Grant to gauge conservation plan's success

By Erica Meltzer

Pima County has received a federal grant to help officials figure out how well the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan is working. The $274,505 grant from the Interior Department will be used to design a scientifically sound monitoring plan to determine how well endangered species are faring.

The SDCP includes both the purchase of ecologically sensitive open space and set-asides for conservation on land that is developed. It is part of the county's efforts to comply with the Endangered Species Act. And as part of that compliance, Pima County must show that the plan is effective in protecting 36 species of concern, including the lesser long-nosed bat, southwestern willow flycatcher, desert pupfish, Gila chub, Gila topminnow, Chiricahua leopard frog, Huachuca water umbel, and Pima pineapple cactus.

The pygmy owl was on the endangered species list but has been delisted, a move that environmentalists hope to reverse.

The traditional way to monitor how well a protection plan is working is to count members of endangered species. Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said that is labor-intensive and expensive and doesn't tell you whether the plan is working until it's too late.

The study will start this September and continue through the end of December 2008. At the end of the process, Pima County will have a monitoring program for the SDCP.