BLM will host another public meeting on the draft RMP at 5:30pm Wednesday, August 22 at the Sierra Vista Police Department. This is an opportunity to voice your concerns about BLM’s plan to open more areas in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area to grazing and hunting.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released the draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area with a 90 day comment period. Major changes from the current management approach include increased grazing.
The Friends of the San Pedro River has reviewed the draft and shared our position on the FSPR website. To begin your own review, you can access the document online. Public input will shape the final plan.
Public meetings on the draft RMP are scheduled for:
Public input will shape the final plan, and we strongly encourage you to attend one of the public meetings to learn more about the draft RMP and voice your concerns and suggestions.
Thursday, August 9th, was a sad day for the Friends of the San Pedro River and everyone who cares about the continued existence of the San Pedro, a rare, functioning desert riparian area, and the wildlife it supports. By the slimmest of majorities, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled against a lawsuit that sought to force consideration of groundwater usage as part of the approval of the Tribute residential development project in the Sierra Vista area.
The Friends hoped the plaintiffs would prevail in order to require that the Arizona Department of Water Resources consider the federal water right for the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in determining whether there was 100 years of adequate and legally available water supply for Tribute. Instead, the court ruled that ADWR is under no obligation to consider the impact of additional pumping by Tribute on the San Pedro River. Owners of residential wells in the area should be concerned because this means they too have no protection for their water source from prospective deep groundwater pumping associated with Tribute.
Pumping in the Sierra Vista area is already withdrawing more groundwater from the aquifer than is replenished. The result is a cone of depression where the aquifer is being drained. This cone of depression is spreading and adversely affects the flow of groundwater to the San Pedro River. Tribute will add 7,000 new homes that will require additional groundwater withdrawals from the aquifer. The end-result is sadly easy to anticipate.
The BLM has released a draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA). This plan will govern how the SPRNCA will be managed for the next few decades. The Friends has completed a first review of the document and will provide comments to the BLM during meetings and in writing. We would like to share with you our reaction and concerns.
But first, how to find the draft documents…
The draft RMP is available for the public to review and provide comments on the BLM ePlanning website at https://go.usa.gov/xnTuM. Get involved! Your opinion counts. Your voice is needed to counter those with influence who are working behind the scenes to undo the work of the last 30 years.
Public meetings on the draft plan are scheduled for:
Public input will shape the final plan, and we encourage you to attend one of the public meetings to learn more about the draft RMP and voice your opinions and suggestions.
Overall assessment. The BLM has been working on this document for several years. We commend them for the completion of this draft and look forward to working towards issuance of a final plan that continues current protection of this precious national resource. However, we do have significant concerns as discussed below.
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SAINT DAVID CIENEGA ONLY $1600 AWAY FROM RESTORATION PLAN!
Matching funds still available thru May 12th. Double the impact of your donation! To Learn More: https://
See a brief history of the St. David Cienega, a remnant of the San Pedro River of the past, including its recent decline, and learn what the Community Watershed Alliance plans to do to preserve and restore it in an informative video.
A Sierra Vista area State Senator has introduced legislation that would circumvent current law by easing requirements that new developments must show the availability of a 100 year supply of water. This will clear the way for approval of developments, e.g., the massive development proposed along the San Pedro River south of Benson. It is hard not to view this as a death sentence for our river and the rural character of our area.
Arizona Audubon is organizing comments on the proposed legislation. In this post, they explain how you can go about registering comments on this issue with our State legislators.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) is enlisting the help of landowners and citizen scientists to assist biologists as part of the American Kestrel Partnership, a program designed to collect data to be used to conserve this important species for future generations. AZGFD is participating in the partnership, which is coordinated nationally by The Peregrine Fund.
“The goal of this project is to provide nesting habitat and raise awareness for kestrels in Arizona, while contributing to national efforts to assist these falcons,” said Kurt Licence, an AZGFD biologist. “This great citizen science opportunity will help us to collect data to guide management decisions that could impact the stability of kestrel populations. That data will help us to better understand why long-term studies have shown that American kestrel populations have declined 50 percent across their range in the past 40 years.”
For more information about the program, visit www.azgfd.gov/kestrel or e-mail raptors@azgfd.gov.
There is still time to submit your comments on the pending review of many of our national monuments, starting with Bears Ears National Monument.
An Executive Order has been issued calling for review of many national monuments to determine whether to redraw boundaries, reduce protections or even rescind designation for our most diverse and inclusive national monuments.
Since the Antiquities Act went into effect in 1906, millions of acres of environmentally, culturally, and historically important lands in the US have been protected for the enjoyment of generations to come. Without the constant vigilance of groups such as the Conservation Lands Foundation, there is a very real possibility that these lands could be removed from protected status.
Please consider acting now to help protect Bears Ears and other national monuments by clicking here to submit a public comment.
If you wish to make a donation to defend our national monuments, you may click here to make a contribution to the Conservation Lands Foundation to help them continue the fight to protect our national lands.
Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) officials did not properly consider the rights of the Bureau of Land Management, namely the federal reserve water right for the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA) created by an Act of Congress in 1988, when it gave the go-ahead for a 7,000-home development in Sierra Vista, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
See the article on the appellate ruling (by Howard Fisher of Capitol Media Services) published by the Sierra Vista Herald for further information.
Photo by James Mahoney
The BLM issued a press release announcing the public comment period on its plans to address the iconic cottonwood trees at San Pedro House. The BLM has proposed pruning the healthy tree that overhangs San Pedro House and removing the huge, aging cottonwood just to the west. The Friends of the San Pedro River prefer an alternative in which both trees are pruned and the larger, western tree is left fenced to protect the public and allowed to die naturally.
UPDATE: The arborist’s report and his slide presentation on the trees have been added to the BLM eplanning website where the scoping document is still available. This is your opportunity to provide substantive comments. The deadline has been extended to July 29. BLM asks that these comments be emailed to: blm_az_tfoweb@blm.gov. The scoping document describes the type of questions that would inform substantive comments. According to the BLM announcement:
In order for your comment to be substantive you must include rationale for why the extraordinary circumstance is triggered.
Again, read the scoping document for details on how to comment. Stay tuned to our FSPR Facebook page for updates.
Finally, Tom Wood of the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory (and a former President of the Friends of the San Pedro River) has created an on-line petition to save the trees. “Signing” the online petition is one way to express your opinion and feelings about the cottonwoods at the San Pedro House.