Pima County, Ariz. (March 29, 2012) – Now there’s an interactive website just for kids that helps them learn about air, water, soil, resource conservation and climate change – and why it’s important for them to learn how to take good care of planet Earth.

The Eco Kids Corner website was developed by Pima County’s Department of Environmental Quality and a student intern from the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health to engage children in learning about the natural world and their role in it. Here’s the link: http://www.cleanair.pima.gov/ .

Not only can they learn fun facts, like how old the Earth is and what air is made of, but they can write poems, guess the answers to science questions, learn why recycling really matters, take a look at the hydrologic cycle and find out about pedology. That’s the study of soil.

The colorful website provides links to other activity-based sites for kids from agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control.

The site also provides links to the local zoo, museums, the Sonoran Desert Kids Club and other venues that offer educational programs and materials for children.

The site includes resources for teachers and inspiration for science fair projects, too.

A special program to introduce the website is set for  Saturday, April 7, at 11 a.m. at the Murphy-Wilmot Branch Public Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road, during the library’s monthly Science Saturday event.

See top-quality fields and facilities open to the public for shooting sports

Tucson Trap & Skeet Club will host more than 250 elite shooters from 43 countries this month who are attempting to qualify for the 2012 Olympics in London.

The club was chosen for the International Shooting Sports Federation’s 2012 World Cup after leasing 300 acres from Pima County in 2011 allowed it to expand its facilities and become the second-largest sport shooting facility in the nation.

The public is invited to watch accomplished marksmen and markswomen, including four-time Olympic medal winner Kim Rhode of California, at the March 24-31 event at the club’s nearly 400 acres at 7800 Old Ajo Highway, less than 10 minutes west of West Ajo Way and South Kinney Road.  Admission and parking is free for spectators.

Although the Tucson Trap & Skeet Club holds several nationally and internationally attended shoots each year, this is the first time the club is hosting one of the four World Cup Shotgun Olympic qualification competitions.

Rhode is attempting to become the first U.S. woman to win five individual medals in five Olympic Games.  Gold medalists Vincent Hancock of Georgia and Glen Eller of Texas as well as bronze medalist Corey Cogdell of Alaska will be part of the USA Shooting Team represented in Tucson.

Trap shooting involves shooting at clay discs thrown into the air by a machine below ground in a trap house.  Skeet shooting involves shooting at clay targets thrown by two traps – a “high house” and a “low house.”

Since last year, Tucson Trap & Skeet has more than doubled the number of its trap fields – to 50 – and skeet fields – to 15.  It is the only facility in the nation equipped to host Olympic Trap and Olympic Skeet at the same time.

Tucson Trap & Skeet also has two full-size sporting clay courses of varying terrain with 12 stations each, providing a variety of target sizes, angles, speeds, elevations and distances.

Tucson Trap & Skeet is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week during the winter season.  Hours vary with the time of year.  Shotguns are available to rent and ammunition is available for purchase.  Instruction is available for an hourly fee arranged through the office, and the free safety training is required for beginning shooters.

The club’s 9,000 square-foot clubhouse is open to the public and includes a restaurant and bar with free Wi-Fi.  The club also has 200 full-service RV hookups available for members and registered guests.  All facilities are handicap accessible.

The club is a USA Shooting Certified Training Center.  It hosts the Scholastic Clay Target Program to introduce boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 18 to firearm safety and clay target shooting.  It is the host club for Boy Scout and 4-H shotgun training and for the University of Arizona shotgun team.

Tucson Trap & Skeet has hosted more than 90 corporate events since 2005, introducing most of the 2,600  participants from 12 countries and nearly every state in the nation to the sports of skeet and trapshooting.

Tucson Trap & Skeet is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and has served Southern Arizona sport shooters since 1948.  For more information, please call 520-883-6426 or visit us on the web at www.tucsontrapandskeet.com.

Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department has three shooting ranges:

Southeast Regional Park Shooting Range
11296 S. Harrison Road.
Phone: 877-6036
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday year-round (closed on all Pima County holidays)
$8 per shooter per day; youth under 16 years of age may shoot free (must be accompanied and supervised by an adult)

Tucson Mountain Park Rifle and Pistol Range
About 2.5 miles north of Ajo Way on Kinney Road, .3 miles from the south Tucson Mountain Park entrance
8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday (closed on all Pima County holidays)
$6 per shooter per day; youth under 16 years of age may shoot free (must be accompanied and supervised by an adult)

Virgil Ellis Rifle and Pistol Range
Ajo Regional Park
Sunrise to dusk daily
No charge

For more information, please visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/shooting/index.htm.

Old Tucson will host over 3,000 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders from Tucson and Pima County school districts during the 22nd Annual Ted Walker Youth Day on Thursday, January 26, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  The children will receive complimentary park admission and lunch donated by the Dan Felix Memorial Foundation and Pima County Parklands Foundation.

The event, which features Wild West entertainment and educational exhibits, is designed to provide a fun-filled day of activity and education to local area school children who might not otherwise have this opportunity.  This year Old Tucson will present its new educational Living History programs covering topics like Schools on the Frontier, History of the Stagecoach and Sheriffs of the Old West throughout the day.

Co-sponsored by Old Tucson and the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department, Ted Walker Youth Day is a one-of-a-kind field trip for students, allowing them a chance to learn and to have fun outside the classroom.  Named for former Pima County Parks and Recreation Commissioner, Ted Walker, the event is dedicated to enhancing the childhood experience for Southern Arizona kids.

Old Tucson will be open to the public until 2 p.m. during this event.

Old Tucson has been immortalized in over 300 feature film and TV Westerns and is Hollywood’s most famous Western movie location.  For more information about Old Tucson, including upcoming events and operating hours, please visit its website at www.OldTucson.com or call (520) 883-0100.  Old Tucson is at 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, AZ 85735.

Pima County’s first park in Green Valley is taking shape, thanks in large part to a very determined member of that community, a band of softball players and donations of land, funds and services.

The park project was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW).  The grant focuses on helping the community find ways to stay healthy and active.  The park, once complete, will give the residents of the Green Valley area many options for healthy activities.

Plans call for the 50-plus-acre park to have four softball fields, covered bleachers, a dog park, ramadas and picnic areas, a playground, trails, restrooms, and parking.  The estimated cost: $5 million.  The CPPW grant will be used to continue design of the park.

The need for the park developed more than a decade ago when a Green Valley community sports and service club, Born Again Jocks Association (BAJA), attracted so many softball players that enough fields were hard to find.  Chuck Catino, a 15-year resident of Green Valley and a charter member of the BAJA club, has led the effort to secure land, solicit services, and raise funds.

Canoa Preserve Development Partners LLC donated about 53 acres of a former sand and gravel site and a well on South Camino de la Canoa northwest of its planned Canoa Preserve subdivision and east of the Farmers Investment Co. (FICO) pecan groves.  Local businesses such as Caterpillar, Sierra Mining and Crushing, and FICO have contributed in-kind services to prepare the site for the park improvements.

Including the land and well donations, Catino estimates the BAJA club has raised about $1.5 million in funds and donated services.  BAJA club members joined forces with the Anza Trail Coalition and Marine Corps League to clean up the site earlier this year.  The WLB Group donated grading plans, and Caterpillar Inc. donated the grading.  FICO donated 200,000 gallons of water.  Donated funds have paid for permits and some other preliminary construction costs.

The park is on a list of projects under consideration for inclusion in a Pima County bond proposal to be submitted to voters on an as yet undetermined date.  If approved, construction of the park would be funded with revenue generated from the sale of general obligation bonds.

Tax-deductible donations to continue construction of the park are being accepted by the Pima County Parklands Foundation, c/o Gregoria Tucker, Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department, 3500 W. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85741.  Checks should indicate that the donation is “restricted for BAJA Project #137.”

The public is invited to attend the dedication ceremony for the Gabe Zimmerman Davidson Canyon Trailhead at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4.

The trailhead is north of Interstate 10 on Marsh Station Road, about ¼ mile west of Cienega Creek.  Because parking at the trailhead site is limited, please carpool, park next to the Cienega Creek ¼ mile to the east of the trailhead and take the shuttle that’s provided, or you can park at the Rincon Valley Fire Department 2.5 miles west along Marsh Station Road and take the shuttle that is provided.

Zimmerman, a 30-year-old aide to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was killed along with five others in the Jan. 8 attack in Tucson that injured Giffords and a dozen others.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors renamed the Davidson Canyon trailhead in February at the request of The Arizona Trail Association, of which Zimmerman was a member and his mother, Emily Nottingham, is president.

Zimmerman, a Tucson native who was an avid hiker and runner, helped obtain the National Scenic Trail designation for the Arizona Trail, an 817-mile path from Mexico to Utah that was completed this month and that connects to the Davidson Canyon trail.

The Arizona Trail Association has been working to add signs, a ramada with tables, wheelchair-accessible paths and tribute areas for Zimmerman and the other Jan. 8 victims at the trailhead, which is in Pima County’s Cienega Creek Natural Preserve.

In addition to the trail association, Pima County Supervisor Raymond J. Carroll, District 4, and the Pima County Regional Flood Control District and the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department are hosting the dedication ceremony.

For more information about The Arizona Trail Association, go to http://www.aztrail.org/.

Pima County, Arizona – Make Colossal Cave Mountain Park part of your holiday celebrations.  See Colossal Cave by candlelight or headlamp on one of the park’s Adventure Tours.

Colossal Cave, which is full of stalactites, stalagmites and other cave formations, was used for centuries by prehistoric peoples before it was “discovered” in 1879.  The 2,400-acre Colossal Cave Mountain Park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, and is open every day of the year for cave tours, hiking, birding, trail rides, picnics, camping, parties and cookouts.  Winter hours (through March 15) are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Coming up:

• Sunday, Dec. 4:  Marc Severson of Old Pueblo Archaeology will share holiday stories from native peoples from 2 to 4 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 16, and Saturday, Dec. 17:  Don’t miss “Holiday in The Park” – wagon rides around the 132-year-old La Posta Quemada Ranch, followed by hot chocolate and s’mores, and a Candlelight Tour of Colossal Cave.

The Candlelight Tour (1-1½ hours, candles are provided) is one of three Adventure Tours available by reservation for groups ranging in size from 2 to 20 people.  Visit mysterious, off-route areas of Colossal Cave few others have seen on the Ladder Tour (1½ hours, helmets and lights provided).  Follow in the footsteps of outlaws and early explorers into the depths of the earth on the Wild Cave Tour (2-4 hours, helmets and lights provided).

Call 520-647-7275 for more information and Adventure Tour costs and to make reservations.  What a great gift for adventurous friends and family members!

Regular Cave Tour Rates (no reservations required):

Adults (ages 13 and older)…………………$13 (up from $12, effective Nov. 15)

For military with ID……………………..$11

Children (ages 5-12)…………………………$6.50

For military with ID……………………..$6

Children ages 4 and younger………………FREE

You can get half off the price of a children’s ticket with purchase of an adult tour ticket if you print out a fun pass at http://www.colossalcave.com/PDF/FunPass.pdf

Daily park use fees are $5 per auto ($1 per person over six people); $1 per bicycle; $2 per motorcycle; $1 per person on a tour bus; and free for school buses.

For more information about the Pima County-owned park, go to www.colossalcave.com or call (520) 647 PARK (7275).

Pima County, Ariz. (Nov. 15, 2011) – Pima County’s efforts to “go beyond code” to provide guidelines for Green Building and sustainable projects are included in a new federal guide to “Creating Effective Green Building Programs for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Communities.”

The Going Beyond Code Guide is designed to help state and local governments design and implement successful “beyond code” programs for new commercial and residential buildings.

These guidelines, such as those developed by Pima County, encourage energy efficiency and other sustainable elements in the construction and operation of buildings, without having to mandate them by creating additional building codes.

Rich Franz-Ünder, Pima County’s Green Programs Manager in the county’s Department of Development Services, helped shape the Going Beyond Code policy options noted in the Guide to Green Building.

Pima County is included along with the cities of Scottsdale, Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Longmont, Colo., as an example of best practices to emulate.

The guide to “Creating Effective Green Building Programs for Energy Efficient and Sustainable Communities” describes model green building guidelines from around the United States.

The goal of Green Building, Franz-Ünder said, is to advance energy efficiency by reducing waste and by building water and energy efficiency into the construction of homes and businesses.

The new document is based on the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project’s (SWEEP) “Going Beyond Code” guide, which also includes Pima County. The new guide was prepared by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program in collaboration with SWEEP.

The guide, which is free, is available online and can be downloaded as a pdf  file at http://www.energycodes.gov/publications/resourceguides/packets/gbc_guide/GoingBeyondCode_LoRes.pdf.

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Pima County, Ariz. (Nov. 11, 2011) – Find out what happens to the plastic bottles and tin cans you put in the recycling bin when Pima County’s Sustainability manager, Robin Johnson, visits the Quincie Douglas Public Library on Tuesday, Nov. 15.

Also, three new works of art made from recycled materials will be dedicated at the event.

Johnson’s appearance from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. is tied to America Recycles Day, Nov. 15.

In addition to her talk, there will be crafts and videos for children and adults.

Recycling helps preserve natural resources and saves money.

“The Environmental Protection Agency tells us that recycling an aluminum beverage can rather than putting it in the trash saves enough energy to operate a 60W incandescent light bulb for 4.3 hours, or an equivalent compact fluorescent bulb for 20 hours,” she noted.

Pima County has its own sustainability program and uses dozens of products made from recycled material, such as notebooks and file folders, she said.

“America Recycles Day is a nationally recognized initiative dedicated to encouraging people to recycle more at home, at work, and on the go,” Johnson said.

“Pima County joins other communities across the country to help people learn more about how we can reduce waste, reuse our stuff, and recycle what’s left.”

To find out more about Pima County’s Sustainable Action Plan for its own operations, to go to: www.pima.gov.

The Quincie Douglas Public Library, on Tucson’s South Side, is at 1585 E. 36th St., east of South Park Avenue. Call the library at (520) 594-5335 for more details.

The library is on Sun Tran Route 2. For information on the bus schedule, go to http://www.suntran.com/routes.php or call customer service at (520) 792-9222.

Pima County, Ariz. – The Nature Conservancy is donating approximately 1,000 acres in Buehman Canyon, northeast of Tucson, to Pima County for conservation.

The donation is subject to approval of the Pima County Board of Supervisors and is on the agenda for the Sept. 6 meeting.

“The Conservancy is transferring Buehman Canyon to Pima County because it’s a key part of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan,” said Holly Richter, the director of conservation for the Conservancy in Arizona.  The plan is the County’s effort to balance conservation of natural and cultural resources with growth through land acquisition, management, planning and regulation.

“We know the County will protect the valued habitat and wildlife,” Richter said.

East of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Buehman Canyon drains into the San Pedro River, which flows north from Mexico into the Gila River.  Its forests of sycamores, cottonwoods and ash trees are home to black hawks, mountain lions, gray fox, and mule deer; and its creek supports lowland leopard frogs and native fish.

The donated land adds adjacent acreage to the 41,000-acre A-7 Ranch, most of which Pima County purchased from the city of Tucson in 2004, and comes very close to connecting it to the 12,000-acre Six Bar Ranch, bought by the county in 2006.  (See maps.)

Adjacent to the Coronado National Forest, the ranches provide a corridor for wildlife movement between the Catalina, Rincon and Galiuro mountains.

Slide 1 of 4.
Buehman Canyon
Source: Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department/Kerry BaldwinSlide 2 of 4.
Buehman Canyon
Source: The Nature ConservancySlide 3 of 4.
Buehman Canyon
Source: Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department/Kerry BaldwinSlide 4 of 4.
Buehman Canyon
Source: The Nature Conservancy

The Buehman Canyon land was donated to The Nature Conservancy in 1996 by Riley West Inc., which owned and operated the 96,000-acre Bellota Ranch, of which the A-7 Ranch was part.  At the time, William McGinnis, the president of Riley West, expressed concern about mining exploration in the area.

The Nature Conservancy purchased 72 adjoining acres, which it is asking the County to purchase for $40,000.

The Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department (NRPR) will manage the Buehman Canyon land as a natural resource park, as the A-7 and Six Bar ranches are.  Information on the property will eventually be available on the NRPR website and County park rules will apply to all uses.

“This addition to the county land conservation system would be managed under a general stewardship model not unlike Cienega Creek Nature Preserve,” said Kerry Baldwin, the department’s natural resources superintendent.  “We might establish the need to get a free permit from NRPR in the future to help control access to and across lands to reach the canyon and adjacent public lands like we do at Empirita Ranch.

“No formally developed recreational facilities are planned and the property is in a rugged area that is only accessible on roads that are best driven by high clearance or 4-wheel drive vehicles in good weather conditions, and are not maintained for public use.

“Visitors should be prepared for the semi-wilderness setting with poorly marked and unimproved roads and little chance of assistance if they break down, become lost or otherwise need assistance.  Vehicle travel will be restricted to designated roads only and no off-road travel will be allowed.”

Pima County, Ariz. – (Aug. 23, 2011)  Pima County’s Department of Environmental Quality has written a proposed Air Quality Permit for Rosemont Copper Company’s planned copper mine in Sonoita, sited at 12700 E. Greaterville Road.

The proposed Air Quality Permit was written after the company indicated to the county’s DEQ that it will meet county, state and federal air quality requirements for operating the mine.

The proposed permit does address “the potential emissions of several air pollutants, including particulate matter, oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants,” said Ursula Kramer, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Quality.

She said the company has provided the county with data to show it can meet air quality requirements.

The proposed permit has been sent to Rosemont Copper for its review.

The public has 90 days to review the proposed permit and comment on it, Kramer said.

The public comment period begins on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011 and ends on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011.

Written comments can be made throughout the comment period and only individuals who submit written comments can challenge the permit decision with a legal appeal.

Anyone can comment orally at a public hearing on the proposed permit. The date, time and place of that hearing have not yet been set by Pima County.

Written comments on grounds for objecting to an air quality permit for the copper mine must be limited to whether the proposed permit meets the criteria for issuing such a permit, as prescribed by state law and Pima County Code.

The applicable law is Arizona Revised Statutes, Sections 49-480 and 49-481.

The applicable County Code is Title 17.   It states, in part, that “issuance of an air permit shall not relieve the permittee from compliance with all local, county, state, and federal laws, statutes, and codes.”

Copies of Rosemont’s permit application, the county’s proposed permit and background information about the permit process are available at:

http://www.deq.pima.gov/permits/RosemontCopper.htm

This site includes a link that lets individuals sign up for email notifications of DEQ actions on the Rosemont Air Quality Permit Application.

Here are the guidelines for written comments:

• Each written comment must include the name and mailing address of the writer
• It must be signed by the writer or his agent or attorney
• It must clearly explain why the permit should or should not be issued by Pima County
• Mail or email or hand-deliver comments to: Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, ATTN: Mukonde Chama, 33 N. Stone Ave. Suite 700, Tucson, AZ 85701

The documents may be reviewed during regular business hours at DEQ offices. Call Karen Wilhelmsen at DEQ at (520) 243-7449 for more information.