Bighorn Sheep

Lambs, Funds, Star Party, Oracle State Park, Winter Weather

Posted - Charles Miles

The Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project Status update for 1/15 to 1/28 is now available (all updates are currently available here):

  • Five lambs have been sited! The update links to a video of several of the previously sited lambs: Bighorn lambs & ewes in Santa Catalinas.
  • Residents in the area of Ina Road and 1st Avenue reported 3 Bighorn to AZGF. GPS data confirms that these Bighorn have moved into the edge of the urban area bordering the Pusch Ridge Wilderness several times and also notes several other urban sightings: a Ram was seen several times last year by Oracle Residents and two ewes documented in the Ventana Canyon and Finger Rock Estates areas. “Our intent is to encourage the Catalina bighorn sheep to use appropriate habitat removed from the urban interface and hope that incursions into urban areas will be rare if at all.”
  • The report breaks has some information on the funding sources for this project:
    • 31% State Tag Funds
    • 23% Private Grants and Donations with most of the donations “from sportsmen oriented groups and individuals” including large donations by the Arizona Chapter of Safari Club International, the Wild Sheep Foundation, the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society and Safari Club International Foundation.
    • 46% From the Pittman-Robertson fund – this is a federal excise tax on firearms, ammunition, accessories and achery equipment that provides funds to manage wildlife.

Catalina State Park will host a Star Party on Feb. 21 from 6:30pm to 9:30pm – the event will start with a presentation by Jim O’Connor with excerpts from his book, Native American Night Sky Stories, and there will be a variety of telescopes at the event. See the Arizona Star Party Astronomy Events page for more details and for other dates at throughout the year at Arizona State Parks!

Arizona hike: Oracle State Park – azcentral.com – Mare Czinar: A short article about the hiking in Oracle State Park – the days that the park are open to the public are limited (currently Saturday and Sunday 8am to 5pm) but it is well worth finding an open day to visit!

Winter weather! There was rain and snow that temporarily closed the highway and caused 3 hikers to be stranded due to rushing water in the Sabino Canyon Area. Winter weather closes highway up Mt. Lemmon – Carissa Planalp – TucsonNewsNow.com, Snow in mountains, rain in Tucson valley expected – tucson.com, Three hikers stranded because of rushing waters – Ina Ronquillo – KGUN9.

Lambs, Beetles, Wine

Posted - Charles Miles

After several recent Bighorn deaths it is encouraging that there are now reports of an additional lamb – More lambs spotted in the Catalinas – Ally Aldrete – KGUN9, Another lamb seen in Catalina Mountains – Arizona Daily Star.

In Bear Canyon the Forest Service is starting a project to try to reduce the Bark Beetle population – trees will be removed from areas including “Cypress, Middle bear and Chihuahua Pine Picnic Areas and General Hitchcock Campground. Generally canyon bottom and north-facing slopes” with the goal of stopping the spread of the beetles to adjacent trees and reducing the fire hazard that can be created by trees killed by the beetles. Expect closures to these areas when work is in progress. Forest Service Schedule of Proposed Actions for the Coronado National Forest, 400 beetle infested trees to be removed on Mt. Lemmon – Matt Fernandez – KVOA.com, Bark beetle removal project to begin on Mt. Lemmon – Elizabeth Walton – Tucson News Now.

Oracle State Park events for 2015 – Elizabeth Walton – Tucson News Now: Also see the Oracle State Park homepage.

Let it snow – Chastity Laskey – The Daily Wildcat: Some notes on the recent snow and things to do in Summerhaven and on the mountain.

Off the Vine wine festival – Elizabeth Walton – Tucson News Now: A wine festival is scheduled for the Steam Pump Ranch in February.

Buffelgrass, Lemmon, Lions, Events, Sledding

Posted - Charles Miles

Beat Back Buffelgrass Day 2015 – Beat Back Buffelgrass Day is January 24th – there are a number of different locations around Tucson including Catalina State Park with The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection!

Street Smarts: Highway, mountain named for botanist – Arizona Daily Star – David Leighton: Information on where the name ‘Mount Lemmon’ comes from.

Tucson Lion Killings Dropped Dramatically in 2014 – Kierán Suckling – Center for Biological Diversity – This press release from the Center for Biological Diversity points out that Mountain Lion kills by Hunters and Ranchers declined in the Catalina and Rincon Mountains in 2013 and 2014 (according to AZGF records). The release notes that in 2014 no Lions were killed in the ‘Bighorn Sheep Protected Area’ that was put in place in 2013 and bans hunting with hounds in an area similar to the Bighorn Sheep Closure Area that restricts recreational use in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness (see the current Arizona Hunting Regulations for the details of the ‘Bighorn Sheep Protected Area’).

Oracle State State Park Events – See the Oracle State Park Homepage for more details.

  • Saturday, January 24: Winter Evening Stargazing Event: Music, a “Ancient Native American Astronomical Practices” presentation and stargazing with telescopes – this is a great follow-up to the International Dark Sky Park status that park gained last year!
  • Saturday, January 31: Guided ‘Manzanita to Mariposa’ Loop Hike
  • Saturday, January 31: Arizona Trail Virtual Tour: Sirena Dufault will present on the Arizona Trail!

The snow at the start of the year resulted in great sales for businesses in Summerhaven – the General Store sold ‘around a thousand sleds!’. Restricted access to Mount Lemmon did not slow weekend business – Tucson News Now – Craig Reck, Mt. Lemmon businesses booming – KVOA.com – Domenica Fuller: 

Mt. Lemmon sledding accidents send eight to the hospital over the weekend – KVOA.com – Lauren Reimer: “The most common injuries the sledders received were head injuries and broken bones.” The article mentions two interesting details – the injuries happened to both children and adults, and that from New Year’s Eve to January 6th ‘about ten thousand people have visited Summerhaven’.

Wood pile burning to continue on Mt. Lemmon – KGUN9 – Ina Ronquillo

Winter Weather, Crowds, Rescues, Missing Hikers, Lambs

Posted - Charles Miles

Winter Weather! The entire mountain was winter wonderland at one point and weather has certainly been in the news – Rain falling in Tucson; hard freezes to follow – Arizona Daily Star, Brrr-inging in the new year in Southern Arizona – Arizona Daily Star – (A few good snow photos from the mountain), A wet and white New Year’s coming to the desert – Jeff Beamish – KVOA.com.

Ski Valley opens all of it’s runs! Last year Ski Valley did not open any runs for the first time in 50 years. Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley open; traffic restricted – Doug Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star.

Winter weather has caused restrictions on the highway to come and go over the past week. The winter weather + holiday weekend has also combined to produce big enough crowds on the mountain that – at times – the Pima County Sheriff’s Department has stopped traffic at the base and only allowed a car up the mountain when one comes down. On Saturday at 4pm, while coming back from the Milagrosa area, I  drove past a line of cars waiting to go up the mountain that stretched back nearly to Houghton! Mt. Lemmon Highway now open after Wednesday road restriction – Tucson News Now, Sheriff briefly limits access to Catalina Highway, weekend crowds expected – John Ames – Tucson News Now, Mt. Lemmon Highway closed due to overcrowding – Arizona Daily Star.

Sledding proves to be dangerous on Mt. Lemmon – Christina Myers – KGUN9: Stay safe while sledding! The article says that “two kids had to be taken to the hospital on Thursday after hitting objects that were sticking out of the snow”.

Hikers planning on hiking from Sabino Canyon to the top of the mountain call for help and are rescued. Three hikers rescued from Mt. Lemmon – Rikki Mitchell – KGUN9, 3 Mount Lemmon hikers rescued by helicopter –   Carmen Duarte – Arizona Daily Star, Rescuers searching for two women lost on Mount Lemmon – Scott Oathout – KVOA.

A group on the Butterfly Trail is reported missing. Sheriff’s deputies search for group of six missing hikers – Alyssa Reilly – KVOA.

First Day Hike is great way to start 2015 – Cathalena E. Burch – Arizona Daily Star: There were a number of parks with guided First Day Hikes this year – a great way to start the year!

The Bighorn Sheep Restoration Project Status update for 12/18 to 12/31 is now available (all updates are currently available here). Three new lambs have been observed in the Santa Catalina Mountains and there is video of one of them! This update has information on recent deaths including a report on the death of Ewe #643. When the death of Ewe #643 was first investigated there was not an obvious cause – later analysis indicates that an infection, probably originally caused by an external trauma, was the cause.

New Book, Splendors, Bighorn Pictures and Death

Posted - Charles Miles

Treasures of the Catalina Mountains: Book tells tales – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: A new book about the Santa Catalina Mountains!! Treasures of the Santa Catalina Mountains: Unraveling the Legends and History of the Santa Catalina Mountains by Robert Zucker is now available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle formats – this page provides more information about the book. I have just started reading the book – so far I am enjoying it and have already learned new things about the range – I have also been very interested/impressed by the number of references the book provides (in some cases seeing where the information comes from has been almost as fascinating as the story itself!). (Note that the current Kindle version is completely readable and enjoyable, but does have some odd formatting (at least on my device) – I have not seen the paperback yet but I suspect it has a more polished layout at this point.)

Game and Fish: Mountain lion kills second bighorn – Arizona Daily Star, AZ Game and Fish confirms death of another bighorn sheep – Brent Corrado – KGUN9, Bighorn sheep found dead in Catalina Mountains – Scott Oathout – KVOA.com: A 2nd Bighorn from the group released late this year has been confirmed to be dead – the current assumption, because of the location of the kill, is that the ewe was killed by the same Mountain Lion that recently killed another Bighorn from this group. This death occurred earlier in the month and has only recently been confirmed – initially the Bighorn’s collar was assumed to be malfunctioning and the carcass and collar were difficult to locate.

New Bighorn Pictures – The Friends of Catalina Bighorn Sheep recently shared several great/recent pictures of Bighorn Sheep in the Santa Catalina Mountains on their Facebook page – these have been used in at least one recent news article about the Bighorn.

Hike leads to splendors of the Sonoran Desert – Douglas Kreutz – Arizona Daily Star: Some great advice on and ideas of a great tour of the desert, especially for visitors to Tucson, starting from Sabino Canyon and using the Esperero Trail, Rattlesnake Trail and road.