see us in action! - sky island alliancemx secretariat for communications and transportation (sct)...

The Sky Islands of the Madrean Archipelago are aglobally recognized center of biocultural diversitythat sprawls north to south across the U.S.–Mexicoborderlands. There are 55 Sky Island mountainranges and desert grassland seas that are thoughtto contain more than 3,000 plants, over half of allspecies of birds found in North America, thousandsof species of invertebrates, 104 mammals,including the only known wild jaguar in the U.S.and the only ocelot in Arizona, nearly 100 reptiles,and 25 native amphibians. Tucked within thismagnificent and valuable landscape, the majorityof U.S. citizens exist with household and per capitaincomes much lower than both state and nationallevels. As with the majority of the world’s poor,people living in similar rural areas depend onecosystems and related biodiversity forsubsistence, security, and income.

The Sky Island Restoration Cooperative (SIRC) is abi-national community-based collaboration ofgovernment and non-governmental organizations,private landowners, ranchers, students, volunteers,scientists, and restoration practitioners. Our hopeis that by combining our energy and knowledge, wecan improve restoration activities, outcomes, andawareness across the Madrean Archipelago andnurture an understanding of the importance ofbiodiversity for human well-being. Identifyingrestoration research and resource needs, the SIRCis a vehicle for information-sharing, training, andproject implementation. Our cooperative buildsbridges across institutional, administrative, andcultural boundaries to create effective regionalrestoration strategies.

Our vision:Restore hydrologic and biologic processesthroughout whole watersheds, from the topof the mountains to the basins below;

Maintain the unique biocultural diversityfound in the Madrean Archipelago byworking across borders, jurisdictions, andpublic and private boundaries;

Build resilient natural and humancommunities based on restorationeconomies; and

Address social inequities and improvequality of life in the borderlands.

See us in action!www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYatTc69zlM

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In FY16, the Sky Island Restoration Cooperative(SIRC) included involvement and/or direct workfrom these organizations:

Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS)Arizona State University (ASU)Borderlands Habitat Network (BHN)Borderlands Restoration L3C (BR)Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (CONANP)Cuenca Los Ojos (CLO)Deep Dirt Farm Institute, LLC (DDFI)Gila Watershed Partnership (GWP)Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Cananea (ITSC)Sky Island Alliance (SIA)Southwest Monarch Study (SMS)Springs Stewardship Institute (SSI)Tucson Audubon Society (TAS)U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Coronado National Forest U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) U.S. National Park Service (NPS)Wildlands Network (WN)

New SIRC partners in FY 2016:American Conservation Experience (ACE) Arizona Center for Nature Conservation/Phoenix ZooArizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM)Cienega Watershed PartnershipFriends of Saguaro National ParkPima CountyThe Nature Conservancy (TNC)University of Arizona Wildlife Corridors, LLC

Other organizations involved with SIRC:

Arizona Conservation Corps (AZCC)Arizona Department of

Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Bat Conservation International (BCI) Biophilia FoundationBrophy Family FoundationComisión Nacional Forestal

(CONAFOR)Desert Botanical Garden (DBG) Desert Landscape Conservation

Cooperative (DLCC)Douglas High SchoolEastern Arizona CollegeEco Ideas, LLCFreeport McMoran, Inc.Friends of Brown Canyon Ranch Friends of Madera Canyon

GeoSystems Analysis, Inc.Hummingbird Monitoring Network

(HMN)Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE)Make Way for MonarchsMonarch Watch MX Secretariat for Communications

and Transportation (SCT)Native Seeds/SEARCH (NS/S)Natural Channel DesignNatural Resources Conservation

Service (NRCS)Naturalia, A.C.Nature and Culture InternationalNorthern Arizona UniversityPatagonia Area Resource Alliance

(PARA)

Patagonia Regional CommunityFoundation

Patagonia Union High School Rancho San José del CarrizoSeibert Ecological Restoration, LLC Society for Ecological Restoration,

Southwest ChapterSouthern Arizona Buffelgrass

Coordination Center (SABCC)Southwest Monarch StudyStream Dynamics, LLCTohono O’Odham NationTucson Unified School District (TUSD)U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR)Vail Unified School District (VUSD)Windsong Peace and Leadership

Center

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Executive Summary

e Sky Island Restoration Cooperative (SIRC) is acommunication network designed to facilitate story-telling for and between restoration practitioners,scientists, land managers, citizen scientists, andvolunteers. Our goal is to facilitate effective landscaperestoration at increasingly larger scales by cooperatingand reporting on community-based projects. Moresimply stated, we see ourselves as weaving together thedisparate threads of ecosystem restoration into anintegrated effort that restores the mutualisms which areinherent between people and place.

e SIRC report is organized around six themes:Education & Outreach, Planning & Partnerships,Habitat Restoration, Inventory & Monitoring, PlantMaterials, and Research. is Executive Summaryprovides an overview and basic road map of our efforts.e second part of the report includes Resource Briefsfrom around the Madrean Archipelago with more in-depth descriptions of each of the individual projects.

SIRC has more than 65 partner organizations, with newpartners joining every year. SIRC is an internationalcooperative with a number of partner groups in theUnited States and Mexico as well as the TohonoO’odham Nation. SIRC considers it part of our missionto involve local residents, landowners, and studentgroups in all stages of resource protection andrestoration. We are proud of the fact that our 2016membership included a number of local ‘Friends’groups: Brown Canyon Ranch, Madera Canyon, andSaguaro National Park. ese are groups of volunteersdedicated to the conservation and enhancement of

treasured natural and cultural resources. We continuedour partnership with local high schools — Patagonia,Douglas, and Empire — and expanded our reach toinclude more Tucson schools in the Schoolyard BioBlitzprograms. Mentoring youth is critical to the success ofSIRC, and more importantly, the key to future resourceconservation. e success of SIRC is due to dedicatedagency and NGO staff, and the overwhelminggenerosity of our volunteer workforce.

Education & Outreach

Education and outreach are important aspects of all ofour SIRC partnership projects. We believe that investingin youth and engaging local volunteers is critical to helpconserve and restoration our local natural resources, aswell as innovating new ideas, new techniques, and newinformation to help guide our restoration activities.

e Borderlands Restoration Leadership Institute is a newendeavor designed as a project-based learninglaboratory that explores and activates collective, creativesolutions to natural resource challenges andopportunities by working at the intersection of borderregion economies and ecologies. Our partners lookforward to implementing new innovative ideas andtechnologies developed by the Institute.

SIRC partners cooperated on three summer youthprograms to engage students in summer employmentand environmental education: Borderlands Earth CareYouth Institute, Youth Engaged Stewardship at LasCiénegas National Conservation Area, and the GilaWatershed Youth Conservation Corps. Alianza MariposaMonarca is a coordinated effort for young biologiststhroughout Sonora to learn about monarch butterflies

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and to collect data on their populations at variouslocations. Saguaro National Park worked with theTucson Unified School District through SchoolyardBioBlitzes to engage students to learn more about theenvironment outside theirclassroom. e Insect and PollinatorBioBlitz was a two-day volunteerevent to document these importantpopulations at Tumacácori NationalHistorical Park.

Planning & Partnerships

SIRC partners continued theirefforts to nurture partnershipsacross agency, organizational,international, tribal, andcommunity boundaries.Highlighted in this 2016 report arethe efforts of the Southern ArizonaResilient Landscape Cooperative tosecure Department of Interiorfunding to share with variouspartners to treat high prioritybuffelgrass populations acrosssoutheastern Arizona. A dedicatedgroup of professionals continuedtheir efforts to protect lowlandleopard frog populations andhabitat throughout our region, andto develop a managementguidebook that hopefully will helpprevent this species from beinglisted as TES. e Douglas RangerDistrict of the Coronado NationalForest cleared a hurdle when theycompleted a programmaticCategorical Exclusion (CE) NEPAanalysis to help meet requirementsto implement watershed restorationacross the Chiricahua Mountains.is CE can be used as a templatefor other agencies to completesimilar analyses. e WildlifeLinkages Binational Partnershipcompleted a very successful year in their efforts toreduce impacts to natural resources within theexpansion corridor of Mexican Highway 2. isPartnership was able to reroute a portion of the highway

away from sensitive riparian habitat, provideinformation and education on how to mitigate impactsto resources, as well as providing input that reduced theimpacts to wildlife species habitats.

Habitat Restoration

SIRC partners have been veryeffective at implementing a numberof restoration projects in areasidentified as important habitat for anumber of plant and animal species.SIRC has focused on the restorationof a network of ‘pollinator islands’across the Sky Island Region, asdescribed in our 2014 and 2015Annual Reports, and continued thiswork in 2016. Many of theseprojects were developed withintegrated resource objectives whichinclude restoration of native plantspecies, providing habitat forpollinator species, and providingriparian habitat for the endangeredChiricahua leopard frog and anumber of bat species. 2016 projectsenhanced wildlife habitat byplanting native plant species with anemphasis on nectar and milkweedspecies produced at our localMadrean Archipelago nurseries.

e Arizona Monarch ConservationPartnership continued andenhanced our efforts to providepublic education and get nectar andmilkweed plants incorporated intopollinator islands and backyards.e Conservation Partnershipreached over 17,000 people andestimate more than 720 peoplechanged their behavior regardingmonarchs. e Gila WatershedPartnership continued large-scaleriparian restoration on the Gila

River aimed at removal of invasive species andrestoration of native habitat for many ripariandependent species, including the endangered Southwestwillow flycatcher.

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Sky Island Alliance (SIA), the Coronado National Forest(CNF) and Arizona Game and Fish Department workedtogether to add additional Chiricahua leopard frogponds and bat waters to our other aquatic restorationprojects in Rucker Canyon of theChiricahua Mountains, inpreparation for the planned releaseof a new population of frogs in2018. Efforts to remove invasivefountain grass continued in theSanta Catalina Mountains of theCNF by SIA and several groups ofhearty volunteers. Followingremoval, native plants were installedto add to our network of pollinatorislands across the Sky Island region.Additional pollinator islands wereplanted in three national parks incooperation with NPS, SIA andBorderlands Restoration.

SIA cooperated with the InstitutoTecnológico Superior de Canaeaand Ranch San Jose del Carrizo touse the Power of Rocks to restoredamaged watersheds in northernSonora. A good time was had by alland we encourage you to see us inaction on YouTube:www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYatTc69zlm.

Inventory and Monitoring

SIRC is dedicated to inventory andmonitoring of our natural resources,in addition to researching the effectsof our restoration projects. We areexcited to continue to add to ourbody of knowledge. Funding forinventory and monitoring is oenlimited and SIRC partners haveworked together to come up withinnovative ways to cooperate tocollect some of the data we need.Another important component of SIRC researchprojects is that most involve NGOs, private landowners,and community volunteers. Volunteers are critical to thesuccess of almost all of our inventory and monitoringprojects.

Tucson Audubon Society trained volunteers to conductsurveys for yellow-billed cuckoos, providing surprisinginformation on the unique habitat requirements ofcuckoos in our region. Sky Island Alliance, the

Coronado National Forest, and theNational Park Service teamed up foran expedition into the ruggedGaliuro Mountains to documentconditions at springs and streams,with a special emphasis on botanicalcollections. Springs assessments inthe region are also now occurring inSonora: Sky Island Alliance hasbeen working with the SpringsStewardship Institute and Sonoranlandowners and land managers totrain personnel and volunteers toensure consistent spring inventoryinformation across the U.S.–Mexicoborder. e National Park Service,Comisión Nacional de ÁreasNaturales Protegidas (CONANP),and Sky Island Alliance also workedto ensure wildlife cameramonitoring protocols are consistentamong the six “Sister Parks” — threeon each side of the border. eCoronado National Forest isexperimenting with collaborationwith an NGO (SIA) to hire a skilledintern to contribute to the USFSeffort to document and validatevaluable water rights.

Several groups worked together tobuild erosion control structures(ECS) in the southern ChiricahuaMountains and to monitor theeffects of these structures onchanges in soil moisture (SoilMoisture and Inundation Monitoringat Loose Rock Erosion ControlStructures in the ChiricahuaMountains) and vegetation

(Monitoring Short-Term Vegetation Response toWatershed Restoration). Fiy cameras have beendeployed as part of Wildlife and Water in the ChiricahuaMountains: Does Watershed Restoration Affect Wildlife

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Species Composition? Processing is continuing on morethan three million images collected with the intent todemonstrate how surface water availability in restoredchannels influences wildlife communities and todocument when surface water ispresent. We are looking forward tothese results to help guide futureECS projects and what additionalbenefits we will be able to attributeto the use of ECS in watershedrestoration.

SIRC’s commitment to implementprojects and to work together toinventory, monitor and research ourresults has helped us refine ourtechniques and to be moresuccessful in competing at the localand national levels for funding fromagencies and private foundations.

Research

SIRC continues to strive to fundand implement research todocument the benefits of ourrestoration activities. An importantrestoration technique utilized bySIRC partners is theimplementation of low-cost, low-tech ECS. ‘Stacking rocks’ is notnecessarily a highly technical orinnovative practice, but thesetechniques have been used in thisregion for hundreds of years; ourpartners have committed todesigning research studies todocument their effectiveness so thatwe can communicate them to abroader audience. Research resultshave provided statistically reliabledata quantifying the benefits of ECSand has published the results inscientific journals. USGS has beenmonitoring and modelinggeomorphology of streams with ECS and has produceddata to quantify the benefits to help restorationpractitioners better design and model watershedrestoration projects to ensure success. USGS and theArizona Geological Survey are collaborating to

investigate if ECS might have another ecological benefitthrough storage of carbon. A University of Arizonagraduate student worked with USFS to use innovativetime-lapse photography to help quantify infiltration at

ECS aer storm events. Resultsindicate a single ECS could increasetotal infiltration by 0-255%, withthe most likely scenario being anincrease of approximately 10%. isreport also includes a study frome Nature Conservancy and theBureau of Land Management thatexamined 10 years of vegetationdata collected from 2004-2014 andfound some surprising results:Perennial grass cover declined inresponse to spring drought,challenging our long-held notionthat warm seasons grasses mostoen respond to monsoonmoisture.

Research by SIRC partners over thepast several years is demonstratingthe benefits of our restorationprojects and strongly influencingour ability to generate new projectsand sources of funding. Researchresults have helped persuade agencydecision makers and privatelandowners to implement resourcerestoration projects, and supportresearch on their effectiveness.

Plant Materials

Suitable plant materials are oenlacking for wildland restorationprojects. SIRC partners haveprioritized the collection andbanking of locally-collected seeds tobe grown out in local greenhouses,and to contribute to the BLM Seedsof Success seedbank. ese effortsare providing materials for our

ongoing restoration efforts, and preserving these speciesfor future generations. e Madrean Archipelago PlantPropagation Initiative guides our local seed collectionand plant propagation efforts to meet the Bureau ofLand Management’s National Seed Strategy. In addition,

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an interagency botanical crew was the result of threefederal agencies and two NGOs pooling their limitedfinancial resources to conduct plant inventories andseed collection across the Madrean Archipelago.

Highlights of SIRC 2016

Because SIRC involves a number ofpartners from large and smallorganizations, and combinations offederal/state/local governments,NGOs, schools, private landowners,and volunteers without anyoverhead structure, it is difficult toexplain how it all coalesces into aworkable Cooperative. We continueto strive to bring our vision forrestoration of our borderlands intoreality and to continue to createrestoration economy-based jobs.

We are gratified by the number ofrestoration projects we haveimplemented with limited fundingand huge volunteer contributions.We are particularly proud of thenumber of inventory, monitoring,and research projects we have beenable to implement and support.Defensible data is key to our successin soliciting support from landmanagement agencies and privatelandowners, and financial supportfrom funding organizations.Inventory/monitoring/research isoen conducted in somewhat of a‘vacuum’, however, most of ourstudies involved substantialvolunteer involvement. Volunteershave donated their time to attendtraining sessions and endured longhikes and hot weather to makesubstantial contributions, both toour scientific knowledge and inensuring the success of all of ourrestoration projects.

SIRC partners continue to strive to erase agencyboundaries within the U.S. and the border that separatesthe U.S. from Mexico. We all live in the same landscapeand it is vital that we work together to conserve and

restore our collective resources. SIRC continues to takeadvantage of opportunities for cross-agency and cross-border cooperation. We are in our infancy in thedevelopment and implementation of consistent

inventory and monitoring methodsto collect data across landsadministered by variousjurisdictions and countries.Comparable data (i.e., apples toapples) is imperative if we are tomanage at the landscape scale andrespond to the challenges of climatechange. Our success stories includeongoing spring inventories,Monarch butterfly monitoring,camera monitoring of mammalspecies, seed collection, and theestablishment of an interagencybotany crew across the MadreanArchipelago.

Reliable, proven restorationtechniques that work in our uniquearid climate get more and moreimportant with each year ofdrought. Continued investigationinto the use of locally collectedplant materials, and the role of ECSin the stabilization of watersheds —reducing peak flows and increasinginfiltration — may prove to becrucial in helping to maintain theintegrity and viability of theMadrean Archipelago landscape.

We now have three years ofcooperation between partnergroups, restoration practitioners,researchers, and land managementagencies; we are at the point wherewe are starting to have enoughsuccess at watershed restoration andemerging research to providemodels and research results to helpinform management decision on

public lands. Following is a case study illustrating oneexample of how research results and modeling wereused to guide restoration implementation on theDouglas Ranger District of the Coronado NationalForest.

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Abstract

Partners of the Sky Island Restoration Cooperative(SIRC) are committed to: Restore hydrologic and biologicprocesses throughout whole watersheds, from the top ofthe mountains to the basins below. Partners havefocused on the installation of a variety of erosioncontrol structures (ECS) to help reduce soil erosion whileretaining sediment, increasing infiltration andenhancing plant production. SIRC strives to researchand demonstrate the effectiveness of low cost/low techrestoration practices that agencies, volunteers andprivate landowners can implement across thelandscape. Because we advocate the use of lowcost/low tech practices that have anecdotal support –it has been important for us to engage researchpartners to quantify the effectiveness of thesetechniques. USGS has been researching the design,implementation and benefits of a variety of ECSthroughout southeastern AZ to help guidemanagement decisions. In just three years we havepartnered on a number of projects to combineresearch and monitoring with the installation of ECS.

This briefing will describe how USGS research resultsshowing a 28% increase in flow on a watershedrestored with ECS, when compared to an adjacentuntreated watershed which got the attention ofCoronado National Forest managers. This researchresulted in an ongoing partnership where USGSresearch and modeling results are helping guide USFSmanagement decisions. USGS research results are

helping USFS predict the environmental effects of ECSinstallation for NEPA requirements, and guide wherethese practices can be most effective.

Project Background

USGS research documented an increase of 28% wateryield in a watershed restored using ECS vs an untreatedwatershed near the El Coronado Ranch in the ChiricahuaMountains (Norman, et al., 2015). ese results caughtthe attention of many land managers, including theCoronado National Forest (CNF), whose managementfocus is on consistent, comparable, and credible processfor improving the health and stability of watersheds onnational forests and grasslands. Restoration in theChiricahua Mountains was of particular interest to theCNF because the Horseshoe II Fire had burned almostthe entire mountain range in 2011. Many burned areaswere experiencing significant flooding, erosion anddebris flows which has caused stream sedimentation,infrastructure damage, and degraded watershed function.e Dragoon Mountains were also of interest to the CNFbecause of inherently erosive substrates and the potentialfor future watershed restoration and improved watershedfunction. Subsequent site visits in the vicinity of theDouglas Ranger District further piqued the interest ofCNF staff as they observed reduced soil erosion and peakflows, increased soil moisture and plant production, andimproved wildlife habitats in areas with ECS restorationon private lands.

CNF contacted USGS asking for their help to determinewhere ECS would be an effective watershed restoration

The Sky Island Restoration Cooperative (SIRC) is a coalition of restoration practitioners, scientists, and land managers workingtogether to restore the ecological processes and systems of the Sky Islands in the Madrean Archipelago of the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands.

A Case Study: Research to Guide Management Decisions and ProjectImplementation; Douglas Ranger District, Coronado National ForestUSGS, USFS, BLM, Borderlands Restoration L3C, Sky Island Alliance, Deep Dirt Farm Institute

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treatment, and USGS happilyagreed to assist. USGSrecommended modeling erosionand rainfall/runoff response as away to help CNF determinewhere the installation of smallrock ECS can help reduceerosion and runoff and improvewatershed conditions, and whereerosion and runoff are so highthat small rock ECS might notbe effective.

Methods

USGS recommended using theAutomated GeospatialWatershed Assessment Tool(AGWA), developed by the USDA-ARS, EPA, and theUniversity of Arizona. e model assesses erosion andrainfall/runoff response and can be used to help predicthow land management practices effect runoff, andprovide a long-range model to evaluate large, complexwatersheds with varying soils, land uses and managementconditions.

e AGWA model operates using national data (DEM,Land Cover, and Soils). is data is available at no cost,but there is very little high resolution soils data for thelands managed by the USFS. In the United States, StateSoil Geographic (STATSGO, 1:250,000 scale) and SoilSurvey Geographic (SSURGO, 1:24,000 scale) are the twomost commonly used spatial soil databases. In the studyarea of the Dragoon and Chiricahua Mountains, USFSland is mapped using the Terrestrial Ecological UnitInventory (TEUI) (Winthers et al, 2005) and provideslower resolution (more detailed) data.

USFS TEUI soil scientists met with USGS scientists todetermine how to ‘fit’ available TEUI data into theparameters needed for the AGWA model, anddetermined that assigning soils classifications to the

kind’s soils already mapped by USFS TEUI ecologicalmap units would be the most efficient method.

In order to be able to use the existing TEUI data in theAGWA model, USFS soil scientists researched NRCS soilmap units throughout southeastern Arizona anddeveloped a method to crosswalk or aggregate smaller(more detailed) TEUI ecological map units, intocorresponding larger (less refined) NRCS soil map units.ey created a shapefile of TEUI polygons withassociated map unit symbols of NRCS soil map units andcorresponding tabular NRCS data. And AGWAwatershed maps predicting high, medium, and low runoffand sediment delivery were produced for the Chiricahuaand Dragoon Mountains.

Results

e AGWA model produced sixth code watershed mapsof the Chiricahua and Dragoon Mountains showing high,medium and low preliminary surface water runoff and

A one-rock dam collects sediment and slowly releases water. / SIA

continued next page

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sediment prediction results. CNF isusing these maps to help determinewhich watersheds are most likely tobenefit from the installation of ECS,assuming that installation of small rockstructures in watersheds with low tomedium runoff would be more effectivethan installation in watersheds withhigh runoff predictions wherestructures would have a higher risk offailure. Model results helped the CNFpredict environmental effects in theirNEPA analysis for their: Project Initiation Letter:Chiricahua Watershed Restoration Project NEPA, May 19,2016). Data was also used by the CNF to select the TexCanyon and Pinery watersheds and the Bar BootAllotment on the Chiricahua Mountains where ECSinstallation and restoration is now in progress.

e products from the Dragoon model were used tofacilitate a site visit by CNF and stream restorationexperts to targeted watersheds within the mountainrange, in order to identify the watersheds with thegreatest potential for successful restoration and whatrestoration tools would be most appropriate.

e Chiricahua and Dragoon model outputs are now setup to portray preliminary surface water runoff andsedimentation prediction results to help USFS implementfuture restoration projects. ese preliminary resultsneed to be refined to better support the predictions, using

stream gages, summarizing multiple years, and furtherinterpreted to provide more sound results. is is a startfor prioritizing watersheds at risk that might be improvedby restoration management.

Future

e AGWA model is a management tool can then bereadily applied in the event of a wildfire, for rapid visualrecognition of watershed areas prone to post-fire impacts.AGWA provides consistent, standardized model results ofwatershed scale assessments for runoff anderosion/sediment transport at multiple points of potentialrisk and for all model elements (Goodrich, et al., 2014). Iffeasible, models should be calibrated to improve pre- andpost-fire performance with more confidence (Hogue, et

al., 2011). e AGWA model can beused for future scenario analysis and todevelop estimates of peak flow andsediment load at precise locationsduring large storm events, to helpdesign the structures that would be lesslikely to fail.

Literature Cited

Canfield, et al., 2005. Selection ofparameter values to model post-firerunoff and sediment transport at thewatershed scale in southwestern forests.Proceedings ASCE WatershedManagement Conference, July 19–22,Williamsburg, VA.

Sediment yield map derived for the Chiricahua Mountains andthe USFS-CNF Douglas Ranger District, zoomed in to the Bar Bootsub-watersheds, chosen for restoration in 2014/15. / L.M. Norman

A group of volunteers from Mexico helps to maintain erosion control structures in theChiricahua Mountains. / SIA

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Goodrich, et al., 2005. Rapid post-fire hydrologicwatershed assessment using the AGWA GIS-basedhydrologic modeling tool. Proceedings ASCE WatershedManagement Conference, July 19–22, Williamsburg,VA.

Hogue, T.S., A.M. Kinoshita, B.C. Hale, and C. Napper,2012. Post-fire hydrologic model assessment for designstorm runoff and mitigation. Presented at the SouthwestWildfire Hydrology and Hazards Workshop, TucsonArizona. Retrieved from http://repository.azgs.az.gov/sites/default/ files/dlio/files/nid1405/02g_hogue_etal_modelingofpost-firehydrologicprocesses_poster.pdf.

Mednick, A. C. (2010). Does soil data resolution matter?State Soil Geographic database versus Soil SurveyGeographic database in rainfall-runoff modeling acrossWisconsin. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation,65(3):190–199. doi:10.2489/jswc.65.3.190.

Mednick, A.C., J. Sullivan, and D.J. Watermolen, 2008.Comparing the use of STATSGO and SSURGO soilsdata in water quality modeling: A literature review.Bureau of Science Services. Wisconsin Department ofNatural Resources. Issue 60.

Nichols, M.H., V.O. Polyakov, M.A. Nearing, M.Hernandez, 2016. Semiarid watershed response to low-tech porous rock check dams. Soil Science.181(7):275–282. doi: 10.1097/SS.0000000000000160.

Norman, L.M., F. Brinkerhoff, E. Gwilliam, D.P. Guertin,J. Callegary, D.C. Goodrich, P.L. Nagler, and F. Gray,2015. Hydrologic response of streams restored withcheck dams in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona.River Research and Applications, doi:10.1002/rra.2895.

Winthers, E., D. Fallon, J. Haglund, T. DeMeo, G.Nowacki, D. Tart, M. Ferwerda, G. Robertson, A.Gallegos, A. Rorick, D.T. Cleland, and W. Robbie, 2005.Terrestrial Ecological Unit Inventory technical guide.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture,Forest Service, Washington Office, EcosystemManagement Coordination Staff. 245 p.

Erosion control structure illustrating sediment accumulation and ponded water. / SIA

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14 The Borderlands Restoration Leadership Institute16 Schoolyard BioBlitzes in Tucson18 Youth Engaged Stewardship at Las Cienegas National Conservation

Area20 Four Years of Success: Borderlands Earth Care Youth Institute in

Patagonia

22 Borderlands Earth Care Youth Institute Completes its Second Yearin Douglas

24 Gila Watershed Youth Conservation Corps26 Alianza Mariposa Monarca

28 Southern Arizona Resilient Landscape Collaborative Continues to“Beat Back Buffelgrass”

30 Partnership to Conserve Lowland Leopard Frog in theRincon/Santa Catalina Mountain Complex

32 Chiricahua Watershed Restoration Clears NEPA Hurdle

34 Wild Linkages Binational Partnership: MX Highway 2

36 Arizona Monarch Conservation Partnership

38 Tamarisk Removal and Habitat Restoration on the Upper Gila Riverof Arizona

40 Setting the Stage for Chiricahua Leopard Frogs in Rucker Canyon

42 Bear Canyon Fountain Grass Removal and Pollinator Islands Project

44 The Power of Rocks: Working Together to Repair DamagedWatersheds in Northern Sonora

46 Pollinators in the Parks

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48 Yellow-billed Cuckoos in Oak Drainages in Southeastern Arizona:Critical Habitat Attributes for Future Restoration

50 Backpacking BioBlitz into the Rugged Galiuro Mountains

52 Developing Cooperative Relationships in Borderland Parks andReserves: Wildlife Monitoring with Camera Traps

54 Water Rights Intern for the Coronado National Forest

56 Soil Moisture and Inundation Monitoring at Loose Rock ErosionControl Structures in the Chiricahua Mountains

58 Evaluating Effects of Restoring Surface Water on Mammal andGround Bird Communities

60 Sonoran Springs: Building Capacity for Springs Conservation

62 Monitoring Short-term Vegetation Response to WatershedRestoration

64 Effects of Post-wildfire Erosion Control Structures on Carbon andNitrogen Cycling, Storage, and Sequestration

66 Monitoring and Modeling Geomorphology of Streams with ErosionControl Structures

68 The Effect of Gabion Construction on Infiltration in EphemeralStreams

70 Enduring a Decade of Drought at Las Cienegas NCA: Patterns andDrivers of Vegetation Change

72 The Madrean Archipelago Plant Propagation Initiative Develops aRegional Seed Strategy

74 Agencies Work Together to Cultivate Botanical Expertise

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Abstract

e complex social and ecological challenges facing themyriad communities with whom we work requireinnovations that match the territory. e BorderlandsRestoration Leadership Institute (BRLI) is designed asa project-based learning laboratory that explores andactivates collective, creative solutions to naturalresource challenges and opportunities by working atthe intersection of border region economies andecologies. ese are sites of complex systems ofexchange, reciprocity, and caring for place that canempower people to steward many kinds ofrelationships at once and in concert — our sharedvision of a restoration economy. rough project-basedlearning and collaborative approaches to habitat andcommunity restoration we hope to teach and learn intandem with future leaders dedicated to creatingabundant livelihoods and impactful contributions onboth sides of the border and beyond.

Project Background

BRLI began with a bold vision rooted in decades ofongoing restoration and community-building efforts —to cultivate a restoration-based economy in theborderlands region of Arizona and Sonora whilerestoring land and water, training future leaders, andworking directly with local communities andlandowners to design projects, build knowledge andskills, and create new sustainable businesses and jobs.Our bi-national commitment reflects the ecology of theSky Island region and respects the rich cultures and

knowledge on both sides of the border. Goals includeincreasing partner effectiveness across scales and socialgroups in Mexico and the U.S., and catalyzing andextending our work through collaborative restorationprojects that become training grounds for skill-building in all facets of ecological restoration andenvironmental justice.

BRLI’s six core founders comprise a group of social-entrepreneurial leaders from academia, NGOs of manysizes and ages, and the private sector who hope to alignefforts in ways already supported by SIRC partnerssuch as Gila Watershed Partnership, Sky IslandAlliance, and USGS, among many others who havebeen hard at work in the region for decades. eInstitute is organized with primary non-profit andsocial for-profit arms; an integrated program group of


e Borderlands Restoration Leadership InstituteBorderlands Restoration, Borderlands Habitat Network, Biophilia Foundation, Cuenca Los Ojos, Deep DirtFarm Institute, Wildlife Corridors

BRLI students discuss vegetation sampling plot size. / BRLI

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faculty and staff drawn from partnerorganizations and elsewhere who conduct thework and teach it at once; an administrativegroup that supports program activities andeach individual organization; and adevelopment group to expand existing publicand private grants, individual and corporatedonations, private investments, and earnedincome.

All BRLI activities are guided by an InstituteCouncil which includes representatives fromfounding partners, future partners, and thecommunities where we work.

Project Activities and Outcomes

BRLI creates accessible entry points for all to have ahand in tending the places they live, and the technicaland leadership skills to do so, wherever they are, sothat everyone can contribute to the larger, infiniteproject of a sustainable Restoration Economy.Community members and visitors are welcome toattend workshops and courses such as Patagonia’sWater Futures, Conservation Ranching, and SocialLaboratories. Staff, intern, student, and citizen scienceexpertise continuously shapes our work, arranged intofour major Project Streams. Each Stream is broadenough to encompass a range of theories and practices,and deep enough for creative input and growth bothfor students and for the Institute itself, all in a “learninglaboratory” setting. Students may focus on one or moreProject Streams — Watershed Restoration, Native PlantMaterials, Foodshed Restoration, and Community andRestoration Economies. Aspects of each can beintegrated into others under the guidance of InstituteFellows and other mentors engaged in actual on-the-ground restoration projects. Youth in the localcommunity can engage in the Borderlands Earth CareYouth program, while university students mightparticipate in the Field School, or use our work as a

platform for advanced research. Internships andFellowships are available for those who have shown acommitment to ecological restoration by engaging withthe Institute, mentoring others, and designing andleading projects.

Stakeholder Involvement

Founding partners will continue their usual work andcontribute to Institute goals according to their skillsets, while being supported in the areas ofadministration and development by the BiophiliaFoundation. Parallel efforts include the SentinelLandscape Restoration Partnership, Douglas andPatagonia High Schools, Garden Inc., USFS, Town ofPatagonia, and AZ Department of Forestry and FireManagement.

Funding

A small grant from the Biophilia Foundation providedthe opportunity to plan for and deliver the initial BRLIprogram in summer 2017. Borderlands Restoration’sstaff of six is supported at ¼ time for several months,and work approximately ¼ time as volunteers. etotal estimated value of this project is $70,000.

BRLI conduct plant surveys in the field. / BRLI

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Abstract

ough stunning biological diversity is one of the SkyIsland region’s greatest assets, not enough of the peoplewho live in this area are either aware of it or have theopportunity to learn about it. Biodiversity discovery forchildren is an important goal for many organizations inthe region, and recently a partnership was formed inTucson to promote it. In spring of2016, the partnership sponsored eight“Schoolyard BioBlitzes” in Tucsonschools for children to learn aboutbiodiversity by cataloging birds,plants, insects, and other life forms intheir own backyards. e projectincorporated the iNaturalist app,included a backcountry trip for some high schoolstudents, and was part of a national BioBlitz sponsoredby the NPS which celebrated both biodiversity andthe 100th anniversary of the NPS. e program wasfeatured in a video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDSJ47AmANo) that was shown at theNPS biodiversity celebration on the National Mallin Washington, D.C. Key partners included Womenin Science and Engineering (UA), Arizona-SonoraDesert Museum (ASDM), Friends of SaguaroNational Park (FSNP), UA Community and SchoolGarden Program, UA Institute of the Environment,and the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD).

Project Background

BioBlitzes are events where “citizen scientists” helpcatalog species of birds, lichens, mammals, insects,plants, and other life forms. Our partnership formedwhen Saguaro National Park (SNP) wanted toparticipate in the NPS Centennial BioBlitz in a moreholistic way that would engage students in biological

diversity not only in natural areas, butin their own communities. e parkincludes two districts on either side ofthe City of Tucson, and because plantsand animals do not recognize politicalboundaries, it seemed to make senseto expand the park’s biodiversityboundaries to include TUSD. Several

community groups with experience in environmentaleducation, biodiversity, and school gardens formed a


Schoolyard BioBlitzes in TucsonNational Park Service, Tucson Unified School District, University of Arizona, Arizona-Sonora DesertMuseum, Friends of Saguaro National Park

Student explaining biodiversity in the video produced to celebrate theschoolyard bioblitz project, shown on the National Mall in WashingtonD.C. / TUSD Media

NPS celebratesBioBlitzes!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDSJ47AmANo

19

loose partnership to initiate a project within Tucson’sschools.


Eight schoolyard BioBlitzes took place from March toMay, 2016. We collaborated in creating a two-daytraining to familiarize teachers and interns with what aBioBlitz is and how to use the website iNaturalist forcollecting biodiversity data. At each schoolyard event,UA interns then assisted teachers and students toupload photos of flowers, insects, and lizards toiNaturalist, where they could be identified by experts.

e Schoolyard BioBlitzes were a great success — morethan 550 K-12 students, 10 K-12 educators, and 12 UAstudent interns participated. We achieved theimportant goal of having inner-city Tucson schoolchildren discover life in their own schoolyards andbackyards. Students were able to go online toiNaturalist to see what other students were doing, andthe program has expanded to include many citizenssince then: www.inaturalist.org/projects/2016-national-parks-bioblitz-saguaro-schoolyard-bioblitz.

e BioBlitzes also culminated in three special events.In late May, a group of high schoolstudents with the Ironwood TreeExperience backpacked to ManningCamp in the Rincon Mountains, toparticipate in a BioBlitz in pineforests at 8,000 feet elevation. Herethe focus was on insects,particularly dragonflies. Also inMay, the NPS held a hugebiodiversity event on the National Mall in Washington,D.C., that featured the video on our Tucson SchoolyardBioBlitzes. A final event was at the annual TeacherAppreciation Night at ASDM in August, 2016, wherestudents’ work from the BioBlitzes was on display, andspeakers included Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschildand TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez.

Funding

e success of this partnership has led to an effort tocontinue and expand it in 2017-2018 with a majorgrant from the Agnese Nelms Haury Program inEnvironment and Social Justice, with additionalsupport from the FSNP and other partners. e

program has been expanded toinclude an internship program withUA students, regular school classes,field trips to SNP and ASDM, and apaid internship program with theFSNP.

In 2016 this project was supportedby a $7,288 grant from the Friendsof Saguaro National Park, with

additional support by all partners, especially in-kindsupport.

e total estimated value of this project is $20,000.

Figure 2. High school students sampling dragonflies in a specialbioblitz held at Manning Camp in Saguaro National Park in May. /Don Swann

Schoolyard BioBlitzesare a success!

www.inaturalist.org/projects/2016-national-parks-bioblitz-saguaro-schoolyard-bioblitz

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Abstract

Working in the critical sacaton grasslands at the LasCienegas National Conservation Area (LCNCA),students with the Cienega Watershed Partnership’s(CWP) Youth Engaged Stewardship (YES!) programhave implemented restoration efforts to mitigate soilerosion and increase vegetation coverage. Over thespan of three years, student-led restoration projectshave included: placement of rocks, scarification of soil,transplanting of salt-tolerant sacaton, andtransplanting of bio-crust into study areas. Efforts haveresulted in soil accumulation, recruitment of annualgrasses, and establishment of salt-tolerant sacaton andbio-crust in the study areas.

Project Background

CWP’s YES! program has worked on restorationprojects at LCNCA for the past five years, engaginghigh school students in hands-on restoration work.YES! program goals are to provide students withleadership, land management, and problem-solvingskills in order to develop and implement a restorationproject on the ground that reflects the needs ofstakeholders. Students identified the Gardner SacatonGrassland as a project site in 2014, and students in thepast two summer programs have continued to expandupon those efforts.

2014: Students attempted to stabilize soil and increasemoisture retention in order to mitigate erosion and aidin seedling establishment by testing three treatmentson designated study plots. Sixteen, 10 x 50 plotswere measured, marked, and randomly assignedtreatments — rock placement, scarification of topsoil,and control. Field work was completed in July of 2014,pre-monsoon, and in the Fall of 2014 there wassignificant soil buildup and establishment of annualsaround the rock structures.

2015: Students found that even with the buildup of soiland annuals, the seasonal rotation of cattle through thesite had removed most of the annual grasses. Workingwith the local rancher, students created a second study


Youth Engaged Stewardship at Las Cienegas National Conservation AreaCienega Watershed Partnership, Bureau of Land Management, Vail Unified School District

Interpretive signage. / Tana Kappel

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plot adjacent to the first, isolated from the cattle bybarbed wire fencing. e same treatments from 2014were applied randomly within the fenced plot.Students, in an attempt to help with revegetation,planted alkali sacaton plugs in both the fenced andunfenced plots. Plugs were planted in all of thetreatment acres with a dri-water box. Field work wascompleted pre-monsoon in July 2015, and in the Fall of2015, soil buildup and establishment of annuals wereagain around the rock structures with significantlymore growth within the fenced study plot. e alkalisacaton plugs in both the fenced and unfenced studyareas did not survive.


In 2016, students furthered their work efforts at thesacaton site by planting salt-tolerant sacaton in clusters,and transplanting cryptobiotic crust, into the enclosedstudy plot. e bio-crust was placed in one-metersquare plots, subdivided into quarters. One-half of theplot had a 1/2 inch of soil removed, one half did not,with the bio-crust placed directly on the surface.Treatment of the crust was also divided into clumping

the crust vs. spreading the crust out within the testarea. Fall 2016 results have shown that the sacatonplanted in clusters, and the bio-crust, have both beensuccessfully established within the fenced study site.Students completed educational signage for the sitethat focuses on the importance of the grasslandecosystem and their restoration efforts.


CWP’s YES! partners include the BLM Tucson Office,Empire High School Advanced Studies Program, andIronwood Tree Experience. Contributing partners inthe restoration work include e Nature Conservancy(Gita Bodner), University of Arizona (Jason Field),Caldwell Designs, Vera Earl Ranch, and Safford BLM.

Funding

In 2016, the project was funded by the Bureau of LandManagement ($10,637), the National Fish and WildlifeFoundation ($2,576), and the Cienega WatershedPartnership. Volunteers, mentors and studentsprovided $24,860 in matching in-kind work. e totalestimated value of this project is $38,073.

YES! students working to restore sacaton grasslands. / YES! Native giant Sacaton grass was grown by Gila WatershedPartnership. / YES!

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Abstract

rough a unique collaboration among BorderlandsRestoration (BR), Tucson Audubon Society (TAS),ArtPlace America, and the USDA Rural Developmentprogram, the Borderlands Earth Care Youth (BECY)Institute was held between May and July 2016 inPatagonia, AZ. Two educational facilitators (one BRemployee and one previous BECY Institute graduate)and 10 Patagonia Union High School (PUHS) studentinterns between 15-18 years old were recruited andhired from the school’s Future Farmers of America(FFA) program. Interns conducted hands-onrestoration, learned from conservation professionals,and developed leadership/team-building skills onprojects in local watersheds.

Project Background

e mission of the BECY Institute is to train the nextgeneration of land stewards, provide marketable jobskills, and educate tomorrow’s conservation leadersabout the issues that surround watershed restoration.rough steady exposure to working professionals whohave built conservation careers in unique waysappropriate to solving ecosystem challenges, highschool students living within the burgeoningrestoration economy in the Sonoita Creek watershedthat straddles the U.S./Mexico border can betterimagine a positive professional role in the communitieswhere they have grown up.

e summer 2016 BECY Institute is the fourth year ofthe program, which started in 2013 as a brainchild offamed Southwestern ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan, withfour PUHS students. In 2015, Borderlands HabitatNetwork (BHN), Cuenca Los Ojos (CLO), and USFSpartnered to expand the program to Douglas, AZ.Since the BECY Institute began, 64 high-school-agedyouth have graduated from the program. Most of thegraduates are studying conservation-related fields incollege.


Four Years of Success: Borderlands Earth Care Youth Institute in PatagoniaBorderlands Habitat Network, Borderlands Restoration, Deep Dirt Farm Institute, Patagonia Union HighSchool, U.S. Department of Agriculture

BECY Institute interns plant native pollinator-attracting flowersin erosion-control structures they built at Wildlife Corridor.Photo featured in Scientific American article titled ‘RestorationEconomy’ Strives to Protect Pollinators, Create Jobs by AlexisMarie Adams. Article had readership of 7.2 million people. / © BillHatcher 2016

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e structure of the BECY Institute is inspired by thethree pillars of restoration developed by BorderlandsRestoration: 1) Restoring physical processes such asstream flow and groundwater recharge that arenecessary to support both people and wildlife; 2)Restoring vegetation and filling gaps at the base of thefood webs that support biological diversity; and 3)Reconnecting people and nature by engaging localcitizens in the restoration of local ecosystem serviceswithin the three following core programmatic themes:Watershed Restoration, Ecosystem Restoration, andFood System Restoration.

BECY tasks are broken into primary themes:

Watershed Restoration: Watersheds, Reading the Land,erosion at a landscape scale, and working with water inhuman environments. e Community RestorationProject, a BECY Institute graduation requirement, wasintroduced. Work was conducted at Red Mountain,Wildlife Corridors, Deep Dirt Farm Institute, andPUHS where they built erosion control structures andinstalled rainwater harvesting cisterns.

Ecosystem Restoration: Food webs and trophic levels,pollinators and frugivores, and designing native plantgardens. Projects included the removal of invasive plantspecies, seed processing, and planting native species atPatagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, BR Seed Lab, theMadrean Archipelego Plant Propagation Center,Tucson Audubon Society (TAS) Paton Center, WildlifeCorridors, and Patagonia schools.

Take Action Camp at Windsong: In week five, theinterns continued to develop their CommunityRestoration Projects.

Food System Restoration: Permaculture design,rainwater-harvesting techniques, sustainable agriculturepractices, and careers in restoration. Interns workedwith the local food system at the Pampered Goat Farm,

Harris Heritage Farm, Amuñia de los Zopilotes, SantaFe Ranch, Native Seeds/SEARCH, and the PatagoniaCommunity Garden.

A graduation ceremony at PCG brought the programto a close. Interns presented their CommunityRestoration Projects to their friends and families, andreceived graduation certificates. Along with delvinginto local and global issues with campers from aroundthe world, interns learned about cross-bordermigration issues and built leadership and publicspeaking skills.

Funding

ArtPlace America, in partnership with TAS, provided$20,000. A USDA Rural Business Development grant,in partnership with G.A.R.D.E.N. Inc., and PUHS,provided the other $20,000. e total estimated valueof this project is $40,000.

BECY Institute interns remove invasive Johnsongrass and plantGiant Sacaton at Paton Center for Hummingbirds. / BR

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Abstract

rough a unique collaboration among BorderlandsHabitat Network (BHN), Borderlands Restoration(BR), and Coronado National Forest of the USFS(CNF), the Borderlands Earth Care Youth (BECY)Institute took shape for its second summer in Douglas,AZ. Two educational facilitators (recent NaturalResources undergraduates) were hired and10 DouglasHigh School (DHS) student interns (ages 15-18) wererecruited and hired from the school’s Future Farmersof America (FFA). Objectives were to provide hands-on experience in actual restoration projects, learn fromconservation professionals, and developleadership/team-building skills in local watersheds onprojects including pond restoration, endangeredspecies habitat creation, erosion control and moistureretention structures, invasive species removal,sustainable farming, sustainable ranching, and nativeplant propagation.

Project Background

Aer a successful 4-week pilot BECY Institute inDouglas in 2015, the BHN, Cuenca Los Ojos (CLO),and CNF partnered to expand the program to mirrorthe successful mentorship developed over four years inPatagonia. e number of interns recruited from theDHS FFA program was expanded from seven to 10,

two of last year’s participants were promoted as youthleaders, and two full-time educational facilitators werehired.

Structure

e educational facilitators worked closely with theprogram director to facilitate hands-on restorationwork, leadership activities, and educationalopportunities in the three following coreprogrammatic themes: watershed, ecosystem, and foodsystem restoration.

For the first two weeks, facilitators conducted work torestore watershed function work while creating an


Borderlands Earth Care Youth Institute Completes its Second Year in DouglasBorderlands Restoration, Borderlands Habitat Network, Coronado National Forest (USFS), Bar BootRanch, Cuenca Los Ojos, Douglas High School, Sky Island Alliance, Arevalos Farm, SouthwesternResearch Station, Natural Channel Design, U.S. Geological Survey, Arizona Game & Fish Department

BECY Institute interns with the pile of horehound (Marrubiumvulgare) removed from Ash Spring. / BR

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ethic of teamwork with various leadership and team-building activities. e final Community RestorationProject was introduced as a graduation requirement thefirst week. Ecological restoration was the focal themefor the third week of the program. And the final weekof the program was dominated by activities tointroduce interns to food system restoration. Due tothe nature of the projects, the final two weeks werehighlighted by visits from conservation expertsrepresenting many of SIRC organizations. e programconcluded a graduation ceremony at the DHS FFAoutdoor learning laboratory, where graduatespresented their Community Restoration Projects to theirfriends and families and received certificates.

Project Activities and Objectives

In the first two weeks, interns constructed 59 rock andbrush erosion control structures, were visited by BRand BHN hydrologic restoration expert David Seibert,and met the Bar Boot Ranch manager, Kevin St. Clair.During the third week of the program, internsremoved invasive plants and bullfrogs from ponds and

cattle tanks at El Coronado Ranch, removed invasiveplants at Ash Spring, and supported sustainableagricultural activities at Arevalos Farm. e focus forthe final week of the program was endangered specieshabitat construction at Camp Rucker, converting a wetmeadow into a series of ponds creating habitat forChiricahua leopard frogs. Interns had the opportunitythroughout the program to meet with restorationpractitioners from various partner groups includingCLO, Sky Island Alliance, USGS, USFS, and AZGFD.

Funding

e majority of the funding for the BECY Institute inDouglas ($50,000) was provided by the USFS. USFSalso provided $10,000 to make contact with educatorsin Nogales, AZ, conduct initial restoration projects onthe District, and to identify future sites for restoration.Funds were provided by an ArtPlace America grant($1,500) to send two BECY Institute graduate to TakeAction Camp at the ME to WE Windsong Peace andLeadership Center. e total estimated value of thisproject is $61,500.

BECY Institute interns shape one of the ponds at Rucker Camp under the direction of CNF and NCD experts. / BR

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Abstract

e Gila Watershed Youth Conservation Corps (YCC)program offered outdoor summer employment tofieen local youth for approximately nine weeks,working on public and private lands in GrahamCounty. ese youth gained valuable outdooremployment skills and worked side by side withmultiple agencies and non-profit organizations. ecrew worked to enhancerecreation opportunities andadvance conservation efforts inthe Pinaleño Mountains, aniconic Southwestern Sky Islandwith remarkable biodiversityand recreational activities. isprogram continues to buildconnections between youngadults and the outdoors, whileproviding role models for youthto explore a future career innatural resource management.

Project Background

e Summer YCC Program is several years old andlocal youth interest continues to grow, with many moreyouth applying than there are program slots. isprogram is a Coronado National Forest (CNF) priorityand has expanded to involve more communitypartners, such as the Gila Watershed Partnership(GWP) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

e youth crews were made up of 12 participants andthree crew leaders. e crew members were selected atrandom from a pool of applicants, to allow all localyouth who applied an equal opportunity of beingselected. e crew applications were open to youthaged 15-18, and crew leaders aged 18-25, who live ineither Graham, Cochise, or Greenlee Counties inArizona. Crew applications were only available to local

youth who had not participatedin the program in previousyears. e Safford DistrictRanger maintains a goal ofgetting every child in thecommunity into the Forest.rough this program, we hopeto make progress on that goal,one summer at a time.

Project Activities andOutcomes

e YCC crew worked on eightdifferent projects for the CNF,spent one week with the BLM

on various projects, and one week with the GWPworking on riparian restoration projects. Project worknot only built upon their skills, but provided anopportunity to learn about fire science, astronomy andtelescopes, dendrochronology, entomology, and worksafety. e YCC crew members worked with variousproject leaders and were able to expand theirknowledge in several different arenas of landmanagement.


Gila Watershed Youth Conservation CorpsGila Watershed Partnership, Coronado National Forest (USFS), Bureau of Land Management

Gila Watershed YCC Crew Members and CrewLeaders. / GWP

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More specifically, the YCC crew:

n Improved trails, signs, and recreation sites onMount Graham in the CNF;

n Removed invasive cattails in BonitaCreek in the Gila Box RiparianNational Conservation Area (BLM);

n Installed rock-check dams to mitigatesedimentation of the river in the GilaBox Riparian National ConservationArea;

n Excluded cattle from wildlife wateringholes in Tripp Canyon;

n Installed 200 native plants inMarijilda Canyon;

n Picked up litter and removed invasivesweet resin bush from Frye Mesa; and

n Planted native grasses and trees alongthe Gila River to re-establish habitat.

e project work completed by the YCCcrew not only enhanced the lives of theyouth involved by providing them withjob skills, but for some this experiencewas their first job ever, as well as theirfirst opportunity to visit Mount Graham.We hope that this program kindles a love of theoutdoors in our local youth, and helps to cultivate thenext generation of land stewards. Ultimately, we wantto see the crew progress from this program to others,such as the Arizona Conservation Corps, which offerspathways to many natural resources careers.


is year, the Gila Watershed Partnership partneredCNF and the BLM to provide a more robust outdoor

experience for the YCC crew. CNFprovided the majority of the funding forthis program, as most of the project timewas spent benefitting the Forest. BLMhosted the crew for one week. Additionalproject partners included Arizona Gameand Fish Department, University ofArizona, Eastern Arizona College, andthe Mount Graham InternationalObservatory.

Funding

USFS provided approximately $56,000and Freeport-McMoRan Foundationprovided $5,000. At $22/hr in-kind, staffcontributions were: USFS ($11,000),MGIO ($176), GWP ($16,000), BLM($1,200), EAC ($200), and volunteers($8,000). e total estimated value of thisproject is $90,376.

Insets, from top:

Forest entomologist, Anne Lynch, teaches crew aboutdendrochronology. / GWP

CC crew members planting native pollinator species. / GWP

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Abstract

Much is still unknown about the western population ofmonarch butterflies, especially in Mexico. Studentsfrom the University of Sonora in Hermosillo, Mexico,have taken on the task of addressing this informationgap in the state of Sonora. Alianza Mariposa Monarca(AMM, Monarch Butterfly Alliance) have dedicatedtheir time to monarch and milkweed monitoring,pollinator conservation outreach talks, and milkweedseed collecting. With help from Nature and CultureInternational and Make Way for Monarchs, volunteershave been able to conduct monitoring field tripsthroughout the state of Sonora, documenting thepresence of milkweed, monarchs and other pollinatorsin the iNaturalist Sky Island Nature Watch project —www.inaturalist.org/projects/alianza-mariposa-monarca.

Project Background

e lack of information about thewestern population of monarchs hasled many to believe that it is of littleimportance to monarch conservationoverall. Recent work by theSouthwest Monarch Study to analyze10 years of monarch butterflymonitoring in Arizona hasdemonstrated these o-overlookedwestern monarch populations are ahealthy component of the NorthAmerican population as a whole, andshould be considered important tothe conservation of the species.

AMM came together aer an outreach pollinatorconservation talk presented by Sky Island Alliance(SIA) in the Annual University of Sonora BiologyStudent Conference. Students were inspired to takeaction against the lack of information that surroundsmonarchs, and pollinators in general, in northwesternMexico. Under SIA’s leadership, the group has grown toover 30 active members.


Monarch and milkweed monitoring sites includeHermosillo, El Pinacate and Gran Desierto de AltarBiosphere Reserve, Cananea, Caborca, Yécora, RanchoEl Gavilán, Alamos, Aconchi, Presa El Novillo, Ajos-Bavispe Forest Reserve, and Punta Chueca and KinoBay on the coast. Both milkweed plants and monarch


Alianza Mariposa MonarcaSky Island Alliance, University of Sonora, Nature and Culture International, Make Way for Monarchs

Alianza Mariposa Monarca volunteers document monarchs throughout Sonora to fillimportant knowledge gaps / Valeria Cañedo

29

individuals were documented atthese sites. Observations have beenuploaded into SIA’s Sky IslandNature Watch iNaturalist project.Observations have also beenuploaded into national project likethe Especies en Riesgo andMariposa Monarca iNaturalistprojects. Milkweed seeds werecollected when possible and arebeing stored for future propagationefforts in collaboration with theUniversity of Sonora’s AgronomyDepartment. AMM volunteers havebeen working with the heads of theDepartment of Scientific and Technological Researchand biology professors in planning a pollinator gardennext to the main Biology building, which will bemaintained and cared for by the Botany Club.

A total of 650 people were engaged — throughpollinator conservation outreach talks and monarchand milkweed conservationworkshops — in grade schools,middle schools, high schools, anduniversities, including the 2016University of Sonora BiologyStudent Conference. Outreachefforts were conducted in the townsof Nogales, Caborca, Hermosillo,Punta Chueca and Kino Bay. AMMhas perceived a great interest for pollinatorconservation and outreach in these communities.

Due to its efforts, enthusiasm and commitment, AMMwas featured in various media sources — an article intheir University’s monthly newsletter, La Gaceta; theyspoke live about their work on Proyecto Puente, a well-known state-level radio news show; and lead AMMvolunteers were interviewed for an article in Sonora’sbiggest newspaper, El Imparcial.


Nature and Culture International and Make Way forMonarchs provided a Monarchs and MilkweedsConservation Workshop in Álamos, Sonora, which

allowed AMM to gain the tools andunderstanding to conduct theproject. CONANP (Reserva de laBiósfera El Pinacate y Gran Desiertode Altar, Área de Protección deFlora y Fauna Sierra de Álamos-RíoCuchujaqui, and Reserva ForestalNacional y Refugio de Fauna

Silvestre Ajos-Bavispe) facilitated monitoring field tripsin their grounds.

Funding

e Turner Foundation provided staff time for thecreation and leadership of the group. Make Way forMonarchs provided $1,200 for AMM travel expensesand outreach materials. e total estimated value ofthis project is $20,000.

Student efforts makeway for monarchs:

www.inaturalist.org/projects/alianza-mariposa-monarca

Alianza Mariposa Monarca volunteers document monarchs throughoutSonora to fill important knowledge gaps / Valeria Cañedo

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Abstract

In 2015 and again in 2016, the Department of Interior(DOI) funded the Southern Arizona ResilientLandscape Collaborative (SARLC). Funding in 2016allowed the SARLC to expand and include a number ofnew partners that came together to Beat BackBuffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare). Buffelgrass is a highlyinvasive plant species posing severe threats to theintegrity of the Sonoran Desert by displacing oroutcompeting native plants, and increasing the risk ofhigh intensity wildfires in desert communities notadapted to fire. DOI provided $414,150 of funding,which was matched by $741,590 from partners.Funding was used for treatment and mapping of highpriority buffelgrass populations. A total of 3,755 acresof buffelgrass were treated. Approximately 170,000acres were surveyed, and 930 acres of buffelgrass weredetected and mapped.

Project Background

SALRC began in 2015 as part of the DOI initiative tobuild fire-adapted ‘resilient landscapes’ across the U.S.Original SALRC partners included Coronado NationalForest (CNF), USFWS Buenos Aires National WildlifeRefuge (BANWR), Southern Arizona BuffelgrassCoordination Center (SABCC), U.S. Geological Survey(USGS), and Saguaro National Park (SNP, ResilientLandscape Program (RLP) lead agency). Additional

funding in 2016 allowed new partners to be added,including Tohono O’odham Nation (TON), TucsonField Office of the Bureau of Land Management(BLM), Pima County, Northern Arizona University(NAU), USFS Forest Health Program, and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM). e Collaborative’sprimary goal is to reduce the threat of buffelgrass andbuild a fire-resilient landscape. We are doing this byminimizing the spread of buffelgrass where it has notyet become established, implementing controlstrategies, and mitigating fire risks.


Southern Arizona Resilient Landscape Collaborative Continues to “Beat Back Buffelgrass”National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Southern Arizona BuffelgrassCoordination Center, U.S. Geological Society, Tohono O’odham Nation, Bureau of Land Management,Pima County, Northern Arizona University, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

SARLC public land management agency partners.

31


Buffelgrass populations continue to expand, and ourknowledge of buffelgrass characteristics and effectivetreatments are evolving. Land managers continue towork together to adaptively manage this species andshare their ‘lessons learned’. Knowing the location andextent of buffelgrass infestations is crucial inidentifying areas of concern and developingmanagement strategies to deal with high prioritypopulations.

SALRC partners treated a total of 3,755 acres of highpriority buffelgrass populations across southern AZ.SARLC led the effort to coordinate and conduct aerialsurveys for buffelgrass across the CNF, TON SanXavier District, and BANWR. An estimated 170,000acres were surveyed, and 930 acres of buffelgrass weredetected and mapped. SNP was responsible for overallcoordination with the aircra contract, agencyrepresentatives, fire and aviation office (both NPS andUSFS), and with the USFS Forest Health Program.Each agency provided mappers to survey theirrespective land. Because partners collaborated on usingthe same helicopter equipment and personnel, theaerial mapping campaign was very efficient and cost-effective. e average cost of aerial mapping was only$0.26 per acre, which allowed partners to survey bothprime buffelgrass habitat and areas with unknowninfestation levels. NAU and USGS are working ondeveloping new, more cost-effective ways to detect andmap buffelgrass using remote sensing.


While SALRC and SNP provided oversight of the 2016projects, each partner was responsible for conductingbuffelgrass treatments in their lands, and for providingstaff to conduct mapping activities. In addition to stafftime, an overwhelming number of volunteers fromlocal communities came out to provide their labor toremove buffelgrass. Several agencies sponsor volunteer

buffelgrass-pulling days and help coordinatecommunity-wide Beat Back Buffelgrass events.

Funding

2016 RLP funding was divided amongst severalagencies. SNP received $236,800 (including funding forinteragency aerial surveys), provided $450,400 inmatch, and $21,100 of volunteer time. CNF received$80,000, provided $152,900 in match, and $1,800 ofvolunteer time. TON did not receive 2016 funding, butcontributed $23,500 in funding to fight buffelgrass and$900 of volunteer time. BLM received $25,000,provided $47,900 in match, and $8,000 of volunteertime. FWS received $25,000 and provided $66,600 inmatching funds. Pima County did not receive 2016funding, but provided $65,100 in funding to treatbuffelgrass and $52,600 of volunteer time. ASDM andSABCC together received $17,600, provided $21,000 inmatch, and $15,900 of volunteer time. NAU received$30,000, and matched it with $25,200 of contributions.Total project value is estimated at $1.357 milliondollars which includes $414,400 of RLP funds,$852,600 of matching contributions, and more than$100,000 of volunteer time.

Buenos Aires NWR and Forest Health staff prepare for their firstflight of aerial survey. / Jim Malusa, UA

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Abstract

Lowland leopard frogs (Lithobates yavapaiensis) wereonce abundant in the streams and rivers of southernArizona, including in the Santa Cruz River indowntown Tucson, the Rillito, and Sabino Canyon. efrog is not an endangered species, but has declinedthroughout its range and today is found locally in onlya few isolated springs and perennial stream pools inremote mountain areas. e frog faces numerousthreats including invasive aquatic species, noveldiseases, and habitat loss. Because it is elusive, rare, andoccurs in remote areas, we have lacked basicknowledge of the population, distribution, and ecologyof the lowland leopard frog in the Sky Island region.

e Greater Santa Catalina/Rincon Mountain LowlandLeopard Frog Working Group formed in 2013 with themajor goals of understanding and monitoring thestatus of lowland leopard frogs, defining and answeringimportant research questions, and exploringmanagement options for this species. We are aninformal group with limited funding that meetsannually to report on current population anddistribution results from monitoring efforts. In 2016we continued to meet for updates on the status of thefrog, expanded our collaboration to new organizations,and wrote grants to summarize the current status ofthe species and create a management guidebook thatcould serve as a model for other species that aredeclining but not yet formally listed. We continue topursue fire strategies and spring restoration efforts that

may promote the conservation of this sensitive aquaticfrog and work with landowners in the vicinity ofSaguaro National Park (SNP) to raise lowland leopardfrogs for potential restoration, including at the NPSDesert Research Learning Center (DRLC) in eastTucson.

Project Background

is project grew out of a long-term monitoringprogram for lowland leopard frogs at SNP, initiated in1996. More than 16 years of monitoring (Zylstra et al.2015) demonstrate that the species undergoes dramaticpopulation fluctuations related to water dynamics. In2011, the NPS partnered with Pima County to expandinventories of frogs throughout the Santa Catalina andRincon Mountains east of Tucson. Seeking basic


Partnership to Conserve Lowland Leopard Frog in the Rincon/Santa Catalina Mountain ComplexNational Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Pima County, e Nature Conservancy

Lowland leopard frog from Saguaro National Park, Tucson. / NicPerkins

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information on this species, biologists from Universityof Arizona first interviewed local experts and did acomprehensive search for data. Subsequent fieldinvestigations revealed several large, previouslyundocumented populations in remote canyons.However, some historic populations now appear to beextirpated; most notably, the species is no longer foundin some larger southern and western drainages of theSanta Catalina Mountains, including Montrose andSabino canyons.

A meeting was convened in April 2013 with expertsand managers to discuss the results of the surveys,develop a monitoring strategy, and discussconservation actions. One outcome was the formationof our informal group. Because there is no reliablesource of funding for monitoring lowland leopardfrogs in the project area, we felt that pooling resourcesand data was the most appropriate and effective short-term strategy.


Working group members have met three times since2013, and annual surveys and reporting began in 2014.e 2016 annual meeting built on the need for a reporton the current status of the lowland leopard frog in theproject area, which includes the Santa Catalina andRincon Mountains, west to the Santa Cruz River, eastto the San Pedro River, and south to the vicinity ofInterstate 10. We developed a grant proposal withTucson Audubon Society and U.S. Forest Service inorder to work towards creation of Local SpeciesAssessment and Best Management Practicesdocuments that would enable land and wildlifemanagement organizations to better protect frogs andrestore habitat.

With support from local high school students, NPSand partners continued to constructed new refugehabitat at the NPS Desert Research Learning Center.Lowland leopard frogs introduced in 2015 are thriving

at the Center, and additional habitat has beenconstructed for that will become refugia for severalspecies of endangered fish (Figure 2).

Stakeholder involvement

e partnership includes the NPS (SNP, DRLC), PimaCounty Office of Sustainability and Conservation,AZGFD (Nongame Wildlife Branch), e NatureConservancy, UA School of Natural Resources and theEnvironment, Sky Island Alliance, USFWS (EcologicalServices office), USFS (Coronado National Forest),Historic Notch Neighborhood, Tucson AudubonSociety, and others.

Funding

is project did not have a designated project fundsource in 2016, but relied on contributed staff time bythe partner organizations listed above (approximately$2,000 annually), with additional time by youthvolunteers (approximately 100 hours @$23.57/hr =$2,357), and expert volunteers (approximately 40 hrs@$40/hr = $1,600). e total estimated value of thisproject is more than $6,000.

Students from Salpointe High School helping create a frog andfish refugia at the Desert Research Learning Center, Tucson. /Andy Hubbard

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Abstract

Soil erosion has accelerated across the ChiricahuaMountains following the Horseshoe II Fire in 2011.Many burned areas have experienced significantflooding and erosion resulting in streamsedimentation, infrastructure damage, and degradedwatershed conditions. In order to be able to respond tothe need for watershed restoration and to reduce theeffects of accelerated erosion, the Douglas RangerDistrict of the Coronado National Forest (CNF)completed a programmatic Categorical Exclusion (CE)(Project Initiation Letter: Chiricahua WatershedRestoration Project NEPA, May 19, 2016) assessing theeffects of a variety of Erosion Control Structures (ECS)to fulfill NEPA requirements needed to installstructures and native plant materials for watershedrestoration.

Project Background

e Chiricahua Mountains are similar to other SkyIsland ranges in that erosion dynamics arecharacterized by high magnitude, low frequency stormevents that produce runoff with high sedimentconcentrations. e Horseshoe II Fire in 2011 burned239,000 acres, almost the entire Chiricahua Mountainrange. Since then, many burned areas have experiencedsignificant flooding and erosion events that haveincreased sediment movement, resulting in impacts towatershed condition, water quality, and infrastructure.

A variety of ECS were installed in the 1930s in theChiricahua Mountains by the Civilian ConservationCorp that are still functioning as intended today. More

recent structures have been installed in the TurkeyCreek and Tex Canyon watersheds, and the Bar BootAllotment on the Forest and on private lands. Researchdescribed in SIRC Reports from 2014 and 2015 havedescribed successful results including increasedinfiltration, increased water yield, reduced sedimentmovement, enhanced vegetation and wildlife habitat,and improved watershed conditions.

is CE takes a programmatic approach to completethe NEPA requirements needed to implementwatershed restoration using ECS and native plant


Chiricahua Watershed Restoration Clears NEPA HurdleU.S. Forest Service

Zuni bowl in the Barboot allotment, storing moist sediment andwater. / SIA

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materials across the mountain range, provided theymeet the criteria addressed in the assessment. If sitespecific conditions of a proposed project area do notfall within these criteria, additional analysis may berequired. Specific consultations on archeologicalresources and threatened and endangered specieswould need to be conducted on a site-by-site basis.

e CE allows for the construction of a variety of ECSto reduce soil erosion, including — media lunas (flowspreaders/collectors), one-rock dams (grade control),loose rock-check dams (gully plugs), and Zuni bowls(headcut repair). Native plant materials may also beused to add stability to the drainages. e CE allowsfor structure construction in suitable watersheds thatare 160 acres or smaller, starting at top of thewatershed on the smallest of drainages with very lowrunoff energy. Forest specialists used GIS, knowledgeof on-the-ground resources and experience with ECSto determine that 160 acres at the head of watershedswas optimal to successfully build structures that wouldretain sediment and stabilize watersheds. Mostdrainages larger than this size in the Chiricahuas aresimply too large to install these types of structureswithout failure.


Resource conditions in the Chiricahua Mountains arecontinually changing due to natural processes, butresource degradation in some areas has beenaccelerated due to the Horseshoe II Fire. In order to beresponsive to protecting resources, this programmaticCE will allow the District to respond in a timelymanner to implement restoration practices in highpriority watersheds.

Funding organizations usually require that NEPA becompleted before considering grant applications. isCE will enable partners including Sky Island Alliance(SIA), Cuenca Los Ojos (CLO), and BorderlandsRestoration (BR) to be more competitive for funding to

install ECS projects in the Chiricahuas. e DouglasRanger District has already received funding to beginECS installation in the Pinery Watershed thatexperienced high burn severity and excessive erosionsince the fire. e fact that this CE had been completedhelped contribute to their success in securing thisfunding.

Other federal land management agencies including theNPS and BLM have expressed an interest incompleting programmatic NEPA to implement ECSrestoration on their lands. It is hoped that thedescription of the rock structures provided in the CEand the CNF analysis will serve as a template forsimilar projects on other public lands.


Several partner organizations (SIA, BR, CLO, NRCS,USGS) and local ranchers met with the CNF to helpframe the ‘proposed action’ for the analysis, andprovided information on the types of structures thatcould be considered. ese partners did not participatein the actual NEPA analysis.

Funding

USFS spent $50,000 in staff time to complete theanalysis.

Rock structure installed in FY2015 with monitoring station. / GSA

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Abstract

e Wild Linkages Binational Partnership has had a veryproductive year advancing the preservation of habitatconnectivity threatened by the expansion of MexicanHighway 2, which runs near the international borderwith the United States. Roads fragment habitats byestablishing obstacles to animals’ movements. Many ofthe species in the region are of conservation concern toboth countries. Some, such as jaguars, black bears, andcougars, require large connected habitats for dispersal,other smaller species use this landscape for migrations orto establish home ranges with the resources they need tosurvive. e partnership successfully advocated to changea road project route, effectively saving over 16 miles ofriparian habitat along the CocósperaRiver, established a baseline forroadkill along the Sky Islands stretchof Highway 2, advocated for corridorprotection, and established acollaborative relationship with thetransportation authorities of Mexico.

Project Background

Highway 2 bisects the Sky Islands of Mexico in Sonoraand northwestern Chihuahua. Starting in 2010, theSecretariat for Communications and Transportation(SCT; Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes),Mexico’s federal transportation authority, has beenincreasing the infrastructure of Highway 2 in Sonora.Ongoing expansions threaten to fragment ecosystemsthat have been recognized as important for conservationand are under protection. e road splits the Los OjosVoluntary Conservation Area certified by CONANP

(Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas) andthe San Pedro Ramsar site. Expansion continuingeastward will also increase the divide in the JanosBiosphere Reserve. Plans for a new bypass near Ímuristhreatened to destroy sensitive riparian habitat, impact aciénaga in the Cocóspera river basin, and split theVoluntary Conservation Area Aribabi. e highway liesbetween important conservation areas including the Áreade Protección de Flora y Fauna Bavispe, and the CertifiedVoluntary Areas of Los Fresnos and La Mariquita on theMexican side, and the San Bernardino National WildlifeRefuge, Coronado National Forest, Coronado NationalMemorial, San Pedro Riparian National ConservationArea, and Las Cienegas National Conservation Area on

the U.S. side. e region forms partof the Mexican Wolf ReintroductionArea and is critically located alongthe Jaguar’s Northern Recovery Unit,where corridor-road intersectionshave been identified by the WildlifeConservation Society — undercontract by USFWS — as needing

intervention to secure the species’ recovery. Vehicle trafficalong highways causes collisions with wildlife, a processthat if le to continue, can eventually lead to isolatedpopulations that are more vulnerable to other impacts.

Project Activities and outcomes

Wildlands Network, with help from the Rancho ElAribabi managers and volunteers, built and presented acase for protecting the Cocóspera River and the ciénegaat El Aribabi. We successfully convinced SCT to changethe route, thus providing protection for over 16 miles of


Wild Linkages Binational Partnership: MX Highway 2Wildlands Network, Sky Island Alliance, Cuenca Los Ojos, Mexican Secretariat of Communications andTransportation

Transparency inpartnerships work:

www.youtube.com/watch? v=g-dCI2EWi6Y&feature=youtu.be

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sensitive riparian habitat. A video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-dCI2EWi6Y&feature=youtu.be) wasproduced to highlight the role of transparency tools inMexico in achieving this goal.

Members of the Wild Linkages Binational Partnership:n Conducted 12 months of baseline roadkill monitoring

along Highway 2 in Sonora from Ímuris to the state limitwith Chihuahua;

n Presented a case for connectivity in the Sky Islands atMexico’s largest Road Engineer’s Congress;

n Coordinated a trip of SCT officials to Tucson to meet withthe Regional Transportation Authority and visit the Oraclewildlife crossings, providing insights, inspiration and know-how for members of the agency who are crucial inimplementing wildlife crossings all over Mexico;

n Conducted a site visit of the same SCT personnel toHighway 2 to Cuenca Los Ojos properties to see first-handthe value of the region’s landscapes and the impact of theroad expansions;

n Obtained a verbal commitment from SCT to collaborate inadvancing the connectivity agenda for the region, alongwith a request for recommendations on initial actions;

n Presented a first set of recommendations for SCT,pinpointing specific locations for immediate interventionsin the form of fencing and exit ramps to allows existingbridges and culverts to serve as wildlife crossings; and

n Published a blog entry detailing the issue and publicizingSCT’s commitment; Wildlands Network’s blog prompted aradio interview in Hermosillo, adding visibility to thepartnership’s work and the commitment of SCT.


Wild Linkages Binational Partnership is a cooperativeeffort coordinated by Wildlands Network’s MexicoProgram and involving the following groups: ArizonaCenter for Nature Conservation (Phoenix Zoo), Centerfor Large Landscape Conservation, Conservation SciencePartners, Cuenca Los Ojos, Defensa Ambiental delNoroeste, Friends of the Sonoran Desert, Naturalia,Northern Jaguar Project, Sierra Club (Grand CanyonChapter), Sky Island Alliance, USFWS (ArizonaEcological Services Office), USGS (Western GeographicScience Center), UA Wild Cat Research andConservation Center, Arizona State University, ReservaEcológica El Edén, University of Arizona, and WesternTransportation Institute. Our mission is to foster wildlifeconnectivity and cooperation between the states ofSonora and Arizona.

Funding

Wildlands Network provided $14,478 in staff time, travelexpenses, equipment, and miscellaneous expenses. SkyIsland Alliance provided $10,000 in staff time and travelexpenses for the roadkill monitoring. Cuenca Los Ojosprovided $350 in staff time and travel expenses insupport of roadkill monitoring. SCT providedapproximately $1,400 in travel expenses for members ofthe Partnership plus an unknown amount in their ownstaff time and travel expenses. e total estimated valueof this project is at least $26,228.

Locations for recommended immediate mitigation actions along the Agua Prieta-State limits stretch of Highway 2, on a road graph showingwildlife (both live & roadkill) records on 500m sections. / Map by Wildlands Network, with information from SIA & CLO

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Abstract

In 2015 the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM)created the Arizona Monarch ConservationPartnership (AZMCP), in collaboration with SkyIsland Alliance (SIA), Southwest Monarch Study(SMS), Southwest Center at the University of Arizona(UA), and Borderlands Restoration (BR), to expand theconservation awareness of the western population ofmonarch butterflies throughout Arizona. ePartnership conducted public outreach and educationevents and trainings, and monarch habitat restorationand improvement in public and private lands inArizona. e Partnership also took initial steps toengage new conservation partners across the U.S.-Mexico border, and helped create the new NorthwestMexico Monarch Monitoring Network.

Project Background

e monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is possiblythe most popular insect species in the world; an iconfor conservation and environmental educationprograms. Monarchs endure an incredible migrationfrom breeding locations in Canada and the U.S., tooverwintering sites in Mexico (Oberhauser, Nail andAltizer, 2015). A recent peer-reviewed paper by theSMS proved that monarch butterflies in Arizonamigrate primarily to Mexico and a smaller number toCalifornia. Monarchs are present and at timesabundant throughout Arizona at different elevationsthroughout the year, especially in riparian areas(Morris, Kline and Morris, 2015). Breeding

populations, adults, and immatures have beenobserved at all elevations seasonally, utilizing a varietyof native Asclepias (milkweeds) for nectar as well asoviposition. Both breeding and migrating monarchshave been frequently seen in city backyards and parkswhen milkweed and favored nectar plants are available,leading researchers to believe that backyard gardenerscan create rest stops for migration refueling. emigration window for monarchs in Arizona is largerthan anticipated, beginning in early September in thesoutheast through mid-October, with occasional latemigrators in November.


Arizona Monarch Conservation PartnershipArizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Sky Island Alliance, Borderlands Restoration, Southwest Monarch Study,University of Arizona

Map of native milkweed planting locations. / SIA

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Monarch habitat creation and restoration: eAZMCP significantly increased native milkweed andnectar plant availability, creating and improvingbutterfly habitat in public, private, and farm landsacross the state of Arizona. We restored and enhancedmonarch butterfly habitat on public lands managed bythe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Coronado NationalForest, National Park Service, Pima County Parks andRecreation, an Arizona State Prison Complex, theUniversity of Arizona, and the Valley of the MoonPark. e Partnership restored a total of 247 acres ofbutterfly habitat in public lands in Arizona. Twentynew Monarch Waystations were registered.

e AZMCP propagated over 15,600 native host andnectar plants including 13 native species of Asclepias;engaged almost 20,000 people through 119 outreachevents including workshops, guided visits, public talksand meetings; and we created butterfly gardens andrestored 353 acres of private lands in the state,surpassing the projected 326 acres. Partnershiporganizations held outreach and public events wherefree native plants were distributed to participants, foruse in yards and gardens, increasing the number ofacres restored on private lands. We are especiallythankful to two organizations, Watershed ManagementGroup (WMG) and Tucson Audubon Society (TAS),for increasing the opportunities to reach theiraudiences, combining project goals (“rain gardens” and“bird habitat” improved as “butterfly gardens”), andconducting extensive restoration actions and trainingat their project sites.

Outreach and Capacity Building: We reached over17,000 people, almost three times our projected goal.We estimate more than 720 people changed behaviorregarding monarchs — a higher result than ourprojected 400 people. We held three guided visits to theASDM nursery and three to Borderlands Restoration’s

nursery in Patagonia, Arizona. Our goal was to shareinformation and provide training in plant propagation,care, and planting with staff from other organizations,including: TAS, WMG, Pima County Native PlantNursery, the UA Sustainability Group, and the UdallCenter for Research in Public Policy.


Between 2015 and 2016, the ASDM formed theArizona Monarch Conservation Partnership, whichincluded SMS, SIA, BR, and the UA Southwest Center.ese organizations shared complementary skill sets tocarry out outreach and capacity building, monarchhabitat creation and restoration, installation of newMonarch Waystations, and native plant propagation.

Funding

Main funding for project was received from theNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation, MonarchConservation Fund 2015. Matching funds receivedfrom each partner organization plus their ownfunding: ASDM, SIA, BR + National Park Service,SWMS, UofA. e total estimated value of this projectis $300,000.

Youth installing native milkweeds in Marjilda Creek. / GWP

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Abstract

e Gila Watershed Partnership (GWP) has initiated apublic-private project to restore native riparianecosystems on the Upper Gila River in Arizona. eUpper Gila Riparian Restoration project is a proactiveeffort to re-establish native habitat for threatened andendangered migratory bird species prior to colonizationof the area by the tamarisk leaf beetle. e beetle is a bio-control intended to defoliate invasive tamarisk plants,thus reducing their populations. Due to limited timebefore the arrival of the beetle, and the unlikelihood ofnative vegetative communities re-establishing on siteswhere tamarisk has been defoliated, active restorationtechniques have been employed. It is our hope that ourlessons learned will continue to provide a model for otherriparian restoration projects in the Southwest forminimizing negative impacts to sensitive species, andpromoting cost-effective treatments by capitalizing onevolutionary adaptations and minimizing re-treatmentefforts.

Project Background

e Upper Gila is one of the most productive breedingsites in all of Arizona for the federally listed Southwesternwillow flycatcher (SWFL). As such, this region iscritically important to the recovery of the species.However, the invasive tamarisk tree has establishedmonocultural forests throughout the riparian corridor.USDA targeted these invasive trees in the early 2000s as aspecies suitable for biocontrol efforts. is led to therelease of the tamarisk leaf beetle in 2001 in Moab, UT,

and in 2009 in the Big Bend region of Texas. e beetlehas spread more rapidly than anticipated, and its spreadhas resulted in degradation of SWFL critical habitat.While tamarisk is not native, it has become naturalized inareas, allowing wildlife to adapt to it. Tamarisk providesexcellent cover from predation for SWFL due to itscomplex structure throughout canopy horizons. In late2016, the tamarisk leaf beetle was found less than 75miles from the headwaters of the Gila River. Models havepredicted that the beetle may colonize the Upper GilaRiver in 2017. erefore, active restoration efforts toprovide habitat refugia for SWFL and other species thathave adapted to tamarisk cover is of critical importanceto wildlife populations on the Gila River.


To address the loss of important habitat, the GWP hascreated a restoration framework to select high-potentialriparian sites for restoration. In 2015, we received ouroriginal permits from Arizona Department ofEnvironmental Quality, Arizona State HistoricPreservation Office, U.S Army Corps of Engineers, andUSFWS to use mechanical and chemical methods tocontrol tamarisk populations on 54 acres of criticalhabitat, and to re-establish native riparian vegetativecommunities on those treated acres. e permit wasamended in 2016 to include 357 additional acres inGraham County.

Due to the dense nature of the tamarisk thickets, weinvested in a mid-sized excavator and mulching headattachment to mulch the woody tamarisk material in


Tamarisk Removal and Habitat Restoration on the Upper Gila River of ArizonaGila Watershed Partnership, Bureau of Land Management, Eastern Arizona College, U.S. Fish & WildlifeService

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place. is mastication method is followed by a low-cutstump and herbicide application. We applied a 20% activeingredient (triclopyr) mix to the stumps with flip-topbottles to reduce herbicide dri and more accuratelytarget the tamarisk stump. Aer our first year oftreatment where we used a 12% mix, we increased thatactive ingredient in order to increase treatment successrates (and to limit re-treatment efforts).

In 2016, we expanded upon our first year of experiencewith this project by implementing adaptive managementprocedures to improve our project effectiveness. Inaddition to revising our herbicide mix, we:

n Included secondary weed treatments (e.g. imazapyr foliarsprays on Arundo donax),

n Developed planting zones based on rooting depths andmeasured depths to groundwater,

n Adapted our nursery containers to produce deep-rootedplant materials that better meet our restoration needs,

n Fabricated a “stinger bar” that attaches to our excavator foruse in planting poles and deep-rooted plant materials,

n Developed and implemented detailed vegetative and avianmonitoring protocols to assess project impacts to SWFLand Western yellow-billed cuckoo populations anddistribution across project sites, and

n Provided career development opportunities with theArizona Conservation Corps for 22 young adults, laying thegroundwork for establishing a locally-based conservationcorps crew.

Permit conditions limit mechanical treatments windowsfrom October 1st and April 15th to avoid harassingmigratory birds during their return to the Gila as theyestablish nesting territories over the summer. In 2016, wetreated approximately 39 new acres across five propertiesbetween the towns of Clion and Geronimo, AZ. At thatsame time, we re-treated tamarisk re-sprouts atapproximately eight acres at one of our prior restorationsites. We also introduced native plant materials that werepropagated at the GWP Native Plant Nursery as a meansof establishing native plant communities that may help

suppress tamarisk or secondary weed establishment onapproximately 33 acres previously treated for tamarisk.


e GWP, Arizona Conservation Corps, and BoulderCreek Construction & Excavation led the on-the-groundrestoration activities, with planning support fromStillwater Sciences, the Tamarisk Coalition, NorthernArizona University, SWCA Environmental Consultants,UA’s Water Resources Research Center, and BorderlandsRestoration. Arizona Game & Fish have consistentlysupported our field crews. Graham and Greenlee Countyschools have actively participated in revegetation effortsby conducting planting efforts at the GWP. EasternArizona College and the Bureau of Land Managementhave generously supported the GWP nursery operations,and our permitting partners at Arizona Department ofEnvironmental Quality, State Historic PreservationOffice, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and USFWS, weremost helpful throughout the planning and permittingprocesses.

Funding

is project received funding from the Walton FamilyFoundation ($635,440), National Fish & WildlifeFoundation ($144,420), USFWS ($87,900), and ArizonaDepartment of Forestry and Fuel Management ($20,000),for total project cost of $887,760.

Spring 2016 GWP-AZCC crews with the GWP excavator andmulching head. / GWP

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Abstract

Partners have been working on a series of projects overthe past three years to restore new aquatic habitat inRucker Canyon, on the southwestern flank of theChiricahua Mountains. In 2015, ponds were excavatedat Hermitage Seep by Sky Island Alliance (SIA) staffand volunteers. In 2016, a new project was constructedat Camp Rucker, an historic cavalry camp. eseponds, in conjunction with the nearby project atHermitage Seep, will provide important mid-elevationwatering sites for resident and migrating bats, as well asprovide habitat for a new meta-population ofthreatened Chiricahua leopard frogs that the ArizonaGame and Fish Department (AZGFD) hopes to releasein 2018.

Project Background

e Chiricahua leopard frog has been protectedunder the Endangered Species Act as reatenedsince 2002. is species, which requires perennialwater, is threatened by invasive predators as well asdiminishing habitat from the drying or filling ofwater sites with sediment. e AZGFD hasidentified a variety of necessary actions to achievespecies recovery, and in the Chiricahua Mountains,one of the most important recovery actions is theestablishment of a new meta-population of frogs inRucker Canyon. Camp Rucker was identified as anexcellent site for new aquatic habitat due to thepresence of an historic livestock tank and spring-

fed water source. Natural Channel Design (NCD)created a pond construction design that wouldaccommodate a series of shallow interconnected pondsand wet meadow habitat in the footprint of the historiclivestock tank that incorporated habitat features for theChiricahua leopard frog as well as for the 21 species ofbats that are known from the Chiricahua Mountains.Mid-elevation water sources in the ChiricahuaMountains have been decreasing; projects such as thisprovide sustainable aquatic resources for a variety ofspecies and increased resilience to climate change.


During FY 15, NCD produced engineering plansresponsive to species’ needs as well as to concerns


Setting the Stage for Chiricahua Leopard Frogs in Rucker CanyonSky Island Alliance, Coronado National Forest (USFS), Arizona Game and Fish Department, NaturalChannel Design, Borderlands Restoration

Borderlands Restoration BECY interns salvage native wetland plants priorto excavation. / SIA

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about preservation of cultural resources. Partnersworked together to construct the ponds in June 2016.Ponds were sealed with rolls of bentonite clay attachedto thin plastic — a different method than the plasticliners that partners have been using for other recentpond construction projects. e Coronado NationalForest (CNF) provided an onsite cultural resourcemonitor as well as the heavy equipment and anoperator to transport the rolls of bentonite liner (eachroll weighs 2,900 pounds) and to excavate the pond.NCD was onsite to ensure construction was completedaccording to the engineering plans, and labor wasprovided by the Borderlands Earth Care Youth (BECY)Institute students from local Douglas High School,capitalizing on the project to also provide aneducational opportunity. Heavy rock material belowthe ground surface slowed the pond excavation, andthe CNF was able to supplement ground labor with afire crew to place the pond liner. Native plants weresalvaged and replaced by BECY and SIA staff andvolunteers, and a limited number of container plantswere also installed. e plant palette was specificallydesigned to enhance the habitat for a variety ofpollinators such as hummingbirds, butterflies, bees,and other insects. SIA documented monarch butterfliesutilizing the site in October 2016 during a maintenancevisit.

e work completed at Hermitage Seep and CampRucker Ponds is strategic and complementary for theconservation of a variety of bat species as well as forthe federally reatened Chiricahua leopard frog.ese two sites are located within a mile of each other,within leopard frog dispersal distance, and are formingthe habitat mosaic across the landscape that will beable to support new metapopulations of leopard frogsto be released in 2018 by the AZGFD. is is animportant piece of the Recovery Plan for this species,as there are currently no leopard frogs in RuckerCanyon.


is project was a true collaboration of the landmanagement agency (U.S. Forest Service), federal (U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service) and state (AZGFD) wildlifeagencies, a volunteer-based non-profit conservationorganization (SIA), and youth community members(BECY). is project embodies the flexible andresponsive nature in which SIRC partners arecollaborating to continually improve conservationoutcomes.

Funding

e Arizona Game and Fish Department contributed$17,025 to the design and installation of the project.BECY interns contributed approximately $8,300 worthof effort. e Coronado National Forest contributedapproximately $5,000 to support Sky Island Alliancestaff to coordinate volunteers to conduct follow upplant installation and maintenance; Sky Island Alliancevolunteers contributed $7,413.90 in hours and miles. Inaddition, the Coronado National Forest contributedthe heavy equipment and operator for installation, aswell as untold number of staff hours. e totalestimated value of this project is at least $50,000.

Coronado NF firecrew lays out the pond liner at Rucker ponds. /SIA

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Abstract

Sky Island Alliance (SIA) worked in rugged BearCanyon near Tucson, Arizona, to remove invasivefountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum) and improvewildlife and pollinator habitat by increasing nativeplant diversity. is work has several positive outcomesfor the Coronado National Forest — reduced fire risk,improved wildlife habitat, increased publicparticipation and support for good stewardship ofnatural resources, and critical new information about acontroversial new treatment method.We engaged a wide variety of residentsto contribute to this stewardshipproject.

Project Background

e rugged, steep-sided canyons of theSanta Catalina Mountains are criticalmovement corridors in which wildlifetravel from high elevation mixedconifer forests to the desert floorbelow. Despite this, many of thecanyons on the south face of theCatalinas are choked with invasiveplant species that diminish habitatvalue and raise fire risk. Lower canyonelevations are within the ArizonaUpland Subdivision of the SonoranDesert, which is a vegetation

community that is not fire-adapted. Native desertplants, including the iconic saguaro cactus (Carnegieagigantea), are generally widely-spaced and can beextirpated by repeated wildfires. Several non-nativeinvasive species fill the natural interstices betweenplants and increase fuel loads. Fire within thesecanyons is potentially disastrous, as it could not onlytravel up-canyon through the desert to higher elevationgrasslands and forests, but also down-canyon to the


Bear Canyon Fountain Grass Removal and Pollinator Islands ProjectSky Island Alliance, Coronado National Forest (USFS), Pima County Native Plant Nursery, BorderlandsRestoration

Over 60 University of Arizona Blue Chip Leadership Programstudents worked to remove fountain grass on April 2, 2016. / SIA

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foothill neighborhoods of Tucson. SIA hasbeen working with volunteers in one suchcanyon, Bear Canyon, just east of thepopular Sabino Canyon Recreation Area,to remove invasives and replace them withnative species to improve habitat valuesfor a variety of wildlife, includingpollinators.


SIA conducted a series of 16 volunteerevents in Bear Canyon to remove invasivefountain grass from the riparian corridorand install native pollinator and wildlife-friendly plants. We cleared dense patchesof fountain grass along approximately 0.25mile of riparian habitat in Bear Canyon, and installed22 native species of plants (945 plants total) in 14islands of pollinator and wildlife habitat. Native plantswere grown from locally-collected seed by the PimaCounty Native Plant Nursery and BorderlandsRestoration. Nearly 200 volunteers contributed 1,233hours of effort over the course of the project.Volunteers were recruited not only from SIA’sconservation-savavy volunteer ranks, but from thewider community so that we could ensure the value ofthis work was reaching as wide an audience as possible.We coordinated with several groups of students fromthe University of Arizona and also hosted an event inBear Canyon for the Southern Arizona BuffelgrassCoordination Center’s “Beat Back Buffelgrass Day”event in January, in which groups organize throughoutthe Tucson basin to combat buffelgrass and fountaingrass.

In addition to the on-the-ground work, this projectallowed us to work with the Coronado National Forest(CNF) to provide a positive outcome to an herbicidecontroversy that had many in the environmentalcommunity questioning the Forests’ approach to

buffelgrass treatment. e situation was turned aroundthrough a series of forest-led workshops that wereguided by third-party facilitators. e Forest listened tothe community concerns, abandoned the controversialpractice, and regained trust by involving all of thestakeholders in a collaborative strategy to address thelarger problem — invasive and damaging buffelgrassand fountain grass on the landscape. SIA was able toprovide thoughtful input to the process, culminating ina GIS mapping tool that will enable partners to managethese invasives in a coordinated, strategic manner intothe future. e strategy now has widespread supportand community buy-in, which is a complete reversalfrom the situation a year ago.

Funding

is project was funded by the National ForestFoundation ($22,299), SIA volunteers (1,233 hours @$23.57 = $29,062) and mileage (933 miles @ $.535 =$500), and CNF ($2,500), for a total of $54,360.

Buffelgrass treatent priority map that resulted from communityknowledge and input. / SIA

46

Abstract

Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Cananea (ITSC) andSky Island Alliance (SIA) worked together during theSpring of 2016 to host two community workshops thatdemonstrated rock erosion control structures (ECS)and other watershed restoration techniques. Bothworkshops were held at Rancho San Josédel Carrizo, a private 10,000-acre ranchowned by Humberto de Hoyos, andmanaged as a sustainable cattle ranchand ecotourism operation. Participantswere recruited from three differentcommunities in Sonora: ITSC inCananea, Universidad de la Sierra(UNISIERRA) in Moctezuma, and localschools in Bacoachi. In addition, SIA staff andvolunteers traveled from Tucson, Arizona, toparticipate. Preparations for the workshops includededucational outreach and recruitment trips to bothITSC and UNISIERRA to generate interest. SIA andITSC staff worked together to make presentations tostudents and faculty about the work.

Project Background

Recent chemical spills originating at the Buenavista delCobre copper mine in Cananea, Sonora, affected theSonora, Bacanuchi, and San Pedro rivers, in whatauthorities have declared “the worst environmentaldisaster in mining history in Mexico.” ITSCimplemented and coordinated watershed and stream

restoration trainings with SIA to restore model sitesthrough the use of replicable, low-cost techniques, andoffer capacity-building workshops for the communitiesof Cananea, Arizpe, Bacoachi, Moctezuma, andHermosillo, Sonora. Project objectives includedimplementing three sites of watershed restoration inthe Río Sonora basin to serve as a model for replication

in the region and to increase capacity forthis work by training 250 people in thesetechniques.


ITSC and SIA participated in severaloutreach events in Cananea, Hermosillo,


e Power of Rocks: Working Together to Repair Damaged Watersheds in Northern SonoraInstituto Tecnológico Superior de Cananea, Sky Island Alliance, Rancho San José del Carrizo

Landowner Humberto de Hoyos discusses the value of springs tolivestock and wildlife. A spring is located just beyond the yellow-flowered shrubs in the background. / SIA

Watch the powerof rocks:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYatTc69zlM

47

and Moctezuma ahead ofrestoration events togenerate local interest.Previous project workincluded restoration workdays at El Pinalito, nearCananea, where 20trincheras were installedalong the 3 km of the mainchannel of the stream andnative pine tree seedlingswere installed. In FY 2016,the work focused onconducting two workshopsnear Bacoachi, Sonora.

When preparing for the firstworkshop, we expected between 30-40 participants; wewere pleasantly surprised (and a little overwhelmed)when 107 eager participants arrived, comprised mainlyof engineering students from ITSC, biology studentsfrom UNISIERRA, and local high school students fromBacoachi. Over the three-day workshop, participantslearned how to install one rock dams, trincheras, andZuni bowls, and the work resulted in the directprotection of a spring and a road. In addition, over 100cuttings of native seep willow (Baccharis glutinosa) andGoodding’s willow (Salix gooddingii) were harvestedfrom the Río Sonora and installed as pole plantings toincrease habitat value for migratory and resident birdsas well as pollinators, on the banks of a livestock tank.A professional videographer documented the firstworkshop in a 7-minute film that can be seen here:www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYatTc69zlM.

e second workshop built on the work accomplishedduring the previous workshop, particularly expandingthe treatment of gullies near a spring with dozens moretrincheras. Participation this time was limited to asmaller group of students from ITSC, many of whom

were experienced from participating in the firstworkshop, as well as staff and volunteers from SIA.


ITSC and Universidad de la Sierra providedtransportation for dozens of engineering and biologystudents to attend the workshops, as well as staff time.e local community in Bacoachi got involved withvisits from local families and school children. Severalparticipants were excited to implement erosion controltechniques on their family ranches.

Funding

is project was funded by a grant from the USFWSWildlife Without Borders Program to the InstitutoTecnológico Superior de Cananea to cover staff time(ITSC and SIA) and project expenses in the amount of$22,691. SIA and ITSC recruited over 120 volunteerparticipants, who contributed 2,445 hours of time at anadditional value of $57,629. e total project value was$80,320.

Left to right: Work commences on a large Zuni bowl that will arrest a headcut that is threatening aranch road. Example of trincheras installed in a gully above the spring. As sediment is depositedbehind the rocks, the banks will become connected with the bottom of the channel, resulting inbetter water infiltration and positive effects for native vegetation and habitat. / SIA

48

Abstract

Sky Island Alliance (SIA) and Borderlands Restoration(BR) worked with the National Park Service (NPS) atSaguaro National Park (SNP), Tumacácori NationalHistorical Park (TNHP), and Gila Cliff DwellingsNational Monument (GCDNM) to increase resourcesfor pollinators through seed collection, outplanting,and public outreach events.

Project Background

e NPS Southwest Exotic Plant Management Team(SWEPMT) assists over 50 park units in thesouthwestern United States by providing field-basedteams that work to reduce and/or prevent infestationsof non-native invasive plants and to restore native plantcommunities. Several parks in the southwest wereworking on pollinator conservation projects,particularly in light of the NPS Centennial.


Tumacácori National Historical Park: Located duesouth of Tucson along the Santa Cruz River, TNHP isthe site of a Jesuit mission built in the 1700s. SIAworked closely with NPS staff to develop a plantingplan that would increase resources for pollinators whileavoiding any impacts to cultural resources. Plantingswere planned to complement the recent riparianplantings along the Santa Cruz River and were focusedaround an administrative building that had existingplanters. Seed balls were used for the agricultural fieldsin order to avoid any digging. A total of 405 plants of17 native species were installed.

SIA and NPS collaborated to sponsor an Insect andPollinator BioBlitz to get the community engaged. emorning was dedicated to native seeding activities andregistering birds, plants, and diurnal insects; during theevening, we had mist-netting for bat surveys as well aslight traps for moths and other nocturnal speciesobservations. With the help of 33 volunteersthroughout the day, we were able to register 326insects, 162 birds, 70 species of plants, 40 arachnids, 15fungi, nine mammals, nine mollusks, six amphibians,and four reptiles totaling 708 observations of over 250different species.


Pollinators in the ParksSky Island Alliance, National Park Service, Borderlands Restoration, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

NPS is very a very hands-on partner! Adam Springer, Chief ofResource Management took some time to help out atTumacácori National Historical Park. / SIA

49

Saguaro National Park:Preliminary activities inpreparation for pollinatorplantings at SNP includeddeveloping preliminary plantspecies lists for each districtof the park, and seedcollection activities withvolunteers at both districtsduring the fall and winter of2015. SIA and BR hosted aseries of six volunteer seedcollection events that resultedin the collection of 31 nativespecies that were delivered toBR for cleaning, storage, and eventual grow-out. ePark also transferred seeds of 20 species to BR forgermination testing; these were seeds the Park had instorage, and that had been collected at various timesfrom 1993 through 2012. Germination rates rangedfrom 0 to 40%, with four species germinating at 25% ormore: Acacia greggii, Baileya multiradiata, Menodorascabra, and Psilostrophe cooperi.

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument: Surroundedby the Gila Wilderness of southwestern New Mexico,this National Monument provided an excellentopportunity to augment pollinator resources along theGila River, an important movement corridor. Work inFY 2016 included collaboration with a chainsaw crewfrom the American Conservation Experience to reducethe fuel load and stabilize slopes aer the Miller Fire of2011, as well as the installation of over 7,600 plants of25 species. Seeds had been collected from themonument and grown out specifically for this projectby BR.


is project was initiated and funded by the NPSthrough the SWEPMT and Desert SouthwestCooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit. SIA recruitedlocal volunteers for the fieldwork and providedadditional supplemental grant funding. BR providedplant materials and specific expertise on erosion issues.

Funding

e NPS provided approximately $58,600 for this workin FY 2016. SIA contributed 1,209 volunteer hours and9,041 miles for a total of $33,378, as well asapproximately $5,000 of additional staff time through agrant for the Wildlife Conservation Society. rough aNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grant forMonarch Conservation, ASDM supportedapproximately $2,000 of SIA staff time for the Insectand Pollinator BioBlitz at TNHP, and contributed 261native milkweed plants grown by BR for an additionalvalue of approximately $1,000. e total estimatedvalue of the project was at least $99,978.

Left to right: Two girls learn how to safely capture butterflies at the 2016 Insect and PollinatorBlitz at Tumacácori National Historical Park. Allegra Mount of Borderlands Restoration explainsseed collection protocols at Saguaro National Parkto a group of Sky Island Alliance volunteers. /SIA

50

Abstract

is study continues and refines previous researchefforts evaluating the extent to which the westernYellow-billed Cuckoo (wYBCU) uses mid-elevationoak drainages in the Sky Island region of southeasternArizona during the breeding season. is habitat hasbeen considered atypical and outside the areasproposed for Designation of Critical Habitat. Biologicaland geophysical characteristics were evaluated for eachdrainage to determine which components correlate tobreeding and foraging usage by wYBCU. Determiningcharacteristics of drainages utilized will guide futurewYBCU habitat restoration efforts and allowprioritization of locations for conservation in the SkyrRegion.

Project Background

Habitat loss was listed as the primary factor leading tothe listing of the wYBCU as reatened. Less than 5%of their traditional habitat — riparian gallery forests ofcottonwood and willow bordered by wide mesquiteforests — remains in the American West. However,birders and scientists regularly report, and havedocumented active nesting of wYBCU in mid-elevation drainages in the Madrean pine-oak woodlandecoregion of southeastern Arizona, considered atypicalhabitat. In 2015, over 40 drainages were surveyed ineight Sky Island ranges. Nineteen breeding territorieswere found, providing a 10% increase to the estimatednumber of breeding pairs in Arizona. Few habitatcharacteristics showed a strong correlation to wYBCU

presence, and numerous Sky Island ranges remained tobe surveyed. e ability to predict which canyonswould provide the best habitat for wYBCU, and whatmanagement activities might provide the bestimprovement to habitat, still remains to be determined.


For the continuation of this project in 2016, theCoronado National Forest (CNF) contracted theTucson Audubon Society (TAS) to survey an additional17 drainages spanning five Sky Island ranges


Yellow-billed Cuckoos in Oak Drainages in Southeastern Arizona:Critical Habitat Attributes for Future RestorationTucson Audubon Society, U.S. Forest Service

Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo found by surveyors in DoveCanyon, Canelo Hills, Coronado National Forest. This bird waspreening and sunning and was part of a pair that was activelycalling together. / Zilla Copper

51

(Huachuca, Rincon, Santa Catalina, and WhetstoneMountains, and the Canelo Hills) using the approvedbreeding call-back survey protocol and an updatedhabitat assessment. Callback surveys occurred bi-weekly and were repeated four times during thebreeding season (July and August). TAS augmented thesurveys performed for the survey contract with anadditional four survey routes in areas of interest, oenadjacent to lands held by CNF. On CNF, 14 breedingterritories were documented and three on theadditional survey routes.

e vegetative and geophysical characteristicsassessment was refined and analysis focusedspecifically on the differences between drainages whereno wYBCU were discovered and where breeding pairswere found. Statistically significant differences inhabitat usage based on this analysis included the totalcanopy cover (denser where pairs occurred); coverprovided by riparian obligate species includingsycamore, ash, and hackberry (increased where pairsoccurred); top tree height (taller where pairs occurred),and density of junipers (lower for pairs). Interestingly,in three drainages with pairs, 100% of the cover wasprovided by large oak trees and no riparian obligateswere recorded; these sites had significantly less totalcover than other sites with pairs. Further work remainsto determine the elevation to which wYBCU will go insearch of breeding territories in order to bound theconsideration of areas of importance.

Initial restoration and habitat managementimplications can be drawn from the clear signal thatdrainages with greater available water support morecuckoos as well as those with a developed, mature, andtaller over-story.


CNF determined which ranges to survey; CNF andTAS jointly determined which drainages to survey and

updated habitat assessment criteria. TAS andvolunteers performed the surveys and habitatassessments. TAS compiled the data and performedanalysis of habitat characteristics.

Funding

CNF provided approximately $15,400 dollars forcontract surveys and in-kind staff time. TAScontributed an additional $20,140 which includedvolunteer time ($12,939), mileage ($1,790), in-kindstaff time ($3,360), and equipment use ($2,050). etotal estimated value of this project is over $35,500.

Tucson Audubon staff member Olya Phillips surveys for westernYellow-billed Cuckoos in Paige Creek, Rincon Mountains,Coronado National Forest. Multiple breeding pairs of cuckooswere found in this creek / Tucson Audubon Society

52

Abstract

e Galiuro Mountains are one of the larger Sky Islandranges in the U.S., yet remain one of the most isolatedand under-studied due to rugged terrain and lack ofroads and access points. Sky Island Alliance (SIA) andthe Coronado National Forest (CNF) organized abackpacking BioBlitz into the central GaliuroMountains to collect information on springs, plants,wildlife, water rights, and riparianareas in October, 2016. e teamassessed 12 springs, documented thelocation of one unmapped spring,photographed seven riparianmonitoring sites, and collected 64plant specimens, one third of whichwere new herbarium records for therange.

Project Background

e need for spring ecosysteminventory and restoration wasidentified at regional climate changeadaptation workshops that SIAdeveloped with numerous partners,and convened in 2010 and 2011. Akey strategy identified at theworkshops was to address this was toinventory springs in prioritywatersheds to gather basicinformation on condition, speciespresence, and management status. Aspart of this effort, SIA focused on


Backpacking BioBlitz into the Rugged Galiuro MountainsSky Island Alliance, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service

USFS personnel bringing supplies via muletrain into the Galiuros. / Brian Jones

spring assessments in the Galiuro Mountains in 2016and the Arizona Native Plant Society alerted partnersof the dearth of botanical records from the range.Although the Galiuros are one of the largest ArizonaSky Island ranges, there are only 600 plant speciesdocumented as herbarium specimens; other mountainranges in the region have upwards of 1,500documented species. e Galiuros cover two

groundwater basins identified bypartners as priority areas — theAravaipa and Mammoth basins.Much of the Galiuros are in the SanPedro Watershed, which is currentlyunder water rights adjudication,generating the need for up-to-datewater rights validations.

Learn more about thehealth of our springs:

www.springsdata.orgswbiodiversity.org/seinet

53

e rugged and remote nature of the Galiuros meantthat logistical coordination was critical for safety andsuccess. Range, wildlife, and fire staff from the SaffordRanger District of the CNF arranged access throughprivate land and shuttled participants to the Power’sHill Trailhead, and used the Forest pack string to bringfood, gear, and sampling equipment into the base campat Power’s Garden.


is expedition strengthened relationships betweenpartner organizations and participants. SIA and CNFworked closely together to plan and execute theexpedition, and staff from both organizations helpedlead the trip. Additional assistance came from two NPSbotanists, eight SIA volunteers experienced in springinventory protocols, and e Nature Conservancypreserve manager who lent their time and expertise tothe success of the expedition. e group spent eightdays assessing 12 springs, collecting 64 plantspecimens, and visiting seven riparian monitoringsites. One-third of the plant collections were newrecords for the range, demonstrating the botanicalvalue of this expedition.

e data gathered on spring assessments is entered intothe Spring Stewardship Institute’s Springs Onlinedatabase (www.springsdata.org), and available to landmanagers and scientists. Plant specimens will bearchived at the UA Herbarium and entered into SEINet(swbiodiversity.org/seinet). Repeat photographs ofriparian monitoring sites will be shared with theSafford Ranger District. Data collected during springassessments will also be used to verify water rights forthe CNF, and entered into the USFS water rightsdatabase.


We appreciate the comments made by Ries Lindley ofthe Arizona Native Plant Society that sparked ourinterest in pursuing this trip. CNF staff spent a large

amount of time planning and executing logisticalsupport that was critical for the success of the trip.Additional CNF staff time was spent participating inthe inventories and assessments. SIA provided stafftime planning the trip, taking part in the fieldactivities, and entering resultant springs data. Severaltrained SIA volunteers assisted with springsassessments and riparian monitoring. TNC providedadditional springs assessment expertise, and NPSprovided the primary botanical expertise for theexpedition.

Funding

SIA contributed approximately $12,000 of grant-funded staff time and expenses to this project, as wellas approximately 642 hours of volunteer effort and1,626 volunteer miles valued at an additional $16,000.e total value of the project is estimated at $28,000.

Botanist Ashlee Simpson collecting plant data. / SIA

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Abstract

Wildlife cameras are a fantastic tool for learning aboutwildlife in an area with little disturbance to theanimals; they also provide great photos for interpretingwildlife to the public. ese cameras are used all overthe world to monitor mammal communities andendangered species, including in many parks andreserves in the U.S. and Mexico. Nevertheless, theirpotential to monitor mammal communities and setconservation priorities remains under-utilized becauseof technological and cultural barriers to organizing,storing, and sharing the huge amounts of data theycollect. is project leverages existing camera studiesin 11 national parks (eight in Mexico and three in theU.S.) that share similar species and habitats. We areworking together to create protocols that allowcomparisons between sites, provides support for allparks by sharing wildlife cameras and other resources,and helps establish conservation and monitoringpriorities for large and medium-sized mammals.Despite many challenges in government officialstravelling between the two countries, we have metseveral times since 2014 and continue to work together.In addition, we hope to further develop relationshipbetween U.S. and Mexico national parks in firemanagement, environmental education, and commonissues and opportunities.

Project Background

e national parks and other reserves along the U.S.-Mexico border in Sonora, Baja California, and thesouthwestern United States share and protect a richbiological diversity. However, wildlife habitat alongboth sides of the border is under increasing threatsrelated to climate change, human population growth,and the combination of illegal border and heightenedborder security activities. e common conservationthreats and goals of sister parks on both sides of theborder facilitate the coordination of monitoringprojects to understand and address the loss ofbiodiversity. e purpose of this project is to develop astrong international partnership, by streamlining andstandardizing wildlife camera monitoring protocols forbinational partners.

Wildlife conservation is a major concern of the “sisterparks” near the U.S.-Mexico border: Saguaro NationalPark (SNP), Chiricahua National Monument (CNM),and Coronado National Memorial (CNMem) in theU.S.: and Sierra de San Pedro Mártir Parque Nacional,Parque Nacional Constitución 1857, and Ajos-BavispeNational Forest Reserve & Wildlife Preserve in Mexico.ese parks began collaborating on resourcemanagement projects more than 10 years ago, but theprojects were interrupted due travel restrictions. In thisproject, we are renewing and improving ourrelationships in natural resource management. Allparks share sensitive mammal species — includinglarge cats, black bears, and neotropical mammals such


Developing Cooperative Relationships in Borderland Parks and Reserves: Wildlife Monitoring with Camera TrapsNational Park Service, Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, Sky Island Alliance

55

as javelina and coati — as well asconservation issues such as border issues,habitat loss, and climate change. Four of theparks are part of the Sky Island region of thesouthwestern U.S. and Sonora, Mexico, anarea with high endemism and conservationvalue.


Following workshops in Sonora, BajaCalifornia, and Tucson in 2014-2015, wescheduled meetings for staff from all theparticipating parks at Pinacate BiosphereReserve in 2016, but the meeting had to becancelled twice due to travel restrictionsprohibiting NPS staff to travel to Sonora. Weare hoping to meet in Arizona in 2017.Nevertheless, we have continued tocommunicate, share data, and work togetheron common conservation issues, and inspring of 2016, Sky Island Alliance hosted atracking workshop in Tucson with participants fromU.S. national parks and students from the University ofSonora.

Although the major goals of this project are to leverageexisting camera studies in the six border parks to helpestablish conservation and monitoring priorities forlarge and medium-sized mammals, our long-term goalis to renew and develop sister park relationshipsbetween our two countries. We hope to shareinformation and resources related to environmentaleducation, resource protection issues, firemanagement, and other topics.


Project partners and participants who have beeninvolved through the development andimplementation of the project include Sonoran JointVenture, National Park Service (SNP, CNM, and

CNMem), CONANP (Parque Nacional Constituciónde 1857, Reserva de la Biosfera Sierra la Laguna,Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, Area deProtección de Flora y Fauna Sierra de Alamos-RíoCuchujaqui, and Reserva Forestal Nacional y Refugiode Fauna Silvestre Ajos-Bavispe), Area de Protecciónde Flora y Fauna Bosque la Primavera located in thestate of Jalisco, and NCI México Reserva MonteMojino located in southern Sonora.

Funding

is work was supported by a grant from the USFWSWildlife Without Borders Program. e total estimatedvalue of this project is $34,680.

Wildlife tracking workshop held in March 2016, with interns and students fromArizona national parks and University of Sonora, led by Sky Island Alliance experttrackers. / Don Swann

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Abstract

Water in the desert conjures up images from oldwestern movies that visually portray water’s scarcityand life-saving properties. e organization,maintenance, and protection of USFS water rights is acontinuing workload for the Coronado National Forest(CNF). We partnered with Sky Island Alliance (SIA) todevelop a prototype ‘water rights intern position’ toassist us with water rights tasks. is internship mayalso serve as a template for other forests and agenciesthat are similarly looking for an alternative means totackle the same kind of workload.

Project Background

Everyone needs water. Local landowners, farmers,ranchers, and many local/state/federal agencies havedecades of cooperation, and sometimes contention,while striving to protect water resources of southernArizona. Recent SIRC reports have outlined some veryexciting projects to restore water sources. On the lessglamorous side, is the legal requirement to continuallyupdate and validate the status of USFS water rightsclaims.

Water sources in AZ are frequently over-allocated tothose claiming water rights. Adjudication is a legalprocess to ultimately determine “who gets what”.Recent adjudication has placed urgent attention onwater rights in certain locations, and data-gatheringand organization are needed in order to come up withan effective and informed response.

For each USFS water right, there is a file with theoriginal paperwork and certificate that needs to bemaintained and electronically scanned, data that needsto be transferred from the old USFS database into thenew Water Rights and Uses (WRU) system, entries inthe ADWR and USFS databases and GIS layers need tobe reconciled, and each water right needs to be field-validated. ese tasks represent a huge workload. eCNF is looking for efficient and innovative ways towork with partners to accomplish important tasks.Since SIA has been assisting the Forest in water rightsactivities, they were an obvious partner for this internposition.


Water Rights Intern for the Coronado National ForestU.S. Forest Service, Sky Island Alliance

Tower Spring in the Huachuca Mountains. / SIA

57


SIA advertised for the internship, andboth SIA and CNF were pleased withthe quantity and quality of applicantsresponding to the advertisement.Several applicants were interviewed,and Victoria Constantino, a recent UAgraduate, came on board in September,2016. She participated in USFS waterrights and adjudication training andlearned about the background andimportance of water rights.

is partnership has already resultedin a number of benefits to theparticipants in just a few months, andwill continue to provide benefits for the duration of theinternship:

n CNF has made great progress in organizing andmanaging water rights claims;

n CNF has assistance with locating and organizingdata for adjudications affecting the Forest;

n SIA has another avenue to help meet their mandateto protect the natural resources of southernArizona;

n SIA spring assessment data was transferred into aformat ready for entry into the USFS water rightsdatabase;

n e internship is providing a recent graduate withreal world experience in the field of hydrology;

n CNF and SIA are working together to provideopportunities for the intern to interact with otherprofessionals and gain experience in water rightsand natural resource management; and

n SIA will have the intern’s assistance for springsurveys, measurements of water flow, and otherwork related to water rights.

In addition to the benefits gained by thoseparticipating in this agreement, it is hoped that thisinternship can serve as a template for other agenciesand Forests interested in alternative ways to partnerand achieve mutual goals. As water rights gainincreasing prominence in our workloads, due toincreased competition for limited water resources, wemust continue to determine alternative methods torespond to that workload.

Funding

CNF is providing $35,000 through an agreement withSIA to cover salary and expenses for the intern, SIAstaff assistance, and oversight. USFS is also providingabout six hours per week of staff hours, primarily tomanage and assist with the workload of the intern, andto conduct administration tasks estimated atapproximately $6,500. As a match for CNFcontributions, SIA is providing $16,751 as non-cashand in-kind contributions. ese contributions includestaff time and resources to ensure the success of theinternship. Total project value is estimated at $58,000.

Victoria Constantino at Camp Rucker pond source. / J. Varin

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Abstract

Water resources are becoming increasingly scarce in theSky Islands. Severe fires followed by intense monsoonalprecipitation alter streams, springs, and entire watershedsin rapid and sometimes catastrophic ways. Partners haveundertaken a watershed restoration project in burnedand unburned watersheds in theChiricahua Mountains, CoronadoNational Forest (CNF). Over 700 looserock erosion control structures (ECS)were installed in drainages in 2015 toincrease ecosystem resilience. Inaddition to vegetation and habitatmonitoring in 2016, partners aremonitoring the effects that thesestructures have on soil moisture and shallowgroundwater. Initial results suggest that the ECS capturesediment that stores water, attenuates flood pulses,increases infiltration, and helps maintain soil moisture.CNF is planning to use results of this project to increasethe scope and scale of this type of watershed restorationon the Douglas Ranger District.

Project Background

Small in-channel ECS have been used as a restorationtechnique in ephemeral drainages of the semi-aridmountain regions of the southwestern U.S. to attenuatepeak flows and reduce channel erosion. Other benefitsappear to be increased water infiltration and moistureretention in support of wildlife habitat. However, site-specific quantification of the benefits of ECS is minimal,

and data collection is needed to demonstrate the success,or lack of success, of these restoration methods. Insummer 2015, CNF, along with partners, Sky IslandAlliance (SIA), Borderlands Restoration (BR), and USGS,collaborated to install over 700 loose rock erosion controlstructures in two watersheds of the Chiricahua

Mountains. One watershed wasburned in the 2011 Horseshoe 2 Fire(Tex Canyon), while the otherwatershed is unburned (Bar BootAllotment).


Eight soil moisture and inundationmonitoring stations were installedupstream of ECS within the ephemeral

drainages of Tex Canyon and Bar Boot (four in eachwatershed) in August 2015 by GeoSystems Analysis, Inc.


Soil Moisture and Inundation Monitoring at Loose Rock ErosionControl Structures in the Chiricahua MountainsSky Island Alliance, U.S. Forest Service, GeoSystems Analysis, Cuenca Los Ojos

Instrumented rock structure, September 2016. / SIA

Read the report andwatch for yourself:

www.skyislandalliance.org/publications/research-papers

is.gd/SIA_storymap_rock

59

(GSA) and SIA. Each station has 1-2 soil moisturesensors buried in the channel, an inundation sensor onthe surface, and a data logger. Sedimentation stakes werealso installed upstream of the rock structures at theselocations to measure channel deposition. In the summerof 2016, SIA and the CNF installed supplementarymonitoring equipment, including shallow groundwaterpiezometers, flowtography stations (cameras set to takephotographs at regular intervals paired with staff gaugesin the stream channel), and precipitation gauges. GSAand SIA staff made eight trips between October 2015 andDecember 2016 to download and record data from thestations. GSA processed and analyzed the data andproduced a report on the outcomes from the first year(available at www.skyislandalliance.org/publications/research-papers).

By the end of the 2016 monsoon, sedimentation stakesshowed an accumulation of 3-14 cm of sediment at TexCanyon stations, although visual observations indicatedthat many un-instrumented structures had filledcompletely with up to 30 cm of sediment. e sedimentwas observed to retain water longer aer rainfall events,meting it out into the stream and increasing the amountand duration of surface water in the channel. Tadpoleswere able to develop in some stretches of the stream.ere was no appreciable change in sediment levels atinstrumented Bar Boot structures, likely due to greatersoil stability in this unburned landscape.

e percentage of the monitoring period in whichchannels were inundated decreased with distancedownstream. is suggests that the rock structuresattenuated flood pulses and increased infiltration into thewater table, particularly for lower intensity storm events.In both watersheds, there was also surface water presentfor over 200 hours at stations upstream in the watershedor where confining soil layers were present. Soil moisturewas at least moderate (>15%) most of the year at many ofthe monitoring stations. Higher soil moisture and morewater present on the surface may reduce the negative

effects of fire in both watersheds and the severity of anyfuture fire in Bar Boot.

ere were differences in soil moisture between thewatersheds; see the report at www.skyislandalliance.org/publications/research-papers. See photos, videos, andmaps of the project at is.gd/SIA_storymap_rock.


CNF contributed piezometers to the project, as well asstaff time and equipment for installation. GSA created themonitoring design, provided technical expertise,performed analysis, and installed the monitoringsystems. SIA provided staff to assist with installation, andperformed most monitoring trips. CLO has conductedextensive complementary work downstream, and alsoprovided access through their private land to the BarBoot allotment. e USGS is monitoring vegetationwithin and along these ephemeral streams to documentshort and long-term changes from the ECS.

Funding

A grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society throughthe Climate Adaptation Fund, which was established by agrant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation,supported SIA and GSA staff time and expenses valued atapproximately $22,000. In addition, CNF supportedapproximately $5,000 of additional staff time and travelexpenses. e total estimated project is valued at $27,000.

Sediment captured behind a rock structure meters water outslowly after a monsoon precipitation event August 2016. / SIA

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Abstract

Over the past 30 years, over 20,000 water retentionstructures have been built in and around El CoronadoRanch on the upper Turkey Creek watershed in theChiricahua Mountains. Meanwhile, Rock Creek andCottonwood Creek (paired watersheds) have not beenrestored. All watersheds are similar in habitat andgrazing — with the notable difference being thatrestored portions of the Turkey Creek watershed haveperennial flow again aer years of being intermittent.While notable vegetation changes have occurred wherewater has been restored, the effect of increasing surfacewater availability on wildlife remains undocumented.We hypothesize that restored watersheds will havehigher species richness and increased complexity inspecies communities. To test this, we used camera trapsand a stratified random sample design to quantifyspecies composition along these three watersheds.Over three years we acquired more than three millionimages.

Project Background

Surface water, or the water available to wildlife, hasbeen declining across the West due to drought,groundwater pumping, diversion, and other uses fornearly a century. Wildlife waters (and tanks) are usedacross the U.S. Southwest to manually provide waterfor animals in areas where surface water is depleted orfor augmenting resources for other purposes (livestock,hunting, rare species, etc.). However, restoring the

natural flows of rivers and streams, although morechallenging initially, has the same effect with less long-term maintenance and greater availability to wildlifeover a larger area. Yet there are very few examples ofwhere flow restoration has been successful, and what ittakes to accomplish this task. e Turkey CreekWatershed and property restored by El CoronadoRanch offers a unique opportunity to evaluate impacts.Several channels on the ranch have been restored overthe last 30 years, and many tributaries such as TurkeyPen now have perennial surface waters. e USGSdeveloped a paired watershed study to evaluate ifrestoration can significantly mitigate damage frompeak flows and improve water supplies, using a paired-watershed approach. Two adjacent sub-watersheds —


Evaluating Effects of Restoring Surface Water on Mammal and Ground Bird CommunitiesArizona Center for Nature Conservation (Phoenix Zoo), Arizona State University, U.S. Geological Survey,Cuenca Los Ojos, U.S. Forest Service

Bears use water for more than just drinking, often they also takea swim (especially in summer when only these restored creeksretain surface water).

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one that has been fitted with rock-detention structuresfor watershed restoration purposes (Turkey Pen), andone that has not (Rock Creek) — were compared toquantify impacts, and found that erosion controlstructures are increasing the capacity to respond topeak flow events, events which are the majorcontributor of nonpoint source pollution indownstream waters and have led to loss of the riparianvegetation and habitat. Although it is obvious that thiswill benefit wildlife locally, there have been nosystematic surveys to document which species benefitand how water might change community ecology.


For three years, 50 cameras were used to documentspecies occurrence within El Coronado Ranch andneighboring portions of Coronado National Forest.Cameras were moved periodically to capture the rangeof variation in habitat, or when excessive vegetationwas causing the “heat-in-motion” sensors to misfire(i.e. blank images for vegetation moving). During thistime we collected over three million images. Due tothis massive amount of data, it has taken us nearly twoyears to complete the sorting of the images — a taskwhich has yet to be completed. However, severalvolunteers, and more recently paid project staff, haveaccelerated the image sorting process and we hope tohave this initial phase completed by the summer of2017. With this data we will then be able to compare

the wildlife results with data collected by USGS ondischarge across the paired watershed study, and beginto get a better understanding of how surface-wateravailability influences wildlife communities seasonally.Using the images, we can also document when surfacewater is present at each site. Data will be used todevelop species occupancy models and evaluatecorrelation between and among species.


Cuenca Los Ojos and El Coronado Ranch grantedpermission to access the study site and generouslyprovided accommodations during field work. USGSstaff provided assistance with study design to mimic apaired watershed study and will help publish the resultsonce data are analyses and available.

Funding

Primary funding for the project, including salary for PIand wildlife research assistants was provided by apartnership between ASU-SOLS and ACNC/PhoenixZoo. Volunteers contributed over 1,000 hours to settingand checking cameras, including sorting images.Special thanks go to Chelsey Tellez, McKennaZandarski, Aryn Musgrave, Emily Washburne andothers. e total estimated value of this project is$15,000.

Chiricahua Mountains as seen from Turkey Creek watershed.

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Abstract

It is unknown how many springs we have in theSonoran part of our Sky Island region. Springs arekeystone ecosystems that are known to be biodiversityhotspots; however, they are poorly documented andoen suffer from extensive human modification.Springs conservation in Sonora lacks baselineinformation, coordination between jurisdictions, andfunding for conservation work in Mexico. Sky IslandAlliance (SIA) worked with the Springs StewardshipInstitute (SSI) to increase knowledge of springs andtheir importance in Sonora by training key partners inlocation information, management, biological,hydrological, and ecological characteristics of springs.

Project Background

In 2010, SIA and local partners identified a lackof data on ecological condition, and restorationneeds for the majority of springs, as a seriousobstacle to conservation. Strategies identifiedto reduce the vulnerability of springs in the faceof climate change included inventory springs togather basic information on condition, speciescomposition, management status, andcoordination of data-sharing to understandsprings at a regional scale. e same is true forsprings in Mexico. It is estimated that there arearound 2,000 springs in the Arizona portion ofthe Sky Island Region, and because 60% of theregion lies in Sonora, we can estimate that

around 3,000 springs are present on the Sonoranportion.


Inventory protocols developed by SSI were translatedinto Spanish to make protocols accessible to our non-English speaking partners and ensure quality datacollection south of the border. is allowed us toconduct a spring assessment workshop for one of ourmost important Sonoran partners, Ajos-BavispeNational Forest Reserve and Wildlife Refuge. InOctober, 2016, SIA and SSI held a five-day workshop inSierra Los Ajos for 20 CONANP staff and studentsfrom the University of Sonora. During the training, weassessed three springs within the Reserve. Participantswere trained in spring ecosystem ecology, hydrology,


Sonoran Springs: Building Capacity for Springs ConservationSky Island Alliance, Springs Stewardship Institute, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Comisión Nacional deÁreas Naturales Protegidas

El Ojito Spring. / SIA

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geomorphology, biodiversity, data collection, and theuse of the SSI springs inventory database.

SIA and SSI conducted a second spring assessmentworkshop in early FY 2017 for local conservationNGOs, universities, and federal and state conservationagencies. e workshop was carried out in the CuencaLos Ojos properties, where we assessed three springsand 20 additional people were trained in the SSIprotocols.

e project also included assessment trips to privateranches. Seven springs were assessed at Rancho LaVolanta, a private cattle ranch that borders the Ajos-Bavispe Reserve and is located between Sierra Los Ajosand Sierra Buenos Aires. irteen springs wereassessed at Rancho La Leona near Arizpe, Sonora, inthe northern portion of the Río Sonora watershed withthe help of local guides.

A total of 26 Sonoran springs were assessed and 40professionals were trained during this project,

dramatically increasing both what is known aboutsprings in northern Sonora as well as local capacity tocollect these important data.


SIA and SSI led two spring assessment workshops inSonora for Mexican partners, including CONANP(Reserva Forestal Nacional y Refugio de FaunaSilvestre Ajos-Bavispe), Comisión de Ecología yDesarrollo Sustentable del Estado de Sonora, Profauna,Naturalia, Cuenca Los Ojos, Universidad de Sonora,and Universidad de la Sierra.

Funding

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife WithoutBorders program provided $37,430 for SIA and SSIstaff time, equipment, and workshop expenses.Volunteers contributed 1,184 hours amd 7,126 milesfor a matching contribution of $31,754. e totalestimated value of this project is $69,184.

Left to right: Jeri Ledbetter from the Springs Stewardship Institute leads a spring assessment workshop in Sonora. Marina Acuna, abiology student from the University of Sonora, learns how to test water quality at the workshop held at Rancho Los Ojos. / SIA

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Abstract

USGS scientists are working with partners to documentvegetation response to watershed restoration techniquesin the Sky Island region. Vegetation response wascompared at erosion control structures (EIS) and nearbycontrol areas at six project sites. is is the second year ofshort-term vegetation monitoring at four of the six sites.Preliminary results indicate a higher frequency ofperennial vegetation at treatment sites.

Project Background

Watershed restoration techniques using erosion controlstructures ([ECS] i.e., gabions, check dams, cross vanesand one-rock dams) have been implemented by landmanagers seeking to conserve ecological and culturalvalues, but the effectiveness of these techniques is stilllargely undocumented. Vegetation metrics are used as aproxy for assessing changes in water availabilityresulting from successful restoration. Toquantify short-term effects on vegetation, thearea in the channel (within 4m of the ECS) wasdivided into zones based on proximity tostructure. Within these zones, nested frequencyplots, canopy cover estimation, and photopoints were implemented to assess plant speciesabundance, composition, and diversity.


In 2015, 25 short-term plots were establishedwith a total of 318 nested frequency plots at four

different project sites — four plots at Vaughn Canyon, sixat Wildcat Canyon, 13 at Bar Boot Allotment, and two atDeep Dirt Farm. In 2016, those plots were revisited.Nested quadrats were added at existing plots, wherepossible, to increase sampling size. At Wildcat Canyon,two additional plots were established to provideadditional control sites. At Bar Boot, two plots wereabandoned due to damaged structures. is resulted in atotal of 25 short-term plots with a total of 414 nestedfrequency plots in 2016. An additional field site, CienegaRanch, was added with thirteen plots and 257 nestedquadrats.

Initial analysis compared frequency of perennialvegetation between treatment and control plots in 2015and 2016 (Figure 1). In both years, the frequency ofperennial vegetation was higher at treatment plots. is


Monitoring Short-term Vegetation Response to Watershed RestorationU.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, SkyIsland Alliance, Borderlands Restoration, Cuenca Los Ojos, Stream Dynamics

Figure 1. Comparison offrequency between treatmentand control plots for threeproject sites (yrs. 2015 and2016).

Figure 2. Comparisonbetween 2015 and 2016 atboth treatment (Tx) andcontrol (Ctrl) plots by projectsite. / USGS

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finding was statistically significant at Bar Boot (P < 0.05).Deep Dirt did not have an appropriate control plot andwas not included.

To compare frequency of perennial vegetation betweenyears (Figure 2), only quadrats that were measured inboth years were analyzed. At two sites, Vaughn Canyonand Wildcat Canyon, the frequency of perennialvegetation increased at treatment plots between years.Perennial vegetation frequency increased 80% (0.13 to0.24) at Vaughn Canyon treatment plots. ere was asimilarly drastic increase at control plots, wherefrequency doubled from 0.03 to 0.06. At Wildcat Canyontreatment plots, perennial vegetation was four timesmore frequent with frequency increasing from 0.03 to0.13. ere was no similar increase at Wildcat Canyoncontrol plots. Increases at both Vaughn Canyon andWildcat Canyon treatment plots were dramatic but notstatistically significant which may be due to the lowfrequency of perennial vegetation upon initialobservation. Continued monitoring will show if thesestrong trends continue. Bar Boot and Deep Dirtexperienced decreased frequencies of perennialvegetation. Perennial vegetation decreased 18% (0.62 to0.51) at Bar Boot treatment plots, but Bar Boot controlplots experienced a 35% decrease (0.24 to 0.15). issuggests that the presence of structures buffers sites fromvegetation loss. Perennial vegetation decreased 25% (0.50to 0.38) at Deep Dirt treatment plots. Deep Dirt did nothave an appropriate control plot for comparison. Further

analysis is needed to determine possible causes forvegetation loss.

In FY17, short-term plots will be revisited. TerrestrialLiDAR and aerial photogrammetry data will becompared to vegetation data to assess the effectiveness ofthese technologies in monitoring vegetation response.


USGS, with assistance from the NPS, Sky Island Alliance(SIA), and USFWS, developed the vegetation monitoringprotocols. USGS received assistance from SIA,Borderlands Restoration (BR), USFS, BLM, and USFWS,to conduct field measurements. e restoration projectswere completed by Cuenca Los Ojos (CLO), SIA, BR,USFS, Stream Dynamics, and Deep Dirt Farm Institute(DDFI).

Funding

USGS spent $36,200 in FY2016 working on this project.Many organizations provided substantial amounts ofpeople-hours to the project: BLM provided $3,300, SIAprovided $2,200, BR provided $950, and DDFI provided$230. Additionally, lodging was provided at three fieldsites at the expense of partners: USFWS provided $750,CLO provided $1,200, and private landowners provided$560. Total project value is estimated at more than$45,000.

Figure 3. Vegetation response at Vaughn Canyon treatment site, clear increase in perennial vegetation. Left: 9/25/2015. Right: 9/29/2016. /Natalie R. Wilson

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Abstract

Ephemeral and intermittent streams havecharacteristics of both floodplains and perennialstreams, and they play a unique role in ecohydrologicsystems. Globally, they make up more than half thelength of all rivers and streams. Yet studies focused ontheir hydrologic and biochemical function remainlimited, especially with respect to carbon (C) andnitrogen (N) storage and movement. is studymeasured C and N and their stable isotopes in samplesof sediments taken within ephemeral channelsupgradient of erosion control structures in twodifferent watersheds.

Project Background

Increased frequency and extent of high intensitywildfires is causing significant losses of C and N fromecosystems through wind transport of vapor and ash,and through water transport of ash, char, and woodydebris. Losses caused by water transport areexacerbated by decreased permeability of charred soilsand decreased surface roughness, both of which canpromote flooding, erosion, and debris flows. ese inturn promote biological and chemical oxidation of Cand N, and consequent losses to the atmosphere.Efforts to stabilize hillslopes and reduce erosion inburned and degraded watersheds can reduce loss of Cand N by promoting above- and below-ground storage


Effects of Post-wildfire Erosion Control Structures on Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling, Storage, and SequestrationU.S. Geological Survey, University of Arizona, Arizona Geological Survey

Left to right: Soil and sediment sample locations overlaid on map of burn severity in the Coal Pit subwatershed after the 2011 Horseshoe2 Fire, Chiricahua Mountains. Valer Clark, Chris Eastoe, James Callegary collecting soil and sediment samples for carbon and nitrogenabundance and isotopic analysis, Turkey Pen Subwatershed, Chiricahua Mountains. / USGS

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through capture and burial of C- and N-richsediments, growth of new vegetation, and low oxygenconditions below rising water tables.


We combined the results of measured C and N andtheir stable isotopes in samples of sediments withinformation on landcover, and fire history and severityto understand sources and amount of C and N. Resultsindicate that greater fire severity was linked toincreased C and N content in sediments capturedupgradient of erosion control structures. Carbonisotopes indicate that a higher proportion of C3 plantmaterial was delivered in sediments captured byerosion control structures in the watershed that had ahigher proportion of forest and greater burn severity.e potential for sequestration of carbon in thesouthwest U.S. was calculated using the median carboncontent found upgradient of erosion control structures,yielding a conservative estimate of 0.019 petagrams(Pg) of carbon. ough relatively small compared tothe amount estimated in previous studies to be storedglobally in the top meter of soils (>1500 Pg), it is

significant in terms of ecosystem services and regionalefforts to promote storage and reduce losses of carbon.


e USGS coordinated project design, sampling, anddata analysis. Valer Clark provided access, siteselection, and field sampling assistance at sites on ElCoronado Ranch and in Coronado National Forestlocated in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeasternArizona. Personnel from the Arizona GeologicalSurvey and UA Department of Geosciences providedguidance on data analysis and interpretation. Sampleanalysis and method development were carried out bythe UA Laboratory of Stable Isotope Geochemistry.

Funding

USGS provided approximately $100,000 for thisresearch and volunteers contributed about 60 hours @$23.57 ($1,414). e total estimated value of thisproject is $101,414.

Left to right: Erosion control structure filled upstream with carbon-rich sediments, Turkey Pen Subwatershed, Chiricahua Mountains.Chris Eastoe, Laura Norman, and Valer Clark, collecting soil and sediment samples for carbon and nitrogen abundance and isotopicanalysis. / USGS

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Abstract

e goal of this study was to characterize thegeomorphic impacts of erosion control structures(ECS) used as a restoration strategy and to develop amethodology to predict the associated changes.Methods used included runoff, sediment transport,geomorphic modeling, andrepeat terrestrial laser scannersurveys to map landscapechange. rough comparison ofconsecutive digital elevationmodels (DEMs), the potentialto substitute uncalibratedmodels to analyze streamrestoration is introduced. Wedemonstrate a new approach toassess hydraulics and associatedpatterns of aggradation and degradation resulting fromthe construction of ECS and other transversestructures. Notably, we find that stream restorationusing ECS is effective across vastly different timescales.

Project Background

ECS are intended to aggrade incised stream channels,yet little quantified evidence of efficacy is available. Westudied reaches of two ephemeral streams withdifferent watershed management histories — onewhere thousands of loose rock-check dams wereinstalled 30 years prior to our study, and one withstructures constructed at the beginning of our study.


In order to simulate and compare the movement ofwater through the ECS and consider resultingevolution of topographic features, we applied acombination of field observations and numericalmodeling. High-resolution repeat topographic surveys

were done in 2013 and again in2015/2016, and changedetection analysis wasconducted for both study sites.Discharge measurementscollected during the summer of2013 were used to representpeak flow at Turkey Pen;however, at the un-gauged Bone


Monitoring and Modeling Geomorphology of Streams with Erosion Control StructuresU.S. Geological Survey, University of Arizona, Cuenca Los Ojos, Deep Dirt Farm Institute, BorderlandsRestoration, Biophilia Foundation

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) surveys. / Natalie Wilson

Publication Citation:Norman, L.M., J.B. Sankey, D.J. Dean, J.Caster, S.B. DeLong, W.M. DeLong, and J.Pelletier, 2017. Quantifying geomorphicchange at ephemeral stream restorationsites using a coupled-model approach.Geomorphology.

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Creek, hydrologic simulations werenecessary to derive estimates ofdischarge. e discharge estimates wereused as input to the International RiverInterface Cooperative Nays2DH modelto reproduce and examine changes inthe spatial and temporal evolution offlow and sediment storage around ECSin the study reaches. e model depictsreduction in average velocity andincreasing depths of standing water overthe 3-year period, both of which allowfor longer residence time and thepotential for greater infiltration. Wesuggest that not only are the structurescreating these changes, but they areinfluencing sedimentation; and thevariations in bed elevation and changein geomorphology stimulates theseeffects. We demonstrate that integratingvery accurate, high-resolutiontopographic measurements made at theproper scale (with Light Detection andRanging (LiDAR) in this study), withprocess models of streamflow and sedimenttransport, we can provide restoration practitionerswith useful information to be used in project design,maintenance, and improvement. is coupled-modelapproach can be useful in planning restoration projectsor making predictions about proposed restorationactivities as the design and placement of ECS need toconsider the topographic slope, expected peak flow,and expected erosion and sediment deposition.


is research could not have been conducted withoutthe restoration work done and access to land providedby Cuenca Los Ojos, El Coronado Ranch, Deep DirtFarm Institute, Borderlands Restoration, and the

Biophilia Foundation. An interdisciplinary team ofresearchers from the USGS and the UA workedtogether to conduct and finalize the science.

Funding

Funding provided by the Land Change Science (LCS)and Biologic Carbon Sequestration Programs, both ofwhich are in the Climate and Land Use Change (CLU)Mission Area of the USGS ($50,000). Additional in-kind support was provided for the study to take placeby El Coronado Ranch, Deep Dirt Farm Institute,Borderlands Restoration, and the Biophilia Foundation(total $3,000). Total projects costs are estimated at$53,000.

Map depicts depth of water (color range) and velocity (arrows) when >1.0 m/s,pointing in the direction of flow under Nays2DH prediction, run on terrestrialLiDAR surveys in 2013, where rock detention structures are noted inside blackcircles. / USGS

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Abstract

As part of a larger study to investigate cost-efficient,low-technology rainwater harvesting for recharge tothe Sierra Vista sub-basin aquifer, we evaluated theeffect of newly installed gabions (rock-filled wirebaskets) on the Babocomari Ranch, property of theBrophy family. We tested methods for quantifying thetotal gabion-induced infiltration (a first step inquantifying recharge) in Vaughn Canyon, anephemeral stream channel. We used temperature time-series to find point infiltration fluxes, and time-lapsephotography to determine the duration and spatialextent of ponding upstream of the gabion.

Project Background

In water-scarce regions proneto flash-flooding, simple rockstructures (such as gabions)can be used to slow runoff anderosion in ephemeral streamchannels, increasinginfiltration and recharge andimproving riparian ecologicalhealth. However, fewquantitative studies assess theeffectiveness of this strategywith respect to infiltration. Inthe spring and early summer of2015, several gabions wereinstalled in the channel at

Vaughn Canyon, a tributary of the Babocomari River,by Borderlands Restoration, with support from theWalton Family Foundation.


We collected data upstream and downstream of onegabion from June 2015 to January 2016, during whichtwo flow events occurred, both during the same weekin August. For the first flow event, we inferred verticalwater flux through the subsurface using daily surfaceand subsurface temperature fluctuations and analyticalsolutions of heat transport in soil (specifically, the1DTempPro soware package). ese methods use theextent to which daily temperature fluctuations are


e Effect of Gabion Construction on Infiltration in Ephemeral StreamsU.S. Geological Survey, University of Arizona, Borderlands Restoration

Diagram of instrumentation in Vaughn Canyon. / Chloé Fandel

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dampened and delayed with depth (because watertransmits temperature changes more quickly than drysoil). Novel to this study, we also used time-lapsephotos to estimate the ponded area over time. We thenextrapolated the point infiltration fluxes to estimate thetotal infiltration volume. In order to evaluate the

gabion’s influence, we ran 225 model scenarioscomparing possible infiltration volumes before andaer gabion construction. For a 5-hour flow event, weestimated that a single gabion could increase the totalinfiltrated volume between it and the next gabion by0% to 255%, with the most likely scenario being anincrease of approximately 10%. If these results can bereplicated more precisely, they would suggest thatgabions are a more powerful tool than previouslyunderstood. is work is detailed in C. Fandel’s MSesis, University of Arizona, titled “e Effect ofGabion Construction on Infiltration in EphemeralStreams.”

Funding

USGS provided equipment and professional expertise.A National Science Foundation grant provided $2,470to support travel and researcher’s stipend. BorderlandsRestoration provided $20,000 through a grant from theWalton Family Foundation. UA Hydrology and WaterResources Department provided $12,000 in fundingfor cameras and supplies, and researcher’s stipend.Total project value is approximately $34,500.Vaughn Canyon during flow, with guidelines used to estimate

ponded area. / Chloé Fandel

Temperature and rainfall data during flow. / Chloé Fandel

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Abstract

is study evaluated patterns and drivers of vegetationchange in a semi-arid grassland in southern Arizonaacross eleven years of extended drought and hightemperatures, 2004-2014. Changes included declines inC4 perennial grass basal cover with patchy grassmortality, leaf litter increases, shrub declines, andincreases in non-native grass Eragrostis lehmanniana.Linear mixed-effects models identified precipitationduring the January through June“extended spring” as the best predictorof grass basal cover, especially whenplots were grouped by soil andtopographic features. Models showedthat a decrease in extended springprecipitation from 150 to 50 mm wasassociated with loss of one-quarter to one-half of plots’total grass cover. Association of grass declines with thisnovel season of drought is especially relevant becauseglobal circulation models predict steep declines inspring rainfall. Increasing E. lehmanniana dominancewas also associated with native grass declines. erewas little support over this time for predicted effects oflivestock grazing or shrub encroachment. is studydemonstrated how monitoring data from workinglandscapes can improve ecological understanding ofdrought. Findings also suggest managers couldimprove chances for sustaining resilience byresponding to rainfall in multiple seasons, monitoringfor mortality events, and establishing contingencyplans for various types of drought.

Project Background

Las Ciénegas National Conservation Area (LCNCA)has become nationally known for its use ofcollaboration and adaptive management in makingdecisions on livestock grazing, prescribed fire, andother management actions. is process involvescollecting annual monitoring data on grasslandconditions, comparing results with resource objectives,discussing them with stakeholders, and using both the

data and the discussions to informseasonal and annual managementdecisions (see Project Activities below).

Aer several years of participating inthis process, we wanted to see whatadditional insights could be gleaned by


Enduring a Decade of Drought at Las Cienegas NCA: Patterns and Drivers of Vegetation Changee Nature Conservancy, Bureau of Land Management

Trials and tribulations of field work. / Gita Bodner

Read thepublished paper:

azconservation.org

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analyzing longer-term grassland dynamics at the site.In-depth analyses into patterns and drivers ofvegetation change at this site yielded some veryinteresting results. Some patterns were as expected, e.g.that vegetation cover declined during drought, and thatLehmann lovegrass continued to expand. Otherspatterns were more surprising, e.g. that overall groundcover actually improved (largely from increases in leaflitter), and that shrub cover declined during thiswindow. Perhaps the most important discovery wasthat declines in perennial grass basal cover appear tobe driven mostly by drought during spring months.is finding goes against conventional wisdom thatthese C4 “warm season” grasses respond mostly tomonsoon rains, yet is consistent with otherobservations (published and unpublished) of perennialgrass die-offs during years with exceptionally lowwinter and spring rainfall.

Publishing these results in open-access format in theJournal of Arid Environments is giving them broaderexposure. We hope that these findings about ecologicaldrivers will help land managers promote resilience inthe region’s grasslands. Knowing that many otherpeople and institutions collect monitoring data toinform annual or seasonal decisions, we also hope tosee more analyses of longer-term dynamics as thesedata accumulate.

More project background and a PDF of the publishedpaper can be found at http://azconservation.org.


In 2004, the BLM invited e Nature Conservancy(TNC) to help refine monitoring protocols for LasCiénegas in order to provide more efficient and morereliable information on the land and water conditionsrelative to key management objectives. BLM rangespecialist Kristen Duarte now leads annual grasslanddata collection, TNC helps with data collection andmanagement. NRCS and many other stakeholdersassist with data collection and with “Biological

Planning” group review of grassland conditions.Grazing permittees Ian Tomlinson and Mac Donaldsonhave participated in data collection, BiologicalPlanning discussions, and most importantly inadapting grazing to shiing conditions on the ground.TNC conducted longer-term analyses, wrote themanuscript and revised it through the journal’s peerreview process in 2016.


Annual monitoring and Biological Planning eventsinclude local residents, ranching permittees, universityresearchers, agency staff (BLM, NRCS, USFWS,AZGFD, ARS, USFS), representatives from localgovernments (Pima County, PAG), and others.

Funding

Direct funding for monitoring refinements and datacollection has come from the BLM and TNC; datacollection by other stakeholders and volunteers addedin-kind contributions from many sources. Analysis,writing, and publishing costs were covered by eNature Conservancy. e total estimated value of thisproject is $15,000.

Annual grassland monitoring at Las Ciénegas NationalConservation Area, with staff from NRCS and TNC. / Gita Bodner

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Abstract

An interagency public-private partnership workedtogether in 2016 to compose A Seed Strategy for theMadrean Archipelago. is Strategy outlines anexisting, innovative plant materials program that ispoised, with the continued support of federal agencies,NGOs, and private sector partners, to maintain asustainable seed collection and curation system thatsupports propagation, production, and development ofplant materials for restoration workat scale and across jurisdictionalboundaries in the MadreanArchipelago. At the core of A SeedStrategy for the MadreanArchipelago is the shared local andregional need to provide aprogrammatic approach to thecollection, curation, and propagation of plant materialsnative to the region.

Project Background

e Madrean Archipelago Plant Propagation (MAPP)Initiative mirrored national efforts in 2016 bycomposing a regional strategic vision for thecontinuation and development of a native plantmaterials program. e need for this type of programis identified in the BLM’s National Seed Strategy forRehabilitation and Restoration 2015-2020, whichidentifies “support[ing] regional/nongovernmentalnative seed networks that provide seed with seed zone

origin” (NSS Objective 3.2.1) as a priority objective andnotes that it is necessary to work on an ecoregionalbasis to achieve these goals (NSS Objective 3.3). Bothregional and national seed strategies are intended toaddress the widespread lack of genetically appropriateseed for restoration activities (NSS Objective 1.3). Asthe Madrean Archipelago ecoregion is unique in itstopographic and biological complexity, ensuring asustainable supply of genetically appropriate seed forrestoration is critical and requires a minimum 5-year

strategic vision with associatedfunding to accomplish at scale.


e strategic development processbegan with the distribution of a“Seed Needs Survey” that sought to

quantify and categorize the need for native plantmaterials. Results from the survey allowedinvestigators to make preliminary determinationsabout regional need, however additional input isneeded to define needs more closely. e MAPPInitiative combined survey results with feedbackreceived during the MAPP Seed Summit held inAugust 2016 to compile a target species list that willfocus seed collection efforts. e strategy calls for aconcerted effort to collect regional diversity over thenext five years, supporting an interagency seedcollection team to sample from 5-20 populations foreach of 24 target species following protocols laid out bythe BLM’s Seeds of Success program. e current target


e Madrean Archipelago Plant Propagation Initiative Develops a Regional Seed StrategyBorderlands Restoration, Southwest Exotic Plant Management Team (National Park Service), GilaWatershed Partnership, Bureau of Land Management

Read the final strategydocument:

www.borderlandsrestoration.org

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species list will be revised in 2017 whenbroader input is solicited from federal andnon-federal partners, and currently focuseson species significant for restoration ofdisturbed or eroded areas, support ofthreatened pollinator communities, andconservation of biodiversity.

e Strategy calls for expansion of thecurrent MAPP Initiative efforts to meet areasof resource need and knowledge gaps,including trials for conventional andalternative seed production methods, andfocused research on seed zones andrevegetation techniques. To move forward inall of these areas, the Strategy identifies thecritical need for a regional seed center. ecurrent MAPP Seed Lab in Patagonia, AZ,serves as the center for cleaning, storage, andresearch that connects seed collection teams,nurseries, landowners, practitioners, andagency partners. A seed center supported bymultiple stakeholders mirrors the goalsestablished in the BLM’s National SeedStrategy that emphasize the creation of partnershipsbetween public, private, and non-profit entities tostrengthen local plant materials storage and productioncapacities.

By outlining the vision for the growth of a native plantmaterials program in the Madrean Archipelago, thestrategy authors hope to galvanize support for theprograms and services that have identified the MAPPInitiative as a leader in the Southwest. e finalstrategy document was published on the BorderlandsRestoration website in December of 2016 and isavailable at www.borderlandsrestoration.org.


e NPS Southwest Exotic Plant Management Team(SWEPMT), Borderlands Restoration, and the Gila

Watershed Partnership were the primary organizationsinvolved in draing the strategy. ese groups receivedinput from 19 public, non-profit, and private partnersthrough surveys and reviews, complementing severalyears of collaborative work with these and many otherregional entities.

Funding

e SWEPMT (50%), BLM Safford Field Office (40%),and Borderlands Restoration (10%) all provided staffsupport that allowed for the composition of thestrategy. e total estimated value of this project is$150,000.

Ashlee Simpson collecting Enneapogon desvauxii seeds nearAravaipa Canyon. / Marcus Jernigan

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Abstract

ree government land management agencies,Borderlands Restoration (BR), and the AmericanConservation Experience (ACE), came together for asecond year to pool funding and hire an InteragencyBotany Crew (IBC). e crew fulfilled a critical needand was extremely productive, collecting seed at 20different federal sites. Seeds will be used for localrestoration projects and for seed banking as part of theBLM National Seeds of Success Program (SOS). ecrew also helped provide agencies with botanical skillsneeded to conduct vegetation monitoring, rare plantmonitoring, and invasive species surveys. In additionto filling a critical need for local botanical expertise,this partnership provides a unique opportunity foremerging professionals interested in botany andconservation to develop their skills and nurtureprofessional relationships.

Project Background

e BLM and NPS Southwest Exotic PlantManagement Team (SWEPMT) draed a RegionalSeed Strategy for the Madrean Archipelago in responseto the National Seed Strategy (Plant ConservationAlliance 2015). e regional strategy calls for creating aregional plant materials program in collaboration withfederal agencies and the Madrean Archipelago PlantPropagation Center (MAPP). MAPP is a formalpartnership between BR and the Gila WatershedPartnership to provide locally sourced plant materials,without the use of chemicals, for use in restoration

projects. e botany crew is an essential component insuccessfully implementing the strategy.


e IBC is composed of three ACE interns thatconducted native plant seed collection, vegetationmonitoring, and plant surveys on federal landsthroughout the Madrean Archipelago ecoregion andbeyond. IBC was primarily tasked with seed collectionto contribute locally sourced seeds of appropriate plantmaterials, while also participating in seed banking aspart of the SOS program. e crew worked for sixmonths, and primarily focused on species that areuseful in restoration projects, including thosebeneficial to pollinators and wildlife.

IBC covered a lot of ground, performing 110 seedcollections across the region:

n NPS: Nine units in Arizona, New Mexico, andColorado had 43 seed collections of 26 species.

n BLM: ree National Conservation Areas had 26collections of 21 species; 13 collections meet SOScriteria and have been submitted for nationalarchiving.

n USFS: Eight mountain ranges on the CNF had 43seed collections of 36 different species; 18 were sentto SOS.

IBC provided botanical expertise for site-specificprojects at Las Cienegas NCA (BLM), Wildcat Creeknear San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge, and the


Agencies Work Together to Cultivate Botanical ExpertiseNational Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Borderlands Restoration,American Conservation Experience

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Galiuro Mountains (USFS).IBC will continue to work inthe BR seed facility toprocess collections andcollect data on germinationtechniques and seedpelletizing methods.

Interagency cooperationand funding for the crewwill continue work in 2017to accomplish the goals inthe Regional Strategy. IBCpresents a uniqueopportunity for emergingprofessionals interested innatural resources to activelycontribute to regionalefforts. ere is potential todiversify this work to include more hands-onrestoration activities such as erosional control structureinstallation, planting, and monitoring. We lookforward to continuing to adapt and respond to regionalbotanical and restoration needs.


e IBC is a premier example of what can beaccomplished through interagency cooperation inpartnership with local organizations. Botanistsrepresent a critical skill needed by a number of localfederal agency units that have struggled to securesufficient funding to support stand-alone positions fortheir area. is interagency effort has made the most ofcombining limited funding to secure botanicalexpertise and accomplish a variety of crucial tasksacross the landscape. Agencies contributed availablefunding and collectively developed a work plan toaccomplish the highest priorities for our MadreanArchipelago region.

In addition to funding the crew, agencies contributedlogistical support. NPS provided a vehicle, fieldsupplies and supervisory oversight; while each agencyprovided local expertise and guidance to the crewwhen working on their unit. USFS provided fundingfor seed collection supplies and to BR to increase theircapacity for curation, propagation, and field seedproduction. BLM funded BR to provide seed storage,processing, and curation assistance, as well as fundingfor crew housing.

Funding

SWEPMT of the NPS ($5,000), the Safford Field Officeof the BLM ($7,000), and the Coronado NationalForest ($48,635). Total project costs were more than$60,000.

Ashlee Simpson and Marcus Jernigan collecting data on apopulation of Graptopetalum bartramii in the DragoonMountains. / Tristan Jamieson

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FY 2016 SIRC Report EditorsMichele Girard, Eco Ideas LLCCarianne Campbell, Sky Island Alliance

FY 2016 SIRC Report AuthorsJan Schipper Arizona State UniversitySergio Avila Arizona-Sonora Desert MuseumDavid Seibert Borderlands RestorationCaleb Weaver Borderlands RestorationAllegra Mount Borderlands RestorationJennifer Varin Coronado National ForestMichele Girard Eco Ideas, LLCRachel Moore Hla Gila Watershed PartnershipShawn Stone Gila Watershed PartnershipAshlee Simpson National Park ServiceDon Swann Saguaro National ParkDana Backer Saguaro National ParkMirna Manteca Sky Island AllianceSami Hammer Sky Island AllianceCarianne Campbell Sky Island AllianceGita Bodner The Nature ConservancyJonathan Horst Tucson Audubon SocietyChloe Fandel University of ArizonaJames Callegary US Geological SurveyLaura Norman US Geological SurveyNatalie Wilson US Geological SurveyJuan Carlos Bravo Wildlands Network

FY 2016 SIRC Report DesignJulie St. John

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