Month: August 2013

Opinions Opposing the Bighorn Reintroduction

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
Transplanting bighorn sheep to Pusch Ridge is cruel and futile – An article criticizing the reintroduction effort saying that it “smacks of environmental politics and wishful thinking more than sound conservation science”. Several points that this article makes –
  • Since the 1970s 100,000 additional people in the area the author looked at and an estimate of 50,000+ additional cars on Oracle Road
  • “Forty years ago, you could hike the two main Pusch Ridge Wilderness trails – Pima Canyon and Romero Pools – and rarely encounter another hiker. Today, both trails are hiker highways, especially on weekends.”
  • “Their studies admit human encroachment played a part in the decline but it’s played down as a primary reason (they also readily admit they’re not really sure why the bighorn population suddenly died off).”
Hopefully this article helps to create some useful debate…

Hiker Injured fleeing Mountain Lion, Plant Survey

Updated - Posted - Charles Miles
Hiker injured fleeing from mountain lion – Nick Nasca (noted in the articles to be 18 years old) and Melanie Vibrat of Oro Valley were in the Romero Pools area around 7:30am and felt threatened by a mountain lion (see pictures below) that moved closer to them after they saw it – Mr. Nasca was injured while moving out of the area and required a rescue. The Arizona Daily Star credits notes that the picture in the articles below is courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish and was taken by the hikers: Do you see the lion a teen encountered on hike near Tucson?, Game and Fish investigating mountain lion sighting, hiker taken to hospital, PHOTO: Mountain lion that stalked stranded Romero Pools hiker, Hiker airlifted after brush with lion. Warming climate pushes plants up the mountain and Half century old map points to plant changes – An interesting study about a University of Arizona study that compares a 1963 survey of plants along the Catalina Highway to 2011 data finding that a number of abundant species have shifted their ranges upslope. They site warming temperatures and drier conditions as the reason. However, also important to note here that the interpretation and presentation of the data has been criticized with the conclusion that there is no significant change overall – The Effect of Climate Change On The Arizona Quadrat.