A new geotourism center celebrating Southern Arizona’s rich heritage, unique culture and striking environment could be a natural draw for tourists looking to experience a sense of place.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved working with the University of Arizona to begin developing a concept for a facility along the Santa Cruz River to showcase education-based tourism.

Tapping the potential for geotourism was among the key elements included in Pima County’s Economic Development Plan, acknowledging the tourism industry’s $2 billion local impact. The plan was approved by the Pima County Board of Supervisors in November.

“This region is full of wonder, marked by history and defined by a strong power of place,” said Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson, who sits on the board of Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, which is the region’s economic development arm. “This concept is an exciting opportunity as we look for ways to celebrate our unique identity, our diversity and our unparalleled natural beauty.”

In early concepts, the facility would serve as an orientation center to introduce visitors to the tradition of desert cultures as well as modern approaches to sustainable living in an arid region. Guests could learn about the natural surroundings through one or more demonstration sites along the Santa Cruz River. The facility could also serve as a hub that could help link visitors to other destinations of interest.

The planning for the Tucson Desert Oasis Initiative will occur under the supervision and direction of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona.

The last two of five open houses about Pima County’s Multi-Species Conservation Plan and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s draft assessment of that plan are scheduled next week:

• Monday, Jan. 28, 5-7 p.m., Abrams Public Health Center, Room 1106-1108, 3950 S. Country Club Road.
• Tuesday, Jan. 29, 4:30-7 p.m., Pima County Housing Center (“El Banco”), 801 W. Congress St.

Pima County residents are encouraged to attend to find out more about the County’s proposed plan to balance protection of native plant and animal species and habitats with growth and development.

The Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation is hosting an open house in each supervisorial district to provide information about the benefits of the Multi-Species Conservation Plan and the permit the County is seeking under the Endangered Species Act. Staff will present an overview of the plan with questions and answers in the first hour of each meeting.

The first open house on Jan. 14 was in District 1; the second on Jan. 22 was in District 3 and the third on Jan. 24 was in District 4. The Jan. 28 open house is in District 2, and the Jan. 29 open house is in District 5.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comment on the Multi-Species Conservation Plan and the Service’s draft Environmental Impact Statement until March 15, 2013. The Service will conduct a public meeting on Thursday, Feb. 21, from 4 to 6 p.m., at the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department conference room, 3500 W. River Road, to provide information and accept written comments.

Under the Endangered Species Act it is normally illegal to “take” (harm, harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect) threatened and endangered species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may issue permits to take federally listed species provided the taking is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity. Issuing such an incidental take permit to Pima County requires the development of – and commitment to – a habitat conservation plan that minimizes and mitigates the effects of incidental take on federally listed species.

Pima County has applied for a permit for incidental take of 44 species, including five animal and two plant species currently listed under the Endangered Species Act. The permit would apply to County construction and maintenance activities and, as presented in the draft Multi-Species Conservation Plan, to certain private development projects. The draft Plan’s primary approach to mitigating the effects of incidental take is to monitor and manage those lands that the County has already acquired as open space to maintain and enhance habitats for the 44 species included in the permit.  In the future, should additional lands be necessary to provide mitigation, the Multi-Species Conservation Plan allows for the acquisition of additional open space lands.

Both the draft Multi-Species Conservation Plan and the draft Environmental Impact Statement can be viewed at http://www.pima.gov/cmo/sdcp/MSCP/MSCP.html.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please email the Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation at MSCP@pima.gov or call (520) 740-6440.

A bicyclist rides past a new sign on the Loop along the Rillito River at Camino de la Tierra.

Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation staff are installing 124 new signs on the Rillito River Park portion of The Loop this month. Signs provide directions at intersections and also show distances to points of interest along The Loop.

With the new signs, Loop users can discover ways to reach new destinations via The Loop. “The Loop is the hub of the metropolitan area, it links to almost every one of the jurisdictions,” says County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry. “So The Loop becomes the main corridor—for pedestrians, bikes, other alternative transportation modes. It’s a great way to reach any destination, whether you’re going to work, school, restaurants, or shopping.”

Where The Loop crosses major streets, new signs show how to access the street or continue on The Loop beneath underpasses.  The Santa Cruz River Park and Julian Wash Greenway will be the next sections of The Loop to receive signs.

The Loop path encompasses both banks of four major river systems or waterways.  Pima County residents and visitors can enjoy biking, walking, or running along the Rillito River, the Santa Cruz River, the Pantano Wash, the Julian Wash and the Harrison Greenway.  The Loop also has path extensions along tributary washes or extensions.  These include the Tanque Verde Wash, the Canada del Oro Wash, and north and south of the Santa Cruz River.

More than one third of the metropolitan population lives within a half mile of the Loop or Loop extended paths.

Pima County’s partners in The Loop are: City of Tucson, Town of Marana, Town of Oro Valley, City of South Tucson, Regional Transportation Authority, and the Arizona Department of Transportation.

For more information about The Loop, visit: www.pima.gov/TheLoop.

Keep up with Pima County on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pimacountyarizona.

Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation staff will coordinate volunteers at Kennedy Park on Beat Back Buffelgrass Day, Jan. 26.

The University of Arizona softball team will again join volunteers across Pima County to pull buffelgrass on Saturday, Jan. 26. The UA team and their friends will volunteer with at Kennedy Park, at South La Cholla Boulevard and West Ajo Way.  Pima County Natural Resources, Parks, and Recreation (NRPR) staff will be coordinating efforts at the park.

“I’m overwhelmed by the response from our athletic family at the U of A,” says Softball Coach Mike Candrea. “We want to get more young people involved to see the impact that we can have on our environment.” Each winter, hundreds of volunteers work to pull buffelgrass from neighborhoods, parks, and other public land, helping reduce fire danger in the summer.

Buffelgrass threatens Sonoran Desert wildlands and urban areas. To combat this invasive weed, the Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Center (SABCC) has organized the sixth annual Beat Back Buffelgrass Day. From Sahuarita to the Catalina Foothills, there are volunteer sites throughout Pima County. To see all the volunteer sites and sign up to help, visit: http://www.buffelgrass.org/beat-back-buffelgrass-day-sites

Buffelgrass spreads rapidly and burns hot enough to melt aluminum at 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. Buffelgrass fires move at a rate of three feet per second, fast enough to burn a football field in three minutes.

Native vegetation, unaccustomed to fire, is permanently destroyed while the buffelgrass recovers quickly.  As buffelgrass colonizes more areas, native plants and animals are displaced and the threat of fire increases across the landscape.

SABCC needs your help.  It is amazing what a group of citizens can do by putting in a few hours of work. In 2012, the 850 Sonoran Desert Weedwackers joined Pima County’s NRPR staff and worked over 3000 hours clearing out buffelgrass on the cholla-covered slopes of Gate’s Pass Overlook and on slopes west of the Marriott Starr Pass Resort.

A dedicated group of volunteers from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum routinely clear the slopes around the Museum. A lone weedwacker, working several times a month, is keeping the buffelgrass from taking over Robles Pass Park. At the Federal Volunteer Pay Rate of $21.80 per hour, they provided a combined value of $63,000 for their time.

Come do your part.  Help out for a few hours on Beat Back Buffelgrass Day, get great exercise and have fun with your friends and the Team.  Sign up now at www.buffelgrass.org.

Pima County has figured out a way to ensure that a strategy to protect Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will pay for itself.

In 2004,PimaCountyvoters authorized $10 million to purchase lands that would buffer the flight corridor from incompatible urban development.

A 5 megawatt solar facility is currently being developed on 28 acres of the 460 acres.

When that facility, being installed by Solon Corporation under contract withPimaCountyand Tucson Electric Power, is fully operational,PimaCountywill realize nearly $540,000 annually in electric utility energy savings. It will also allowPimaCountyto complete its sustainable energy target by early 2013.

Over the 20-year life span of the project, that will translate into a savings of more than $10.8 million in electrical costs.

CountyAdministratorChuck Huckelberry said he is hopeful that some of the remaining acreage likewise will be attractive for solar development.

“This is a way to not only benefit the environment through the production of alternative energy, but it’s also a creative way of utilizing the properties, which are constrained in their use because of their location,” Huckelberry said.

“Ultimately, this use has allowed us to recapture the resources that were spent protecting one of our region’s largest employers, resulting in a win-win for the region and for the taxpayers.”

With the original $10 million allocation for buffer lands now exhausted, the Pima County Economic Development Plan suggests asking voters for a similar amount to resolve ongoing threats of urban encroachment. The plan, which will be discussed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Nov. 13, also proposes $20 million for an aircraft noise abatement program.

Birders: Now’s a good time to do some urban birding at one of Pima County’s environmental restoration projects.

Fall migration hasn’t yet wound down and it’s a common sight to see great egrets and great blue herons at the Kino Environmental Restoration Project, north ofAjo Wayand part of the Kino Sports Complex.

The 141-acre project allows for valuable wildlife viewing opportunities year-round. It entails 28 acres of riparian vegetation and open water, 21 acres of native grassland, flood control features and a recreational path that surrounds the basin.

The project is an important resting stop for migratory birds during their long journeys in the spring and fall. Containing many trees and plants, the riparian area also supports resident birds and otherArizonawildlife species year-round.

Water fowl, such as ducks and grebes, visit in the winter. The spring is great for songbirds and the summer for nesting species, saidPimaCountyenvironmental planning manager Carla Danforth.

In past winters, small groups of flashy diving ducks such as Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers, and Buffelheads have been spotted in the wetland.

Birding is often best just after sunrise through mid-morning, Danforth suggested, and then again in the afternoon before the sun sets.

Bird watchers are welcome around the perimeter trail, which is a multiuse, paved path that is available to the community for walking, bicycling, jogging, and wildlife viewing.

Recorded bird calls are not permitted.

Tucson Audubon Society birding field trips sometimes visit KERP. For more information about birds and local birding field trips visit the society’s website at www.tucsonaudubon.org or contact Tucson Audubon Society at 520-629-0510 or info@tucsonaudubon.org.

The dedication of Pima Prickly Park on Saturday, September 22, will celebrate a cooperative partnership between Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation and the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society.

“This park shows what can be accomplished when a government agency and nonprofit group work together,” said Dick Wiedhopf, president of the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society. “The cooperation has been tremendous and Pima Prickly Park will be a wonderful educational experience for the public.”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at 9 a.m. at 3500 W. River Road, between Orange Grove Road and North Camino de la Tierra. The festivities will include a sale of rescued plants, tours of the park, and presentations by educational groups and vendors. Musician Teodoro “Ted” Ramirez, an Arizona Culture Keeper, will sing and play songs that illuminate indigenous, Mexican, Spanish, and Anglo cultures.

Pima Prickly Park is directly south of the Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation headquarters building. The area was originally a borrow, or excavation, pit that has been revegetated naturally and through the efforts of volunteer groups and county staff.

Members of the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society have invested hundreds of volunteer hours salvaging plants from areas slated for construction and relocated them in the park. They have also developed a plan for future gardens and demonstration areas. County staff have developed trails within the park and are responsible for irrigation and overall maintenance.

For additional information on the Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society, visit http://www.tucsoncactus.org/.

In the same way that paying your mortgage off sooner saves significant amounts in interest payments over time, Pima County is using a strategy that will save $11 million by paying down debt more quickly over the next three years.

The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved issuing $210 million of debt to help pay for a state-of-the-art wastewater construction project that will accommodate future growth and ensure the County meets strict federal mandates set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

That debt is split into two main tracks.

Approximately $150 million will be standard debt that’s repaid over a 15-year term. Although it is common for other jurisdictions to issue debt over as much as 30 years, Pima County generally pays 80 percent of its debt in the first 10 years.

Here’s why that makes smart fiscal sense: Assuming 4 percent interest, a 30-year, $150 million debt carries $57 million more in interest than a 15-year debt. Not only does that practice allow the County to save on interest payments, but it also ensures there is adequate debt capacity to respond to key needs.

Meanwhile, another $60 million is expected to come in the form of “certificates of participation,” which are essentially a form of debt that has an asset attached to them as collateral.

Those certificates are expected to be repaid over three years. The move has the added benefit of allowing the County to issue less long-term debt to finish the last phase of the project. This financial strategy of paying off the certificates in three years versus the standard county debt term of 15 years will save $11 million in interest payments.

“Funding wastewater improvements have proven extremely difficult for some other communities because they are expensive and complex projects,” acknowledged Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry.

“In Pima County’s case, our facilities were more than 50 years old and would not meet compliance with federal mandates. But even though this is a large undertaking, we are rapidly paying it off. And once it is complete in 2015, we will be able to support 160,000 new homes and businesses without further significant investment.”

When complete, the wastewater upgrades will allow Pima County to decrease the amount of nitrogen and ammonia in the region’s effluent, which is typically discharged into the Santa Cruz River and can percolate into the groundwater.

Public comment soon will be sought on Pima County’s application for a federal permit that will help ensure the development community and other property owners don’t run into long construction delays and rack up additional costs when new species are granted endangered status.

 With the Endangered Species Act making it illegal to take any action that could adversely impact endangered species, Pima County has prepared a “Multi-Species Conservation Plan” to meet the requirements of a Section 10 permit under the Act. The permit is designed to head off some of the uncertainty and delays that occurred in 1999 when 61,000 acres of private land were designated as critical habitat for the endangered cactus ferruginous pygmy owl.

 Although the owl was delisted in 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is continually assessing new listings. The desert tortoise, for example, is potentially in the mix, a species that has a larger distribution in Pima County than the pygmy owl.

The County’s permit would provide the County with blanket permission for covered actions given the appropriate mitigation measures for the unintended “take” – accidental harming or killing – of a threatened or endangered species while engaged in the normal course of doing county business.

The permit would allow residential and commercial developers to piggyback on the County’s approval, instead of having each individual property owner work through the process with the federal government. Ultimately, that would save cost and time and create a predictable regulatory environment. It is likely to be even more valuable as more species fall under federal protection.

This “insurance policy” that protects the County and its participating property owners is only available because of the large bank of open space that the County has purchased over the past decade, most notably through the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and open space bonds approved by voters. That open space will serve as mitigation by offsetting land disturbances elsewhere over the life of the 30-year permit.

While development interests will have greater regulatory certainty, environmental interests have assurance that the open space lands used as mitigation for species impacts will be protected in perpetuity and that their conditions will be monitored.

“Even though the construction sector has been more affected in this economic downturn than any other part of the labor force, there is no doubt that Pima County will continue to attract new growth,” said Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry. “It is our hope that having regulatory certainty will assist in the recovery of the development and construction sector.”

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is evaluating the impacts of granting the permit to Pima County through the release of a draft “environmental impact statement.” The release of the impact statement is at the discretion of the Service, but is expected soon.

A 90-day comment period will follow, which is twice as long as the standard comment period. The County requested the additional time in order to ensure there is adequate time for review and feedback on the plan.  The Service will hold at least one public meeting about the environmental impact statement.

Once the County knows the Service’s schedule for the public release of the draft impact statement, the County’s Office of Sustainability and Conservation will host meetings in each supervisorial district to provide more detail and to answer questions about the County’s proposal, which is just one of several permit alternatives the Service is evaluating in the impact statement.

For more information on the proposal, including answers to frequently asked questions, please visit the County’s site at http://www.pima.gov/cmo/sdcp/MSCP/MSCP.html

Want to know just how much rain is coming down when thunderstorms rattle your windows and lightning streaks across the sky?

The Pima County Flood Control District has a network of rainfall and streamflow gauges within most of the large watersheds affecting eastern Pima County that can give residents real time information on storms in their area.

The system is comprised of 93 precipitation gauges, of which 36 include stream gauges, and is used to assist the National Weather Service with its flood watch and warning advisories.

This information is also readily available to residents who want a better read on what’s happening closer to home, since seasonal storms can produce rather localized periods of heavy rainfall.

“Naturally, we can all look out the window and see that it’s raining, but by checking this system, residents can be more aware of whether there are areas around their homes or along their routes that might be at risk of flash flooding,” said Chris Cawein, deputy director of Flood Control.

The equipment consists of one-foot diameter pipes that house a tipping bucket rain gauge and a transmitter that send signals every time .04 inches of rain is collected. Stream flow is also measured at some of the sites.

That field information is collected, transmitted to a central location and downloaded instantly to the website.

County professionals watch areas more closely that are getting one inch of rain or more in an hour, keeping an eye on road crossings, for example, that might become problematic during heavy rainfall.

By tracking rainfall in the mountains, viewers can have a better idea of what may be headed their way. The system also allows users to go back and look at historical data, which may be useful in reconstructing storm events.

The County started the ALERT system in the 1980s, and has added new rain and stream gauge sites as needs are identified, with recent additions within the City of Tucson and Oro Valley.

To check out the system for yourself, click here: http://rfcd.pima.gov/wrd/alertsys/index.htm

Another Internet resource residents may find helpful is rainlog.org, which is a network of volunteer weather observers who help record daily rainfall amounts using rain gauges they have installed at their homes.