Conservation reports and data

Huachuca Area Fire Partners Fire Management Plan (November 2005)

The Huachuca Area Fire Partners, an alliance of public and private groups in southeastern Arizona, came together to restore and manage fire activities over a 500,000-acre area that includes the Huachuca Mountains and surrounding grasslands. The Fire Management Plan provides a framework for landscape-level fire management — its goals include collectively implementing fire management projects that participants are unable to accomplish on their own and managing fire across jurisdictional boundaries.

Download file (12 MB)

Lessons Learned: Sonoran Desert Ecosystem Initiative (October 2005)

The document summarizes the lessons learned from The Nature Conservancy and Sonoran Institute’s multi-year collaborative project with the Bureau of Land Management and Department of Defense at the Sonoran Desert National Monument and Goldwater Training Range.

Download file (<1 MB)

State of the Las Ciénegas National Conservation Area, Part I (July 2005)

Summarizes work completed to assist the Bureau of Land Management in the development and implementation of a science-based adaptive management and monitoring program to evaluate progress toward objectives established in BLM’s Resource Management Plan. Includes 1) an analysis of data collected between 1995 and 2004 on the condition and trend of the NCA’s grasslands, 2) a review of monitoring protocols, and 3) an outline of the adaptive management process implemented by BLM in 2004/2005.

Download file (1 MB)

Conservation Elements of and a Biodiversity Management Framework for the Sonoran Desert National Mon (June 2005)

Developed for the BLM and Dept. of Defense, this report summarizes the results of The Nature Conservancy’s characterization of important biodiversity elements and the Sonoran Institute’s analysis of socioeconomic information for the Monument and surrounding environs. The data and analyses demonstrate the importance of coordinated management among the various public, private, and tribal land managers surrounding the National Monument as a mechanism for protecting the objects for which the Monument was designated.

Download file (9 MB)

Interbasin Groundwater Flow at the Benson Narrows, Arizona (March 2005)

Describes research indicating groundwater is moving through the floodplain alluvial aquifer at Three Links Farm, and that most of this water originates from the Upper San Pedro River Basin. Published in March/April 2005 issue of Southwest Hydrology.

Download file (< 1 MB)

The Impacts of Livestock Grazing in the Sonoran Desert: a Literature Review and Synthesis (February 2005)

Prepared for the BLM, this review includes a synthesis of the scientific literature on the impacts of livestock grazing and grazing management strategies for the Sonoran Desert. Also included are reviews of plant community dynamics, biological soil crust ecology, and grazing-vegetation interaction theory as they relate to an understanding of grazing impacts and strategies.

Download file (3 MB)

The Lower San Pedro River—Hydrology and Flow Restoration for Biodiversity Conservation (May 2004)

Describes The Nature Conservancy’s flow management approach to increasing water supply for riparian vegetation, based largely on results from hydrologic analyses indicating that retiring agricultural pumping at key locations increases water availability for riparian vegetation. Paper presented at USFS conference, May 11-15, 2004.

Download file (< 1 MB)

Watershed Improvement Using Prescribed Burns as a Way to Restore Aquatic Habitat for Native Fish (May 2004)

Documents efforts by TNC and BLM to test a model that prescribed burns can be used to improve watershed conditions and aquatic habitat conditions. Study documents pre- and post-treatment results for the response of grasslands and for populations of the threatened Gila chub (Gila intermedia). Paper presented at USFS conference, May 11-15, 2004.

Download file (<1 MB)

Grasslands Assessment GIS Data (December 2004)

A GIS data set depicting the results of a two-year study to delineate grasslands and evaluate their ecological condition in Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northern Mexico. This study was completed with the assistance of resource professionals from U.S. and Mexico universities and public agencies.

• Grasslands Assessment ArcGIS data (1 MB)
• Grasslands Assessment Google Earth KML (2 MB)

An Ecological Assessment of the Bureau of Land Management’s Current Fire Management Practices (March 2004)

This study reviews BLM’s fire management plans for Arizona, assessing the accuracy, standardization, and ecological relevance of current Phase I fire management areas. This second report documenting the results of TNC’s Arizona Grassland Assessment also makes recommendations for revisions to BLM’s fire management areas based on fire ecology and other considerations.

Download file (3.5 MB)