following the approval of the Urban Wildlife Area’s Landscape Protection Design, the U.S. Forest and Wildlife Service and its partners will conduct conservation and land conservation efforts in the Tucson and Santa Cruz River Corridor areas on September 24 and September 25. Hold an interactive workshop.
Here’s where to contact the reporter: sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republic’s southern Arizona coverage is funded in part by a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation. supportjournalism.azcentral.com.
