Feds map wind, solar energy zones in Arizona

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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New plan focuses on previously disturbed sites with few resource conflicts

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Obama administration’s push to develop more renewable energy resources reached another milestone this week, as the Interior Department finalized designation of 192,000 acres in Arizona as potentially suitable for utility-scale solar and wind energy development.

Any subsequent proposals for specific solar or wind energy projects will still need to undergo a site-specific environmental review.

According to the Interior Department, the lands identified in Arizona include previously disturbed sites (primarily former agricultural areas) and lands with low resource sensitivity and few environmental conflicts. Federal land managers in Arizona spent three years analyzing  disturbed land and other areas with few known resource conflicts that could accommodate commercial renewable energy projects. (more…)

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Wildlife advocates want more critical habitat for jaguars

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Photo courtesy Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, via Wikipedia and the Creative Commons.

Feds plan to finalize critical habitat designation by the end of the year

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — A federal plan to designate more than 800,000 acres of critical habitat for endangered jaguars in the southwestern U.S. may not go far enough to ensure recovery for the wild cats, according to conservation activists. The USFWS proposal, including comment information, is posted online here.

”The best habitat for American jaguars lies in the vast and rugged Gila National Forest in New Mexico and adjoining pine forests in Arizona,” said Michael Robinson, a wildlife conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, which this week  filed a detailed 55-page comment letter with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week, urging the agency to add more habitat to the designation.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service has a moral duty to protect these special places, where jaguars once lived and which they should be able to call home again. Recovering jaguars in this region, so full of wilderness, will bolster the genetic strength of the struggling jaguar population in northern Mexico, too, helping to ensure that these great cats will always share our country with us,” Robinson said. (more…)

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Forest Service OKs massive off-road rally without review

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Mexican spotted owl. Photo courtesy USFWS.

Conservation advocates may sue to block future editions of the jamboree on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — When it comes to policing the annual Rainbow Gathering, the U.S. Forest Service can pretty harsh, but apparently that same hardline doesn’t apply to off-roaders, at least in Arizona, where the agency has apparently developed a cozy relationship with motorized users.

According the conservation groups, the Forest Service authorized a six-day off-road rally without doing any environmental studies or reviewing the impacts to rare and sensitive forest species.

Based on promotional materials for the off-road jamboree, the event is at least partly commercial and requires Forest Service review and permitting. Part of the route is through areas affected by the Wallow Fire, where new vegetation is just becoming established, and it also appears that there is some commercial photography associated with the off-road rally. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Lead poisoning still plagues condor recovery

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

A tagged California condor in flight.

Failure to reduce lead exposure may lead to end of condor restoration effort in Arizona And Utah

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Government conservation biologists say California condors are slowly recovering in Utah and Arizona, with more breeding pairs and consistent use of seasonal ranges — but exposure to lead contamination associated with big game hunting  continues to be a major challenge.

The goal of the California Condor Recovery Plan is to establish two geographically separate, self-sustaining populations – a primary population in California and the other outside of California, each with 150 birds and at least 15 breeding pairs.

But the partner agencies will seriously consider withdrawing support for condor reintroduction efforts in the Southwest if, by the end of 2016, a reduction of extreme lead exposures (blood lead levels) is not achieved and a declining trend in diagnosed lead related mortality and morbidity is not observed. (more…)

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Biodiversity: Feds propose critical habitat for jaguars

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Photo courtesy Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, via Wikipedia and the Creative Commons.

Public comment sought on plan to protect 838,000 acres in Arizona and New Mexico

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — After outlining a vision for a jaguar conservation and recovery plan last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed designating more than 800,000 acres as critical habitat for the endangered cats.

Jaguars were listed as an endangered species in the U.S. in 1972. Internationally, they are listed as near-threatened on the IUCN Red List.

According to some recent estimates, there may be as many as 30,000 jaguars total across their range in South America and Central America, with between 3,000 and 4,000 in Mexico.

Populations thin out toward the northern end of the range, with populations in the Mexican states of Colima and Jalisco north through Nayarit, Sinaloa, southwestern Chihuahua, and Sonora to the border with the U.S.

Conservation advocates said the critical habitat designation could help restore native jaguar populations to southern Arizona and New Mexico. (more…)

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Freeport-McMoRan pays $6.8 million in settlement for natural resource damage at Morenci Mine in Arizona

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Toxic sludge killed thousands of birds at open pit copper mine

The Morenci Mine, Arizona. Photo courtesy T.J. Blackwell via Wikipedia and the Creative Commons.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Freeport-McMoRan Corporation, owner of the Henderson and Climax molybdenum mines in Colorado, recently agreed to pay $6.8 million for natural resource damages at its Morenci Mine in east-central Arizona.

The U.S. District Court for Arizona recently approved the settlement, which involves the multinational mining giant, as well as the State of Arizona, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (more…)

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Republican lawmakers try again — and fail again — to remove Grand Canyon-area uranium development ban

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Fourth attempt to overturn environmental protections for cherished area falls short in House committee

Aerial view of the Grand Canyon. PHOTO COURTESY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Federal lawmakers continued their cat and mouse energy game this week by fiddling with a transportation bill to try and repeal President Obama’s ban on new uranium development across 1 million acres of public land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.

The effort, led by three Arizona congressmen, failed, when the House Rules Committee ruled it out of order. The amendment was sponsored by  Jeff Flake, Trent Franks and Paul Gosar, all Republicans. It would have overturned a recent decision by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar enacting a 20-year “mineral withdrawal” that bans new mining claims and development on existing claims lacking rights-to-mine across Grand Canyon’s million-acre watershed. (more…)

Filed under: BLM, energy, Environment, federal government, national parks, public lands, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Southwestern gray wolf population growing slowly

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Advocates say more releases needed to bolster populations

Mexican gray wolf. PHOTO COURTESY USFWS.

The latest wolf-location map from Arizona and New Mexico.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Taking a small step away from the brink of extinction, the Mexican gray wolf population grew for the second year in a row.

According to the latest census there are now 26 wolves in New Mexico and 32 wolves in Arizona. Most importantly for the success of the recovery program, the number of breeding pairs increased from just two in each of the preceding annual counts to six in 2011.

That increase came despite the fact that the massive Wallow Fire in Arizona burned through inportant denning habitat.

Federal officials say continued collaboration and reduction in livestock losses is key to developing the social acceptance needed for successful long-term recovery.

“Building public tolerance by those who live on the land and must coexist with the wolf is so very important to the success of Mexican wolf recovery in Arizona,” said  Arizona Game and Fish Department director Larry Voyles.

The latest wolf census  shows that 18 pups born during 2011 have survived, boosting the total population to 58, up from 42 just a couple of years ago. There may be other pups living in the wild that weren’t detected in the surveys, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Previous annual reports are online here. (more…)

Filed under: biodiversity, endangered species, Environment, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Weather: Dry West

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Much of the West is dry — bone dry

Total precipitation for the weather year (starting Oct. 1, 2011) to-date across the West, from the Reno-based Western Regional Climate Center.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — If you’re missing the snow in Summit County, don’t feel like you’re being picked on. Much of the West, with the exception of a few pockets in Arizona and New Mexico, have been exceptionally dry so far this fall and early winter, with precipitation in California tracking toward all-time record low levels.

Just off the eastern edge of the map below, there’s a pocket of blue and purple indicating above normal precipitation in the southern high plains, and much of Wyoming is also covered by the cooler colors signifying substantial precipitation. (more…)

Filed under: climate and weather, Colorado, Environment, La Niña, Summit County news, Weatherblog | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Biodiversity: Rare jaguar sighted in southern Arizona

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

A wild jaguar, the largest wildcat in the western hemisphere, was recently spotted in southern Arizona. PHOTO COURTESY USFWS.

Hunter takes picture; wildlife officials confirm sighting

By Summit Voice

For the first time since 2009, an endangered jaguar has been found roaming the wilds of southern Arizona. The jaguar was photographed by a hunter last weekend. Subsequently, Arizona Game and Fish biologists confirmed the sighting and identified the cat as healthy male, weighing about  200 pounds.

“It’s heartening to see that at least one jaguar is back in southern Arizona,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Jaguars are an integral part of the mountains, deserts and forests of the Southwest where they have lived for many thousands of years. They are stunning animals that fascinate the imagination and help maintain the health of their prey and habitat.” (more…)

Filed under: biodiversity, endangered species, Environment, Summit County news | Tagged: , , , , , | 4 Comments »

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