The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s review of Pima County’s Multi-Species Conservation Plan is a momentous step in the County’s 15-year effort to balance growth and development with protection of native plant and animal species and habitats.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is accepting public comment on the plan and on its own draft Environmental Impact Statement regarding the plan until March 15.

The public is invited to a meeting hosted by the Service 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, where the Service will provide information and accept written comments.

The Multi-Species Conservation Plan is essentially Pima County’s application for a permit, under the Endangered Species Act, to “take” (harm, harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect) threatened and endangered species, when the taking is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity such as construction. Such a permit 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 to certain private development projects. The Plan minimizes and mitigates the effects of incidental take primarily by monitoring and managing the lands the County has already acquired as open space and habitats for the 44 species included in the permit. Should additional lands be necessary to provide mitigation, the 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.

The Service will evaluate all comments made by the public and will publish a final Environmental Impact Statement. Permit issuance from the Service is expected in early 2014 and will require approval by the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

The first 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 is Monday, Jan. 14, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Nanini Library, 7300 N. Shannon Road.

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 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.

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. The first open house is in District 1.

Additional open houses are planned in:

District 2   Monday, Jan. 28, 5-7 p.m., Abrams Public Health Center, Room 1106-1108, 3950 S. Country Club Road

District 3   Tuesday, Jan. 22, 10 a.m.-noon, Robles Community Center, 16150 W. Ajo Highway

District 4   Thursday, Jan. 24, 4-6 p.m., Kirk-Bear Canyon Library, 8959 E. Tanque Verde Road

District 5   Tuesday, Jan. 29, 4:30-7 p.m., Pima County Housing Center (“El Banco”), 801 W. Congress St.

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.

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/.

Come celebrate sustainable landscaping – and sustainable housing – at the Pima County Housing Center (El Banco) at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, June 7, as the last tree of its landscaping project is planted.

Pima County opened the Housing Center at 801 W. Congress St. a year ago to help residents rent, buy, improve and hold onto their homes.

The landscaping project is another step in the process of making “El Banco,” the former bank building, more energy- and water-efficient.  “One of the Housing Center’s missions is to educate Pima County residents about how they can conserve resources and reduce expenses at their homes,” said Housing Program Manager Betty Villegas.

Landscape designer Jessie Byrd of Desert Green Design, who worked with Pima County on the Historic Courthouse’s landscape renovation last year and is the lead designer for the County’s Prickly Park at 3500 W. River Road, designed the landscaping.

“Her expertise in landscape and conservation design, and arid-land vegetation, is helping to integrate native plants in urban institutional landscape and parks, a key component and extension of the award-winning Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan,” said Rafael Payan, Director of the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department, which also worked on the project.

The Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society, which is partnering with the County on Prickly Park, gave the Housing Center an education grant to purchase 23 rescued barrel cactus for the project. Other native plants incorporated into the project include ironwood, palo verde and mesquite trees, yellow bells from the Pima County Native Plant Nursery, and many species of cactus and succulents, including saguaros, ocotillos, agaves, prickly pears, organ pipes and sotols.

“We hope to use these examples to entice the community to use native Sonoran desert plants that are both beautiful and regionally adapted to our desert climate for commercial, industrial and residential landscape projects,” Ms. Byrd said.

A crew from Desert Survivors, a nonprofit human services agency that provides employment for adults with disabilities at its plant nursery at 1020 W. Starr Pass, and a Pima County Jail inmate crew also worked on the project.

“The Pima County Sheriff’s Department was happy to provide help to this worthwhile project in the form of an inmate work crew,” said Lt. Joshua Arnold. “El Banco is one of many locations throughout Pima County where inmate work crews have been utilized for beautification purposes. The Sheriff’s Department is proud to be a part of this project and will continue to extend a helping hand in efforts to improve our community.”

The Pima County Housing Center and its partners:

• Provide resources, information, counseling, classes, computers, and workshops to help first-time homebuyers and other Pima County residents purchase, repair and make their homes more energy efficient; find affordable rentals; improve their credit; and save and manage their money.
• Help homeowners with mortgage modification and foreclosure prevention or recovery.
• Assist individuals and families who have been victims of fraud and rescue scams.
• Help individuals obtain emergency rent, mortgage and utility assistance.

Call the Housing Center at 624-2947 or stop by between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Pima County, Arizona – The Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society is creating a park full of prickly pear, cholla and other desert plants at the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department’s headquarters.

The view of Prickly Park from the Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department

A cactus park in the desert may sound redundant but the society, in partnership with Pima County, wants residents and visitors to better understand and appreciate the rich diversity of these desert plants and their value to humans, animals, insects and the environment.

The society wants to make the 9.4-acre Prickly Park at 3500 W. River Road the largest and most complete collection of prickly pear and cholla in the United States.

The nonprofit society, which started in 1960, has more than 1,000 members.  Since 1999, its Cactus Rescue Crew has been saving cacti and other native plants on sites slated for development.  In more than 250 rescue outings, more than 50,000 native plants have been saved and given new homes across Arizona.

The society will sell more than 450 rescued barrel, hedgehog and saguaro cacti at its annual Blooming Barrel Sale from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, at the Amphitheater Schools El Hogar Land Lab, 4342 N. Fourth Ave.

The society plans to populate the park with rescued native plants and cuttings and organize them into a variety of gardens demonstrating their value as food, their pollination and their blooms, and for research, conservation and propagation (Prickly Park map).  It also plans to use the park to expand its educational offerings to teachers, students and the general public.

“This project provides native plant salvage, propagation and research opportunities, a public demonstration garden showcasing desert vegetation, and wisely reclaims and adaptively uses a former sand and gravel quarry in the development of a community asset,” said Rafael Payan, director of the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department.

The larger of two ramadas at Prickly Park with the Natural Resources, Parks and Recreations Department in the background

The Rescue Crew will move saguaros salvaged from county road construction sites to the park.  Pima County has already moved two ramadas from a former park to the Prickly Park site, and the society provided colored concrete slabs, new roofs and fresh coats of paint.  The county also recently planted 50 velvet mesquite and blue palo verde trees at the park that were grown using “tall pot” technology at the county’s Native Plant Nursery.

For more information about the society, go to www.tucsoncactus.org.

Slide 1 of 3.
Gravel paths connect the two ramadas at Prickly Park.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 2 of 3.
The smaller ramada with the Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department in the background
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 3 of 3.
Gravel paths through Prickly Park
Source: Pima County Communications Office

Nursery manager Aaron Chambers with tall pots

The Pima County Native Plant Nursery is using “tall pots” to give taproots room to grow and to improve the survival of arid land plants when they’re transplanted.  The method saves water — and money, too.

You can read about tall pots in the Arizona Daily Star or watch an interview with Aaron Chambers, manager of the Native Plant Nursery, on Arizona Illustrated.

Or you can watch a slide show on the Tucson Citizen’s Pima County News.

Pima County, Arizona – The Pima County Native Plant Nursery is switching to “tall pots” to grow and transplant arid land trees more successfully and with less water.

Nursery manager Aaron Chambers shows the tangled root grown in traditional pots

The nursery, which relocated late last year from north of the Roger Road Wastewater Reclamation Facility to its southeast corner on West Sweetwater Road, grows plants native to the Sonoran Desert region for transplant to county property for revegetation, landscaping and habitat improvement.  It does not sell or make plants available to the public.

Aaron Chambers began the conversion to tall pots when he went to work as manager of the nursery in June 2010.

He’ll show you the tangled knot that traditional 15-gallon black plastic pots turn a tree’s tap root into.  There’s no place for that root to grow but around.

Chambers with tall pots

When that tree gets planted, it must be irrigated to give the tap root time to reach any moisture deep in the soil – if it ever grows out of the root snarl at all.

Tall pots – 30-inch-long segments of 6-inch-diameter PVC sewer pipe with wire mesh bottoms – allow the tap root to go where it would in nature – down.  When it’s time to transplant, a narrow, deep hole can be dug with a post-hole auger instead of the wider shovel-dug hole needed for traditional pots.

The tap root is well on its way to tapping into the soil’s moisture.  A gel form of cellulose and water is planted with the tree.  Soil organisms metabolize the gel, releasing the water for up to three months.  No costly irrigation systems are needed, and the survival rate of transplants is 90 percent or better.

Tall pots have other advantages.  Arid land trees like mesquites, palo verdes, acacias and desert willows grown in tall pots can be ready for transplant in three months, compared to the 18 months needed in traditional nursery containers.

Chambers shows tap root of mesquite grown in tall pot

Tall pots require less soil, less water and less weeding.  Rebar racks holding 28 tall pots can easily be moved with a forklift.  The strong winds that have been pummeling Tucson recently knock traditional pots over, but not the tall pots that are wired to a frame.

Tall pots don’t work for cacti and succulents, which have more lateral root systems.

Fifty velvet mesquite and blue palo verde trees grown in tall pots were recently transplanted around the Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department, 3500 W. River Road, which manages the Native Plant Nursery.  Half were planted using a traditional irrigation system, and half with the cellulose/water gel to track survival rates and costs.

The Pima County Native Plant Nursery occupies about four acres.  Chambers estimates that it will supply the county with 3,000 trees and shrubs grown in tall pots before year’s end, in addition to cacti, succulents and other plants grown in conventional containers.

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Pima County Native Plant Nursery on West Sweetwater Road
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 2 of 12.
3-month-old blue palo verde ready for planting
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 3 of 12.
Post-hole augur is used to dig holes for tall-pot plants.
Source: Pima Communications OfficeSlide 4 of 12.
Hole for tall-pot plant
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 5 of 12.
DRiWATER, a gel form of cellulose and water, can provide moisture for up to 90 days.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 6 of 12.
DRiWATER is 97.6 percent water and 2 percent cellulose gum.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 7 of 12.
Nursery manager Aaron Chambers drops a quart of DRiWater into the hole.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 8 of 12.
Chambers and Lawrence Liese remove wire mesh from bottom of tall pot.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 9 of 12.
Chambers slides tall pot off plant.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 10 of 12.
Liese shovels soil around plant as Chambers lifts tall pot.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 11 of 12.
Chambers cuts the bottom from DRiWATER cartons and places four around the tree's base.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 12 of 12.
Hole is filled, leaving basin to catch rain. DRiWATER can be replaced every 90 days.
Source: Pima County Communications Office