This appendix provides additional information on the activities focussed on the Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area (RCA) and adjoining public lands. Appendix D-1 describes the proposed Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. Appendix D-2 describes the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership (SVPP) and summarizes its draft plan for management of the RCA and associated lands.
A National Conservation Area (NCA) is a mechanism by which Congress can protect land that contains unique and nationally important resources "for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations." NCAs offer a flexible alternative to traditional federal designations like national parks and monuments. Unlike these other designations, each NCA is created by individual legislation that requires development of a management plan tailored to its specific resources. Currently, eight NCAs (all managed by BLM) have been established nationally.
In September 1999, Congressman Jim Kolbe of Arizona introduced HR 2941 to establish the Las Cienegas NCA, which would include a diversity of southeastern Arizona landscapes with unique aquatic, cave, archaeological, historical, recreational, scenic, plant, and wildlife resources. The proposal grew in part out of the collaborative planning efforts of the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership, an inclusive group of local citizens, conservation organizations, ranchers, recreationists, BLM, and Pima County, who spent four years developing a multiple-use management plan for the RCA, which comprises about two-thirds of the NCA.
The proposed NCA encompasses over 200,000 acres of BLM, private, county park, and state trust lands that connect nine protected mountain ranges. Preserving these connections would form a regionally significant network of open space that extends from national forest lands north of Tucson south to protected lands in northern Mexico. County parklands within the NCA would be managed in coordination with Pima County, while state lands (or conservation easements on them) would be acquired over time. To protect private land within the NCA, BLM would purchase conservation easements from those landowners who wish to sell their development rights. Private landowners would also continue to participate in developing a management plan for the area that includes continued sustainable grazing and recreation in appropriate areas.
Rapid growth in southeastern Arizona threatens the diversity of natural and cultural resources found in the proposed NCA, over half of which is owned by the state and therefore susceptible to sale and development. Throughout the Southwest, urbanization has fragmented open space and wildlife habitat, depleted water resources, degraded water quality, and led to the loss of unique rural landscapes. Water resources have become particularly strained, as less than 5% of the Southwest's original streams and rivers remain today. Las Cienegas NCA, which takes its name from the rare cienegas (marshlands) along Cienega Creek, would play a critical role in protecting southeastern Arizona's water resources.
The Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership (SVPP) is a voluntary association of federal, state, and local agencies; organized groups; and people who share a common interest in the future of public land resources in the Sonoita Valley. Participants come from a variety of southern Arizona communities, including Sonoita, Elgin, Patagonia, Huachuca City, Sierra Vista, Nogales, Tucson, and Phoenix. Participants also represent organized groups, including conservation organizations; grazing and mining interests; and hiking, bird-dog, mountain biking, and off-highway vehicle clubs. Agency representation has come from BLM, the Nogales and Sierra Vista ranger districts of the Coronado National Forest, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona State Land Department, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Pima County Parks and Recreation and Planning/Flood Control, and Santa Cruz County. The partnership is open to all: anyone can participate and can join at any time.
The Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership was conceived as a way for the community (private, public, government, local, non-local) to come together to resolve local and national issues affecting public lands in the Sonoita Valley. The partnership has increased awareness, communication, understanding, trust, and support among its members and has helped us look at the valley as a whole and determine what we want and need in the future.
A unique, scenic area of open, rolling grasslands in a high desert basin, the Sonoita Valley lies in the uppermost watersheds of three streams in southeast Arizona: the Babocomari River, Cienega Creek, and Sonoita Creek. To the north spread the grasslands and woodlands of the Empire- Cienega Resource Conservation Area managed by the Bureau of Land Management. To the south, east, and west are the woodlands and forests managed by two units of Coronado National Forest.
At the crossroads of two scenic highways within an hour of the rapidly growing Tucson metropolitan area, the Sonoita Valley is surrounded by public lands with outstanding dispersed recreation opportunities, a variety of traditional uses, and significant natural resources, including several endangered species. The valley still retains wide open spaces, rural lifestyles and values, and an great variety of plant communities and wildlife. But, at the same time, is it also vulnerable to the impacts of rapid growth and the intensifying conflicts at the urban-rural interface.
The Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) direct that to the fullest extent possible federal agencies shall encourage and facilitate public involvement in decisions that affect the quality of the human environment.
Traditionally, BLM and other agencies have involved the public in planning at the initial scoping stage, then "disappeared" until ready to ask for comments on a draft plan. This resulted in many people thinking that their comments were ignored and to a lack of trust in the agencies and outcomes of the process.
In recent years, there has been a shift toward an ecosystem management approach in land use planning. Under the ecosystem management approach, planning processes are more open to the public, and the public is involved early in the process. Interested parties are encouraged to help establish goals and identify ways to achieve them.
The interagency ecosystem management task force in its 1995 report, The Ecosystem Approach: Healthy Ecosystems and Sustainable Economies, recommended eight steps in The Ecosystem Approach to guide agencies in implementing and participating in ecosystem efforts and which are complementary to NEPA:
In 1995, The Tucson Field Office, Bureau of Land Management decided to take a new collaborative approach to planning for the Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area with full public participation guided by these principles of Ecosystem Management. This approach resulted in the formation of the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership. The Planning Partnership met monthly for four years focusing initially on developing a shared vision, goals and specific objectives for the Sonoita Valley. In the last year and a half, the Planning Partnership focused on working with the BLM on developing alternatives for management of the Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area.
In 1988 BLM acquired through a land exchange 45,000 acres within the Empire, Cienega, and Rose-tree ranches in northeast Santa Cruz County and southeast Pima County, Arizona. These lands, which comprise the Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area (RCA), hold extremely high social, cultural, and resource values for the local and national public. These values include a critical watershed important to Tucson for flood control and aquifer recharge; five of the rarest habitat types in the American Southwest: (cienegas, cottonwood-willow riparian areas, sacaton grassland, mesquite bosques, and semi-desert grasslands); habitat for several endangered species and a diverse array of fish and wildlife; two proposed wild and scenic river segments; a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places; scenic open space; and high potential for dispersed recreation.
BLM is mandated to develop a land use plan for the acquired public lands within the resource conservation area. After several false starts on developing a plan, BLM decided to take a new approach that would involve more public participation in all aspects of planning. The approach would also improve communication and coordination with surrounding public and private landowners. This desire for a new approach led to creation of the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership.
In January 1995, BLM brought together people from federal, state, and local agencies with an interest in the Sonoita area to discuss forming a partnership to work with the community on public land issues. All participants had a strong interest in the valley. This meeting was followed by a community potluck in April 1995. Agencies and groups were then invited to put up displays of their activities in the Sonoita area. Tours were given to sites in the valley. And participants filled out a questionnaire on their concerns for the valley's future.
In July 1995, the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership held a community workshop to review the questionnaire results and discuss other issues related to the Sonoita Valley. Workshop participants decided to have the Partnership deal only with issues involving public lands surrounding the Sonoita Valley and to defer issues of growth management and private land concerns to another effort.
Participants at the workshop formed three working groups to confront issues relating to wildlife-vegetation, water-minerals, and people. The working groups met monthly from August 1995 to December 1995. During this time, the working groups developed desired future condition descriptions: visions, goals, and objectives for upland vegetation, riparian vegetation, aquatic habitats, fish and wildlife, cultural resources, and recreation opportunities. In December 1995, the working groups gave a joint presentation on their visions, goals, objectives and categorization of issues. Group members also decided to merge the water-minerals and wildlife-vegetation groups into a natural resources working group and to continue to meet monthly. The Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership's area of concern was defined roughly as the Cienega Creek watershed south of Interstate 10 and small portions of the upper watersheds of Sonoita Creek and the Babocomari River.
From January 1996 to September 1996, the working groups met monthly and refined resource objectives; participated in technical presentations on fire management, wildlife management, grasslands, riparian vegetation and cultural resources; and worked on preliminary development of management strategies. In September 1996, the groups gave another joint presentation on achievements on objectives and management strategies and decided to have all working groups meet together to finalize their objectives and develop alternative management strategies.
From November 1996 to May 1997 in monthly meetings, the Partnership refined and reached agreement on wording of the resource objectives which were written so that they could be applied by managers or owners to any lands within the Partnership's focus area in the upper Cienega Creek Basin.
From June 1997 to October 1998, the Partnership's monthly meetings focused on developing and refining alternative management strategies to resolve issues and meet the resource objectives, mainly on the public lands within the Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area. In addition, several new subgroups were formed to work on the details of proposals and report back to the Partnership at regular monthly meetings.
From December 1998 to February 1999, the Partnership worked on achieving consensus on a preferred series of management strategies out of the alternative strategies which had been developed.
From March 1999 to February 2000, the Partnership met four times (February, May, and September 1999 and February 2000) on development of a monitoring program for the Empire-Cienega.
To date the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership has accomplished the following:
The Empire-Cienega Resource Conservation Area Land Use Plan is nearly complete, and the Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership will soon be looking in new directions. The partnership may help implement and monitor the Empire-Cienega Plan, address public land issues in the valley as they arise, or work with Sonoita Crossroads on public land issues.
The Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership's success so far is reflected by several phenomena. The working groups have maintained a high level of participation. New participants have continued to join. Communication has increased among participants on a variety of levels. Agencies have increased their interest and involvement in management. And the local community has started up the Sonoita Crossroads Community Forum, which is dealing with many issues that complement those being dealt with by the partnership. From BLM's perspective, we need to understand community values, present and future needs and concerns, and the importance of the valley to everyone. We also need to understand how public lands are important to sustaining the desired community and character of the valley and how the solutions to our problems today lie in our community's strength in the future.
But each participant may measure success differently. The results of our participant survey and interviews (pending) will help us better define the success of the process for everyone involved. However success is defined, we have learned the following valuable lessons through this process.
An open process is important. When everyone is invited to participate, then everyone's concerns can be heard, and the group gets the value of a variety of perspectives. Detractors can simply be invited to come and see for themselves. A neutral facilitator is valuable for starting the process, particularly if a public agency plays a key role in this process. Such a facilitator may become less needed as trust is built and facilitation can be shared among participants. A neutral facilitator may also be useful for discussions or decisions on topics in which all participants have a stake so that everyone has an equal chance to participate. At the outset everyone should become acquainted or reacquainted in a non-confrontational, recreational (fun) atmosphere. Such a partnership is all about community, and participants should first have the connections as members of a community before tackling tough issues together. Sharing a meal (potlucks are great for this) also helps people connect.
A partnership must have an effective way to communicate among participants and to maintain communication throughout the process. Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings or mistrust. The Sonoita Valley Planning Partnership':w
s main communication tool has consisted of monthly minutes mailed to all participants.Community participatory approaches tend to be long and involved and require a strong continued commitment to keep them going. It is important at the outset to have known funding sources, whether agency funding, grants, or donations. Costs for meeting rooms, mailings, workshops, and refreshments can add up. Also important is a coordinator with a certain amount of time dedicated to the process.There is always a place for education. Participants informally educate each other whenever they share views. For certain topics technical specialists can ensure that everyone is familiar with terminology and methods. Because not everyone is likely to agree on who the technical specialists are, participants should decide as a group what people to bring in, when to bring them in, and for what topics. Participants should begin the process by developing visions and goals or some product that will define a common ground. It may take a while to get there, or it may be relatively quick, depending on the situation and issues that are being worked on.
Next: Appendix E: Survey of Attitudes About Growth and Tourism
Sonoita Crossroads Community Forum
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