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.

The Southern Arizona Rescue Association, a non-profit group comprised of roughly 300 volunteers, has been saving lives in the region since 1958.

And when a 70-year-old hiker became disoriented in Sabino Canyon earlier this month, the search-and-rescue effort that ensued served to highlight the assistance the group brings to the table.

In the six months ending March 2012, the group responded to 45 calls for help, ranging from a 19-year-old ejected in a rollover, to a 66-year-old suffering from heat illness and a 37-year-old hiker who became too ill to continue.

With the county required under state law to provide search and rescue services, the Pima County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 7 approved a three-year contract with the organization, at $25,000 a year, to help provide equipment and supplies used in rescue efforts.

“When we have a call that we feel is going to warrant more resources than are immediately available, they’re always willing to help and get us the resources we need,”

said Lt. Robert Kimmins, who oversees the search and rescue unit within the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. “It would be a tremendous challenge to try to run search and rescue operations without them.”

Henry Jacobs, a local attorney, has been involved with the group for the past 30 years, since he was in high school.

From a taxpayer perspective, he said, the contract is a great deal for the county.

“The taxpayer pays nothing from a human resources perspective for thousands upon thousands of hours of very skilled volunteer time,” Jacobs said. “It would cost significant resources to afford this pool of talent in this quantity.”

Joining the group isn’t for the faint of heart.

Just the training alone is roughly nine months, covering wilderness searches, swift water rescues, technical rescues and first aid training.

Volunteers pay for their own personal rescue clothing and gear, although they are able to use group assets such as vehicles, radios, ropes and other technical equipment.

Above all, the conditions can be rigorous. After all, they’re often called out because hikers are suffering in the sweltering heat or stranded in downpours. “We’ve gone out when it’s 115 degrees in the shade and we’ve gone out in blizzards,” Jacobs said.

Jason Bowman, a 23-year-old engineering student, has been on hundreds of rescues since joining the group five years ago. An avid rock climber and hiker, he said joining the group was a chance to hone his skills. “And it’s a chance to give back,” he added.

Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll’s district sees much of the rescue activity, given that it encompasses vast areas of the Coronado National Forest. His first in-depth look at the group came when they assisted with the Aspen and Bullock fires that ravaged Mount Lemmon in 2002 and 2003.

“It became clear to me then that the Southern Arizona Rescue Association serves a vital purpose in this region, providing a safety net for outdoors enthusiasts and literally saving lives,” Carroll said. “We welcome their assistance in keeping residents and visitors safe.”

Anyone interested in volunteering is encouraged to come to a volunteer orientation meeting Aug. 9. For more information, check out http://sarci.org/sara.htm

Slide 1 of 13.
Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn, right, points out a wildflower as Linda Vaught, left, Joy Hought, center left in white, and Martha Burgess, center right, look on during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail on Mt. Lemmon on July 19, 2012.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 2 of 13.
Martha Burgess, left, talks with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn, center right in blue, along the Oracle Ridge Trail.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 3 of 13.
Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn, right, talks with the group.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 4 of 13.
Joy Hought takes a close look at Fendler's meadow-rue during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail on Mt. Lemmon.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 5 of 13.
The group heads up the trail past veins in rock.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 6 of 13.
A bee makes its way around a Geranium Caespitosum, or Purple Cluster Geranium, seen during the wildflower hike.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 7 of 13.
A sign marks the start of the trail; there is a large parking area just off of the Control Road.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 8 of 13.
A Penstemon Barbatus, or Scarlet Budler, is seen during the wildflower hike.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 9 of 13.
A Geranium Caespitosum grows in front of a stump charred by the 2002 Bullock Fire.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 10 of 13.
The group walks through lush green groundcover mixed with burned trees.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 11 of 13.
A bee rests atop a Wheeler thistle.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 12 of 13.
A Ipomopsis Tenuituba is seen during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail on Mt. Lemmon.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 13 of 13.
The group makes its way down the trail during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail. Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn led the group on the hike.
Source: Pima County Communications Office

Wildflowers are beautiful wherever you find them, but the more you know about them, the more they will amaze you.

So seven Pima County residents were appropriately amazed in mid-July when Meg Quinn led them on a wildflower hike on Mount Lemmon.  The hike is one of the many free outings, workshops and special events offered by the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department’s Environmental Education and Interpretive Programs.

Quinn is the adult and volunteer program coordinator and the author of two books about Southwest wildflowers.

The monsoon brings a “second spring” to Mount Lemmon, Quinn explained as the group gathered to walk the Oracle Ridge Trail after carpooling from Tanque Verde Road and Catalina Highway at 8 a.m.

“The season starts in July once we’ve had some summer rains,” she said.  “The peak season is usually in August.”

The Bullock Fire burned the trail area in 2002, and flame retardant left red stains on the rocks.  The skeletons of silver leaf oak trees stand stark against the sky, with new branches springing from the roots, competing to become surviving trees.

Unfortunately, the charred trunks of ponderosa pines show no such signs of renewal.

In 3½ easy-paced hours – less than four miles out and back – we saw more than 20 types of wildflowers, most of which were on a list that Quinn distributed.

Showy red-orange paintbrush and beardtongue penstemon.  Yellow Hooker’s evening primrose and purple Wheeler thistle.  Tiny and delicate lotus and ipomopsis tenuituba, whose even tinier pink spots – visible through shared hand lenses – prompted surprised oooo’s.

Quinn did more than match common and botanical names with flower faces.  Careful to share the single samples she picked – instead of each picking our own – we smelled the spicy scent of bee balm, stuck sticky bedstraw to our shirts and felt the flannel leaves of mullein.

We learned that yarrow is also known as wound wort because it stops bleeding and that Arizona fleabane “is supposed to keep insects away.”

Who knew that the leaves of Palmer lupine follow the sun?  Or that its “banner” petal changes color after it’s been pollinated – a “don’t bother” sign to passing bees?

Quinn shared a poem to help us tell the difference between the rushes we saw and other plants.

“Sedges have edges,
Rushes are round,
Horsetails have coarse tails,
Cattails have flat tails.”

If you go on Quinn’s wildflower hike on Aug. 8 or Aug. 30, you’ll probably get to see coral bells in bloom.

“It’s never the same on this trail,” Quinn said.  “There’s difference species in different places.”

If you’re really lucky, you might get to see an orchid.

“You don’t find orchids; they find you,” said Quinn, who says they appear in her peripheral vision when she’s looking at other plants.

Whenever you go, you can expect cooler temperatures on Mount Lemmon than in the valley below.

Linda Vaught, who’s been going on the Environmental Education hikes for 6-7 years, calls them Pima County’s “best-kept secret.”

“I just love to go on the Pima County nature hikes,” Vaught said.  “You don’t have to have any money. People are willing to carpool.  It’s a wonderful thing.”

For more information about the Environmental Education programs, please visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/eeduc/environ.htm

To see a list of the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department’s scheduled wildflower, birding and even lizard walks, and other events, please visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/calendar/index.htm

Books by Meg Quinn

• Cacti of the Desert Southwest
• Wildflowers of the Desert Southwest
• Wildflowers of the Mountain Southwest

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).