Month: November 2014
14 Bighorn Released, Dark Skies in Oracle State Park
Palisade Trailhead to the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center, Pines to Cactus – 11/6/2014
We started the day at the Palisade Trailhead – it was cold when we stepped out of the car, but we knew we would warm up quickly on the Palisade Trail. We paused occasionally for pictures, stopped to enjoy Pine Canyon above the falls (still flowing), peered into the Mud Spring tank (filled with water and leaves) and nearly ran into the old phoneline that still angles across the trail.
The grass covered trail as we descended – below Mud Spring the trail is not as frequently used and more than once we had to pause to find our way – well worth the effort, the last part of the descent to the junction with the East Fork Trail is so beautiful!
Sabino Canyon was full of cold water near the East Fork Trail/West Fork/Sabino Canyon junction – a nice break before finishing along the Sabino Canyon and Phoneline Trails.
Pines to Cactus run – Palisade Trailhead – Palisade Trail, East Fork Trail, Sabino Canyon Trail and Phoneline Trail – Sabino Canyon Visitor Center. 15 miles, +600’/-5400′ of elevation gain/loss.
Bighorn Death, Fuelwood, Private Shrines
Bighorn sheep found dead in Coronado Forest, cause of death still unknown – Anthony Victor Reyes, KVOA.com, Another bighorn sheep death reported by AZ Game and Fish – Ina Ronquillo, KGUN9, Game and Fish reports 19th bighorn sheep death – John Ames, Tucson News Now: The first Bighorn death for months – the cause is not yet known but an attack by a predator has been ruled out.
Fuelwood permits available for portions of Mt. Lemmon – Coronado National Forest: “Fuelwood permits for portions of Mt. Lemmon, located on the Santa Catalina Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest, will be available for sale November 3 to December 15, 2014 at the Ranger District Office, 5700 N. Sabino Canyon Road in Tucson.” – more details in the press release.
More private shrines appearing on S. Arizona forest lands – Douglas Kreutz, Arizona Daily Star: An article about shrines on public lands including a picture of a private shrine just below the Babad Do’ag vista. While it may be an emotional issue the heart of the article is probably this quote from Heidi Schewel – Coronado National Forest Communications Staff Officer – “From a regulatory standpoint such personal memorials would be considered abandonment of personal property, which is prohibited,”
Catalina Bighorn Sheep Advisory Committee – Meeting Notes, Public Records Request
The Friends of Wild Animals have been a vocal opponent of the Bighorn Sheep Reintroduction Project – whether or not you agree with their views they seem to have done the interested public a service with a recent Public Records Request. In response to their request the Arizona Game and Fish Department has produced documents including meeting notes for the Santa Catalina Bighorn Sheep Reintroduction Advisory Committee.
These notes are fascinating because the Advisory Committee meetings are closed to the public. There have been quite a few details released about the reintroduction project – but this is the first time (that I am aware of) – that any meaningful details about these meetings have been released. The Friends of Wild Animals have posted their conclusions about the the notes in Bighorn Sheep Committee notes reveal pattern of secrecy and deception (covered by Sonu Wasu of Tucson News Now in Watchdog group blasts Bighorn Sheep advisory board members for ‘secrecy’).
In addition to posting their own opinions on the documents the Friends of Wild Animals have posted a pdf of the notes (they note: “We have put the scattered documents into chronological order and rescanned them. To obtain the original files, please email [email protected].”).
With public lands, wildlife, Wilderness and the AZGF involved in this project it is disappointing that these meetings were not open to the public. These notes – where the members appear to struggle with the details of habitat and fire, Mountain Lions, how to measure success, environmental regulations and details about GPS collar transmissions are actually refreshing reading – surely I am not the only one who finds projects that operate behind closed doors, work to present only a carefully crafted media message, stick to ‘talking points’ and maintain suspicious levels of optimism very hard to trust/believe? I didn’t come away from reading these documents with the impression that they demonstrate the “lack of integrity” that Ben Pachano, spokesman for Friends of Wild Animals, found – but I also don’t understand why any of this information needed to be a secret.