The Daily Agenda: Conservation planning for the future

Several departments have been managing the county's protected land ... That's about to change ... Cochise supervisors facing charges.

Over the past 25 years, Pima County has acquired or designated more than 250,000 acres of protected land as part of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.

These include mountain parks and trails, ranches, riparian areas, wildlife habitat and corridors and cultural and historic sites, which County Administrator Jan Lesher said help to “protect and preserve our natural and cultural heritage.”

Until this point, multiple county departments have been helping to manage the land, with each handling different functions, and while that’s been going well, the county believes there’s room for improvement.

Earlier this month, Lesher announced the creation of the Conservation Lands and Resources Department, which is expected to be operational by July.

The department will combine the Natural Resources division of the county’s Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation department and the Office of Sustainability and Conservation.

The Natural Resources Division has been handling ranch conservation, mountain parks (including Colossal Cave and Tucson Mountain Park,) natural resource conservation parks (like Agua Caliente Park,) trail maintenance and development, invasive species management and restoration, and environmental education.

The Office of Sustainability and Conservation has been responsible for historic and cultural preservation, conservation science and ecological monitoring, and the sustainability program.

The new department will take over many of these duties and work closely with other county departments, with a designated transition team working over the next several months to finalize details.

Lesher says that consolidating conservation efforts and land management in this way will better align the county’s efforts and result in more consistent work. It will also make the county more competitive for grants.

“Better grouping of these conservation and sustainability functions will better integrate and strengthen this work as we continue to implement the county’s vision for a sustainable future and effective management of county conservation lands and resources,” she wrote in a recent memo.

Streamlining the management process makes sense when it comes to consistency and efficiency, since a quarter-million acres is a lot of land to maintain. And if you’re wondering how the county managed to amass that much, here’s a quick timeline of some of the major plot points:

• 1997- The Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owl was designated as endangered and Pima County voters approved an Open Space and Historic preservation bond program.

• 1999- The county presented a conceptual Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan to the board of supervisors, who voted to accelerate the planning process for a regional plan.

• 2001 and 2002- County staff created more than 200 technical reports defining natural and culturally sensitive areas to preserve, ranchlands, wildlife corridors and more. The reports also identified areas of less environmental sensitivity to accommodate growth.

• 2003- The county completed the fist draft of it’s Multi-Species Conservation Plan, which is the part of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan that addresses compliance with the Endangered Species Act

• 2004- Voters approved $174 million in bonds for land acquisition, with the management of most lands assigned to the Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department.

• 2016- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service accepted the county’s Multi-Species Conservation Plan and the county received a federal "Section 10" permit that streamlines endangered species compliance.

The new department’s transition team, made up of people already working with the county’s protected land, is already working to create a plan, budget and organizational schedule.

Once the department is up and running, Lesher says the county will begin an open and competitive hiring process for its director and deputy director, with transition team member and Senior Advisor Nicole Fyffe serving as interim director in the meantime.

Streamlining the county’s efforts in these areas will help build on what Lesher called 25 years of “exceptional” work in developing and implementing “a clear and strategic vision for balancing continued growth with natural open space and natural and cultural resource conservation.”

But streamlining efforts also saves taxpayer dollars by avoiding redundant positions and work, which sounds like a good deal to us.

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Curt is homeward bound! Having reached his breaking point with air travel (he’ll tell you all about that next week,) he rented a car and will be spending the next few days driving back to Tucson. Safe travels, partner!