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HCP I mplementation in Pima County, Arizona. Julia Fonseca Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation. Photo by Aaron Flesch. HCP overview. 44 species (down from 55) 30 years / 36,000 acres 404 streamlining Avoidance, minimization and mitigation are already in place.
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HCP Implementation in Pima County, Arizona Julia Fonseca Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation Photo by Aaron Flesch
HCP overview 44 species (down from 55) 30 years / 36,000 acres 404 streamlining Avoidance, minimization and mitigation are already in place
Pima County, Arizona • 9,189 Square Miles • 85% land is Federal, State or tribal • Population: 980,263 • Tucson: 6th poorest city of its size class in US Tucson
The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan elements respond to community values: Habitat and Corridors Cultural Resources Riparian Ranch Mountain Parks Pima County • Pima County Regional Flood Control District • Tohono O’odham Nation • U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service • City of Tucson • Town of Marana • Town of Oro Valley • Metropolitan Domestic Water District • U. S. Bureau of Land Management • U. S. Forest Service • Environmental Protection Agency • Arizona Game and Fish Department • National Park Service
Habitat and Corridors Element:To ensure the long-term survival of the full spectrum of plants and animals that are indigenous to Pima County through maintaining or improving ecosystem structures and functions necessary for their survival. View from Diamond Bell Ranch 2010
Implemented: From Development Guidelines to 2001 Land Use Plan
1999-2003: Plan development 2006: Owl delisted 2010: HCP submitted 2012: FWS DEIS
Implemented: $165 million inOpen Space Acquisitions225,000 acres under management
Land Management Implemented County mitigation lands have multiple uses for people as well as wildlife.
Other types of mitigation land: Floodprone and In-Lieu Fee programs Developer set-asides Donations Future bond acquisitions Future land exchanges and RPPA acquisitions View from Diamond Bell Ranch, Brian Powell 2010
Implemented: Cactus Mitigation Bank • County-owned land • For County projects • Established 2002 • Banks have a benefit to Pima County, but a landscape approach is better.
Experiment: Removal of Non-native Frogs in Ranch “Frogsheds”
Other Advance Implementation • Invasive species management • Testing of monitoring protocols • Database development • Funding: property taxes
NEPA Experiment Public scoping 2000, 2003 County-hosted public process, 7 draft HCPs DEIS published 2012 22 comments 2012
Why advance implementation? • Protect habitat before more fragmentation. • Success helps sustains political will and citizen support. • Implementation creates certainty. • Failure shows what is not “practicable”. • Opportunity for process improvement before a permit is issued.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uMlomLOGFg Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan http://www.pima.gov/cmo/sdcp/