Voter Approved Bond Money Protects Ecologically Important Area
Pima County Purchases A7 Ranch
Tucson, AZ – A recent voter-approved open space bond championed by The Nature Conservancy in Arizona, will provide funds to preserve 6,800-acres of pristine Sonoran grasslands that are an important corridor for the movement of wildlife and for the protection of diverse Sonoran Desert habitats.
Six years after the purchase of the A7 Ranch from The Nature Conservancy, the City of Tucson has sold the area formerly known as Bellota Ranch to Pima County. The City originally purchased the property in 1998 in what was then noted as a bold and unprecedented move intended to protect its land and water for future generations. The City’s decision to sell the A7 to Pima County fulfills its original intent and was made possible by passage of a Pima County open space and habitat protection bond in May 2004.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to buy the ranch. Funds will come from a combination of two voter approved open space bonds since the land is near the San Pedro River east of the Catalina and Rincon Mountains near Tucson. Once the ranch is purchased, the County will own the 6,829 acres of private land with the additional 35,075 acres remaining in state and federally ownership.
From an ecological standpoint, the A7 purchase will preserve a large unfragmented landscape and protect the wildlife and plant communities that live there from the damaging effects of urban sprawl. The property ranges in elevation from about 6,000 feet in the Catalina Mountains to about 3,000 feet along the San Pedro River. It contains a rich assemblage of plant and animal life. Mountain lion, coatimundi, black bear, mule and whitetail deer traverse the area. The 140-mile long San Pedro River is the longest free-flowing river left in Arizona and has been nationally recognized by the Conservancy and other conservation groups as one of the nation’s most precious natural resources. The approximately 3.5-mile stretch included in the A7 purchase contains globally rare cottonwood-willow forest that attracts numerous migratory and breeding birds. Hooded orioles, summer tanagers, black, gray and zone-tailed hawks, and vermilion flycatchers are common residents. The area is also habitat for the yellow-billed cuckoo proposed for listing as threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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