FLAGSTAFF – A group of environmentalists is appealing a plan by the U.S. Forest Service to log an area north of the Grand Canyon.

It’s the second logging plan on the Kaibab National Forest that conservationists have challenged this year. Both sites are within an area where 58,000 acres burned in 2006.

The plan approved in March calls for logging on 9,100 acres and the planting of conifer trees on nearly 10,000 acres in an effort to restore forest conditions.

Conservationists say the plan makes no sense economically or ecologically. They say it would erode soil, damage habitat for the threatened Mexican spotted owl and increase the potential for wildfires.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and WildEarth Guardians signed on to the appeal filed Thursday.

FLAGSTAFF – A federal appeals court has ruled that a woman who started part of the largest wildfire in Arizona history must exhaust remedies in a tribal court.

Valinda Jo Elliott was lost on White Mountain Apache land for two days in 2002 when she started a blaze to get the attention of a television news helicopter. That fire merged into the Rodeo-Chediski fire.

She wasn’t criminally prosecuted, but the tribe brought a civil case against her.

After she tried unsuccessfully to have the case dismissed in tribal courts, she turned to a federal district court.

That court held that Elliott must exhaust her tribal court remedies and dismissed the case without prejudice.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling Thursday.

TUCSON – A wildfire burning in eastern Arizona near the New Mexico border is 15 to 20 percent contained. The fire started Tuesday afternoon located north-northwest of Springerville.

The Arizona State Forestry Division says the fire has burned 5,000 acres. Unburned interior islands will continue to flare up throughout the night with visible flames, officials said.

The fire started along the north side of U.S. 60 and is burning grassland and shrubs.

Winds have begun to decrease and will likely continue decreasing to 10 mph or less Wednesday morning. Very dry conditions will continue into Wednesday and Thursday. Lighter southwest breezes are expected with continued above average daytime highs.

Motorists are advised to exercise extreme caution within the vicinity of this fire due to the presence of multiple emergency response vehicles.

The Arizona Trail Association is requesting help in winning a $50,000 grant for a trail project in Saguaro National Park-Rincon Mountain District.

Through midnight May 31, citizens may vote twice daily among five national finalists for this Redwood Creek Greater Outdoors Project grant. Redwood Creek, a California winery, will give the money to the project receiving the most votes.

Anyone may vote once a day online and once a day by text message. To vote online, visit www.blazethetrail.com/greatoutdoors/vote. Send text message votes to 39668 with the voting code “trail.”

The grant money would fund the Saguaro National Park Connector Trail, a five-mile stretch of the Arizona Trail into the park that must be constructed by hand due to its remoteness and the rugged landscape.

The trail would allow access into backcountry areas and protect a sensitive riparian area.

For more information, visit www.aztrail.org.

SIERRA VISTA — Fire officials say winds cooperated Thursday in holding down a wildfire in southeastern Arizona and the blaze near Sierra Vista should be contained Saturday.

Incident management team spokeswoman Jonetta Holt says officials estimated the Canelo fire would be 80 percent contained by nightfall. It burned 4,208 acres as of Thursday, having destroyed three homes and burned a man listed in critical condition at the Maricopa Burn Center in Phoenix.

Crews focused on mopping up interior hot spots.

Holt says the blaze that began in grass and brush Tuesday, also burning five outbuildings and six vehicles, no longer threatened any structures.

Residents evacuated from a subdivision near Fort Huachuca returned home Wednesday.

SIERRA VISTA – Officials say generally calm winds helped keep a southeastern Arizona wildfire near Sierra Vista in check Wednesday, a day after it destroyed three homes and burned a man.

Authorities had feared that winds would pick up and drive the human-caused Canelo fire northeast again.

The blaze was 25 percent contained at 4,000 acres. It destroyed five outbuildings and six vehicles Tuesday. Residents evacuated from some of about 50 homes in a subdivision near Fort Huachuca returned Wednesday.

A spokesman at the Maricopa Burn Center in Phoenix listed the man airlifted with third-degree burns as in guarded condition.

Officials say crews made significant progress in controlling hot spots and in digging containment lines.

Forecast calls for triple digits, 2 weeks early

City employee Mike Botkin talks about the heat as he works at Sunset Park Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday, the temperature is predicted to reach 100 degrees here for the first time this year.

Summer is still six weeks away, but the heat is already here.

The National Weather Service is predicting temperatures will hit 100 Thursday, which would tie for the sixth earliest date on record for Tucson’s first 100-degree day. The last time it was 100 on May 7 was in 1895.

Tucson’s earliest 100-degree day was April 19, 1989. The latest came on June 22, 1905. The average is May 26.

“I think we’ve got a really good shot at hitting it. I want to say about a 95 percent chance,” said Steven Reedy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “Usually at this time of year, temperatures average about 86 degrees in the first week of May.”

But, Reedy said, “We’re running about 10 degrees above average now.”

A high-pressure ridge stretching across the western United States has brought the heat, said meteorologist Mic Sherwood of the National Weather Service.

Now that we know it’s getting hot – what do people do?

“I stay in air conditioning,” Reedy said.

That’s good news for Louise Ayers’ business, A & D Air Conditioning & Refrigeration.

“It (hot weather) speeds it (business) up a little bit,” said Ayers who co-owns the business with her husband and son.

Despite the grim economy, Ayers said her business already has started to pick up because of the heat.

While many customers call for seasonal service as early as March, others don’t call until it gets hot, they turn on their air conditioner and find that it doesn’t work right, Ayers said.

Ayers agrees with Reedy – when it gets hot, stay indoors.

“I stay in the house. We have air conditioning and . . . I stay where it’s nice and cool,” she said.

It’s also expensive.

As air conditioners kick on across the city, homeowners’ electrical use jumps from an average of about 600 kilowatt hours in March to about 1,400 kilowatt hours in July, at a cost of some $140 a month for the average Tucson homeowner, said Joe Salkowski, a Tucson Electric Power Co. spokesman.

Water bills also increase.

In January, Tucsonans pay an average $17.04 for water, said Vikki Hibberd, a Tucson Water spokeswoman.

But in July, the average home water bill rises to $24.72 she said.

And if you own a pool. . .

“Pool business picks up,” said Tim Fellhauer, owner of Presidio Pool & Spa. “It (higher temperatures) does help my business.”

Jose Herrera, owner of Umbrella Roofing, definitely is not looking forward to, if it occurs, 100 degrees in Tucson on Thursday.

“When it’s real warm, for roofers, it’s real warm, real hot. It’s terrible,” said Herrera, who has been in the roofing business 23 years. “We have to have a lot of water. I know how it feels to be up on that roof.”

As the run-up to 100 degrees inched along, Mike Botkin, a groundskeeper with the city’s Parks & Recreation Department, cleared leaves and branches from Sunset Park in front of City Hall on Wednesday.

When the temperature reaches 100, Botkin said, “You stay cool as much as you can, drink plenty of water, take your breaks.”

Botkin, 47, was working in the sun at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the tiny park. He wore blue denim shorts, a light blue T-shirt and a wide-brimmed straw hat. The high Wednesday was 98, according to the National Weather Service.

“I don’t mind it, you get used to it,” Botkin said. But “I prefer for it to be back in the 80s.”

After work, Botkin said he will go home, “jump in the pool and turn the air conditioner on.”

Timothy Pease, an unemployed tool maker, said 100-degree weather is “a fact of life here in Tucson.”

As Pease, 58, sat and read a book in the shade of a downtown bus stop, he said that when the temperature hits 100, he will avoid being outside as much as possible.

“It’s a little brutal” when it gets that hot, Pease said. “I find the shade, stay in air conditioning.”

Because he’s unemployed, Pease said, he uses his air conditioner less than he used to so as he can save money.

George Ballesteros, 49, a clerk at the Pima County Public Defenders Office, said of the predicted heat for Thursday,”It just makes it seem that summer drags on and on.

Ballesteros said that on Thursday he will avoid doing yard work after 10 or 11 a.m.

And take cold showers “for sure,” he said.

Liz Brown walks through El Presidio Park Wednesday afternoon while trying to avoid the sun.

Timothy Pease, 58, finds some shade as he waits at a bus stop in front of the Old Pima County Courthouse, 115 N. Church Ave.

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Saving energy

Tucson Electric Power’s tips on how to save energy and money:

• Use ceiling or oscillating fans to keep air moving, so you feel cooler without increasing air conditioner use.

• Caulking around door frames and installing weatherstripping around door openings are inexpensive and highly effective means of saving energy.

• Replace traditional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) that carry the Energy Star label. Energy Star-qualified CFLs use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. They also generate about 75 percent less heat, so they can cut energy costs associated with home cooling.

• Don’t block vents or ducts inside the house. Maintaining clear air paths allows your cooling and heating systems to work more efficiently.

• About 80 to 85 percent of the energy involved in washing clothes is used to heat the water. There are two good ways to reduce the amount of energy used for washing clothes – use less water and lower the temperature. Switching your temperature setting from hot to warm can cut energy use in half.

• The U.S. Department of Energy recommends thermostat settings of 78 degrees in the summer and 68 degrees in the winter.

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Water-saving tips

• Use gray water from your washer, bathtubs, showers and bath sinks to irrigate your landscape.

• Put new washers in faucets to stop drips and save up to 50 gallons a day.

• Replace the faulty flapper on the toilet. A running toilet can waste up to 100 gallons of water a day.

• A little soil can make the rain work for you. Build a berm or dig a shallow channel to direct rainwater to your plants. Also, a tree well helps keep water where the tree can use it.

• Gutters, downspouts and cisterns can help store rainwater for use over a longer period of time.

• Water yards early in the morning or in the late evening when it is cooler and more water will soak into the ground instead of evaporating.

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On the Web

For more information on the weather, Tucson Water or Tucson Electric Co., visit the following Web sites:

National Weather Service at: www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast

Tucson Electric Power at: www.tucsonelectric.com

Tucson Water at: www.tucsonaz.gov/water

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EARLIEST DATES TO HIT 100 DEGREES

1. April 19, 1989

2. April 27, 1992

April 27, 1910

4. April 30, 1943

5. May 2, 1947

6.* May 7, 1895

7. May 8, 2001

8. May 9, 1984

May 9, 1934

May 9, 1923

May 9, 1900

* The National Weather Service predicts the 100 mark could be hit Thursday, tying for sixth-earliest on record.

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LATEST DATES TO HIT 100 DEGREES

1. June 22, 1905

2. June 19, 1962

3. June 17, 1967

4. June 16, 1972

5. June 15, 1971

6. June 14, 1931

7. June 13, 1945

8. June 12, 1979

9. June 11, 1953

10. June 10, 1982

June 10 1961

June 10, 1950

Average first occurrence of 100 degrees in Tucson from 1895-2008 is May 26.

Spikedace, loach minnow may get bigger set-aside area

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A federal judge has ruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can reconsider the designation of several hundred miles of riverbed in New Mexico and Arizona as critical habitat for two threatened fish species.

The agency’s original habitat designation for the spikedace and loach minnow will remain in place while federal biologists determine whether the fish need more habitat set aside under a ruling filed Tuesday by Senior U.S. District Judge John Conway.

Embroiled in litigation, the Fish and Wildlife Service filed a motion earlier this year seeking to take a new look at the species’ habitat needs.

The agency cited a Department of Interior inspector general’s report that found potential political interference by a former deputy assistant Interior secretary, Julie MacDonald. She resigned in 2007 after the inspector general concluded she pressured federal scientists to alter findings on certain matters before the Fish and Wildlife Service.

In his ruling, Conway discussed the report, which states that MacDonald selected one of several potential critical habitat designations for the two fish and wanted to make the area set aside for the species “as small as possible.”

“Upon examination of the portion of the IG report relevant to this case, it appears that the problem with the existing final rule is more likely that its designation of critical habitat was not expansive enough,” Conway said.

It was not immediately clear when the Fish and Wildlife Service would begin reviewing the critical habitat designation for the fish. An agency spokesman did not return phone messages seeking comment.

A coalition of counties in the two states and the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association had sued over the original habitat designation, saying the Fish and Wildlife Service overstepped its bounds and failed to adhere to requirements of the Endangered Species Act in setting aside the critical habitat.

The groups argued that the original designation should be vacated while the agency reconsiders the matter.

The agency and conservationists argued that the fish needed the protections afforded by critical habitat until the agency makes a final decision.

Noah Greenwald of the Center for Biological Diversity said nonnative species are a big threat to the fish as well as stream degradation due to grazing and water withdrawal.

“Really, the whole aquatic fauna of the Southwest is headed toward extinction,” he said.

The spikedace and loach minnow have been eliminated from more than 80 percent of their historic ranges in Arizona and New Mexico. They were once common throughout much of the Verde, Salt, San Pedro and Gila rivers.

The counties and the cattle growers had argued that restrictions stemming from the critical habitat designation prohibited landowners from making improvements on their property and put them at risk for flooding.

The Pacific Legal Foundation, which filed the action on behalf of the counties, said Fish and Wildlife ignored its duty to consider the economic impact of the designation.

But Conway ruled that it would be “least disruptive” to allow the existing habitat designation to remain in effect pending the Fish and Wildlife Service review.

Damien Schiff, an attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, said Wednesday his clients may consider filing a motion asking the judge to reconsider his dismissal of their claims.

“The best case scenario at the end of the remand period is a designation that retains the basic contours of the current designation, that is, things don’t worsen any further for our clients,” he said. “Worse case scenario is that the designation on remand becomes much larger, in which case the injuries that our clients are suffering just become worse.”

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On the Web

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

www.fws.gov/southwest

Center for Biological Diversity:

www.biologicaldiversity.org

FLAGSTAFF – A group of conservationists says pollution from a coal-fired power plant is clouding views of the Grand Canyon, and they want the federal government to do something about it.

A petition filed by the conservationists Tuesday asks the National Park Service to declare that particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions from the Navajo Generating Station near Page are harming air quality.

The group said the declaration could trigger a reduction in emissions at the plant, improve visibility and safeguard the public’s health.

The plant is operated by the Salt River Project, which supplies water and power to the Phoenix area. Kevin Wanttaja, manager of environmental services for SRP, said the agency has submitted a plan to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 40 percent. No cuts in particulate matter are planned.

Roger Clark of the Grand Canyon Trust, which is among the petitioners, commended SRP for volunteering to retrofit its three units at the plant with nitrogen oxide controls by 2011. But he said it’s not enough. The best available control technology would cut such emissions by 80 percent to 90 percent, he said.

Students’ eco-friendly model of a futuristic school complex wins $2,000 national prize

Imago Dei Middle School students (from left) Monique Andrade, 13, Sergio Acosta, 12, Riley Breedlove, 12, and Anthony Barcelo, 12, won an award in the School of the Future Design Competition.

It is a school of 38 students, all from low-income families.

Yet students from this Tucson powerhouse, Imago Dei Middle School, traveled to Washington, D.C., last week and came home with a $2,000 national first-place award in the School of the Future Design Competition.

Imago Dei’s project of a school complex incorporated solar energy, shade sails, water harvesting and greenhouses for urban agriculture. There also was a community resource center to bring the neighborhood into the school community.

“We made ‘we believe’ statements in terms of social justice and sustainability and made designs out of what we believe,” said Linda Cato, the visual arts specialist in charge of the team.

She said every student at the Episcopalian school at 639 N. Sixth Ave. participated. The four who presented the project were seventh-grader Monique Andrade, 13, and sixth-graders Sergio Acosta, Anthony Barcelo and Riley Breedlove, all 12.

It was the first time Monique and Sergio had ever been on a plane. Anthony had flown once before – to the same national competition last year, when the school took third place. “Last year we talked a lot about good stuff, but this year we decided we had to show it in the model,” he said.

One feature of the eight-months-long project was hybrid adobe, a judge’s favorite. “The sixth-graders made them out of paper pulp, mud, clay, plant fiber, glass and a little bit of cement,” Riley said.

Monique said recycled denim was used for insulation and recycled plastic water bottle formed into panels for doors. Even the use of slides, a merry-go-round and swings on the playground supplies energy to the solar panels, Sergio said.

“When we went to the competition, we saw that some of the other projects were a lot bigger than ours, and we thought they might win,” Monique said. “But we had decided we didn’t need to design something big. We wanted it to be sustainable.”

Throughout the year the students walked to the University of Arizona to visit with architecture students, who gave them some pointers. They also were mentored by architects from the firm ABA Architects.

Now, all three boys want to become architects, setting their sights on UA, Virginia Tech and Massachusetts Institute of Technology But not Monique. She wants to go to Harvard Law.

The Rev. Anne Sawyer, head of school, said the ambitions are spawned by success. “The ability of our students to win academic competitions on a national level demonstrates the incredible potential of all children when they’re put in a position to succeed.”

Imago Dei pupils win top design honor

A close-up of part of the design for an innovative, eco-friendly school building.

Proper protection and detection can allow you – and your skin – to live in harmony with the sun.

The Arizona Cancer Center’s Skin Cancer Institute will show you how this weekend.

Events to promote sun safety, awareness and skin cancer prevention will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, said Robin Harris, deputy director at the institute.

“Southeast Arizona has some of the highest skin cancer rates, other than Australia,” Harris said.

“Skin cancer is a treatable disease if found early,” she said. “Our goal is to make changes in the community.”

Arizona in 2008 had 1,380 new cases of melanoma, a skin cancer that can quickly spread to other parts of the body.

“Melanoma is deadly. If you have a more advanced case, the survival rate is not good,” said Heather Hiscox, a cancer research specialist.

The event will feature skin cancer screenings days, Harris said.

Eight volunteer dermatologists will do full-body exams, and advise people with suspicious skin features to seek further medical attention, she said.

The skin exams can accommodate about 100 people per day on a first-come, first-served basis, she said.

Attendees also can get an ultraviolet photo of their face taken, Hiscox said. The UV photo can show underlying skin damage that is not visible to the human eye, she said.

A device will be available to determine the level of UV protection different items of clothing offer.

A number of activities are aimed at youngsters, including educational puppet shows.

Protection from the sun can come in many forms, said Lisa Quale, health educator at the cancer center.

Clothing can protect the skin from the sun, she said. Long sleeves and hats are important, and she said many people forget about covering their feet for protection, she said.

Umbrellas are also an effective way to stay in the shade wherever you go, she said.

Exercising outdoors early or late in the day will avoid the worst of the sun’s damaging rays, she said.

And sunblock is a must, she said.

Effective sunblocks and sunscreens should have an SPF – sun protection factor – of at least 15 and contain one of the following ingredients: zinc oxide, titanium oxide, avobenzone or mexoryl.

Sun protection should be applied 30 minutes before going out, and reapplied every two hours, or more frequently if sweat or swimming dictate, she said.

A critical factor in preventing skin cancer is performing regular self exams looking for suspicious growths, Harris said.

Factors to look for include moles with asymmetrical shapes, irregular borders, varying color, large diameter and changes in shape or color, she said.

A partner can help check moles and growths in areas where you cannot see, she said, or you can use a mirror for areas that are difficult to view.

The Desert Museum event helps kick off May’s national Melanoma and Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, Hiscox said.

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IF YOU GO

What: “Living in Harmony with the Sun” events promoting sun safety, awareness and skin cancer prevention

When: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road

Cost: Free with regular admission to museum: $13 for ages 13 and older, $4.25 for ages 6-12 and free for 5 and younger.

Miller turned this Sam Hughes neighborhood dwelling into the only existing masonry home to qualify for Tucson Electric Power's Guarantee Home Program, which offers discounted rates.

Green builder John Wesley Miller wanted to prove a point.

So he plopped down $450,000 for a leaky, inefficient 1962 home in the Sam Hughes neighborhood and started adding things like solar panels, a solar water heater, a super-efficient heat pump and double-pane windows.

When he was finished, Miller had the only existing masonry home to qualify for Tucson Electric Power’s Guarantee Home Program, which offers discounts and heating and cooling price guarantees to energy-efficient houses.

The program is designed for new homes.

“We wanted to show that you could take an old house and turn it into a superefficient home,” Miller said recently during a tour of the 2,000-square-foot ranch home at 3002 E. Hawthorne St.

TEP worked with Miller throughout the renovation, said Dan Hogan, the company’s supervisor of residential new construction programs.

For new construction there are normally three inspections required for a home to qualify – for framing, insulation and airflow – but inspectors visited the Miller house an extra time, Hogan said.

The program gives a roughly 10 percent discount on electric rates for the life of the home and a guarantee from TEP that your heating and cooling costs won’t rise above a certain level for five years. That cost is custom-set for each home, Hogan said.

Miller’s isn’t the first existing home to qualify for the program, but the others required far more extensive upgrades.

“It’s the first one we didn’t strip to the studs,” Hogan said.

Though the lift was lighter than the previous attempts, getting the masonry house up to the TEP standard was not easy.

“Practically everything you see is new,” Miller said.

That includes extra insulation on the outside of the burnt adobe walls, which was then covered with a layer of plaster.

New windows ($6,000), a rooftop solar electric panel and water heater ($15,000-$20,000), insulation and new stucco ($10,000-$15,000) and a new heating and cooling system ($6,000-$8,000) are among the improvements that helped earn the TEP guarantee, Miller said.

The roof was topped with an extra 4 inches of insulation, too.

The changes were not a good investment. Miller put about $300,000 into the house and has it listed for $699,000, he said.

“I won’t even get my money out of it,” he said.

Originally, Miller thought he could make money from the renovation, which includes custom woodwork and solid cherry doors, Corian countertops and all new tile throughout.

But ultimately he simply wanted to encourage recycling on a new level, he said.

“This is the ultimate recycling. You recycle a whole house.”

Renovations that meet the Guarantee Home standards will continue to be rare, Hogan said.

“It’s just too expensive. Until it can be done much cheaper, I don’t think it’s going to be done too frequently,” he said.

“But it’s good to know it can be done, because then you can look for ways to make it economical.”

Green builder John Wesley Miller shows the tankless water heater and the blower for a high-efficiency heat pump at the home. Miller has put about $300,000 into the house.

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On the Web

TEP Guarantee Home Program: www.tep.com/Green/GuaranteeHome

It will be an early and wet monsoon if a long-range outlook from the federal Climate Prediction Center holds true.

Based on hints in Caribbean and Pacific surface temperatures, the Rocky Mountain snowpack, and Plains states drought and computer models, the agency calls for above average rainfall for southeast Arizona in June, July and August.

University of Arizona monsoon researcher Christopher Castro tentatively agreed.

“Those indicators are pointing to an early and wet monsoon,” Castro said.

Two computer models foresee rapid development of a typical monsoon high pressure zone in May, then a rapid advance northward of the zone, the CPC outlook said.

Each year, this high pressure zone settles over the Four Corners area in northeast Arizona, shifting our prevailing winds from the west to the southeast. This wind shift is the monsoon, and when it happens early we typically get more rain than average.

Of the past 20 monsoons, Tucson got less than average rainfall (6.06 inches) in 13 and more than average in seven, according to the National Weather Service. Last year, the airport, where official tallies are kept, got 5.52 inches, the weather service said.

Tucson typically gets about half of its annual rainfall during the monsoon, June 15-Sept. 30.

Rain is not in this week’s forecast, with temperatures expected to climb into the mid-90s by Friday. Windy, dry conditions prompted a fire danger warning for Tuesday across the southeast quadrant of Arizona.

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By the numbers

6.06 inches, normal monsoon rainfall for Tucson

5.52 inches, last year’s total

13.84 inches, wettest monsoon (1964)

1.59 inches, driest monsoon (1924)

The humpback chub, a closely watched indicator of the Grand Canyon’s ecological health, has grown steadily in number since 2001 as changing conditions on the Colorado River have created a more hospitable habitat.

The population of the endangered fish grew by 50 percent over the past eight years, the U.S. Geological Survey reported Monday. By the end of last year, there were an estimated 7,650 adult chub, fish at least 4 years old, near the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado rivers. That’s up from about 4,000 fish as recently as 2000.

Scientists offered several possible factors for the higher numbers, including drought-related spikes in water temperature, the removal of non-native fish from the river and a series of experimental water releases from Glen Canyon Dam.

Put together, those factors essentially re-created some of the conditions that once supported larger populations of the chub.

“It may be that the synergy, the combined impacts of all of those, is the thing that helps humpback chub survive best,” said Matthew Andersen, a USGS biologist. “We have great confidence in the population trend. We’re still investigating the reasons behind it.”

The chub, found in just six locations on the Colorado River and its tributaries, has become a measure of the Grand Canyon’s overall condition in recent years. The chub’s numbers in the lower Colorado dwindled after the 1963 completion of Glen Canyon Dam shut off the river’s natural flow, altering the habitat.

Finding more fish in the river is encouraging, environmental advocates said Monday, but work remains to ensure the species’ long-term survival.

“This is not a result that should have us sitting back comfortably in our chairs,” said Nikolai Lash, Colorado River program director for the Flagstaff-based Grand Canyon Trust. “It should have us leaning forward, trying to figure out how to take advantage of whatever it was that led to a small improvement.”

A decision is expected in the next few weeks in a case the trust and others filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, challenging the government’s management of the river and the chub habitat.

The chub, named for a protruding hump on its back, can grow as long as 20 inches and can live for 30 years or more. It uses its prominent fins to glide through the water and find insects to eat. Over 4 million years, the chub evolved to survive in warm sediment-laden water.

The construction of Glen Canyon Dam to store water and generate electricity changed the fish’s environment on the lower Colorado. The river’s flow was controlled artificially and, because water was released from the lower depths of Lake Powell, its temperature cooled.

As a result, native-fish populations plummeted. Responding to lawsuits from environmental groups, Congress passed legislation in 1992 that ordered federal agencies to manage the dam in ways that would help restore habitat, but until about 2000, fish numbers remained low.

In 2001, the population started to grow, Andersen said. Scientists began looking at three factors:

• A long drought lowered water levels at Lake Powell, which allowed the sun to reach deeper into the lake and warm the water.

• Non-native fish have been removed from parts of the river where the chub live. Non-native fish compete for food and eat young chub. From 2003 to 2006, the non-native rainbow trout population near the Little Colorado confluence dropped 80 percent.

• The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has conducted a series of experimental test releases from Glen Canyon Dam. Andersen said it’s possible some of those tests have helped improve conditions.

Abode walls going up on city’s re-creation of 18th-century structure

Construction crews continue to build the wall that will someday enclose the Rio Nuevo Mission Gardens Heritage Park at the base of "A" Mountain. The 4-acre garden is to be lined with fruit trees such as pomegranates and grapes.

The adobe walls re-creating the 18th century Mission Gardens should be completed in a couple of weeks, but don’t expect to see anything growing there any time soon.

Former City Manager Mike Hein in February shelved planting the gardens in favor of focusing all Rio Nuevo attention on the Tucson Convention Center area. That hasn’t changed under newly appointed City Manager Mike Letcher.

“I have not received any other direction,” said Fran LaSala, an assistant to Letcher. “As far as I know, we’re going to build the walls and vacate the site until they have funding to complete the gardens and maintain them in an appropriate manner.”

The garden walls cost $900,000 and completing the gardens would cost another $900,000 to $950,000, LaSala said.

The 4-acre site includes a buried pit house. “There is still a lot of archaeology there that we are not disturbing,” said Jeff Dupuis, superintendent with Lloyd Construction, the firm building the walls.

The gardens were supposed to be completed by this winter, but the City Council switched course in February and put the entire Tucson Origins project on hold. That includes the Mission Gardens, the Mission San Agustín, the University of Arizona Science Center/Arizona State Museum, Arizona History Museum and Tucson Children’s Museum.

The wall around the garden will be completed in about two weeks, Dupuis said.

By Teya Vitu, Renee Bracamonte