Tucson Sky Islands COA

Potential Conservation Actions

1. Land and Water Protection

• Develop conservation easements on public or private lands in order to maintain and protect wildlife corridors.

2. Land and Water Management

• Conserve or improve areas for migratory birds identified as important habitats during any part of their annual life cycle (breeding, stopover, or wintering).

• Conduct monitoring and targeted removal efforts to limit establishment and spread of invasive species (e.g. buffelgrass, fountain grass).

• Manage for forest thinning and prescribed burns to create healthy habitats less prone to catastrophic wildfires and resilient to drought and insect infestations.

3. Species Management

• Implement conservation actions to promote populations of SGCN species, including translocations and insurance populations when necessary.
• Conduct surveys and monitor populations of SGCN as specified in work plans and job statements
• Manage habitats for desert bighorn sheep populations, including removing invasive plant species and restoring natural fire regimes.
• Improve management and restoration of agave species to provide resources and migration corridors for lesser long-nosed bat and other pollinator species.

• Rescue (salvage) native aquatic wildlife at risk from imminent threats, and return salvaged wildlife when conditions are appropriate.

4. Education and Awareness

• Develop outreach programs for the public on impacts to wildlife, agriculture, and recreation from introduced species.
• Incorporate citizen science programs to identify distribution of invasives ( SEEDN, iMapInvasives, etc.).

5. Law and Policy

• Work with local governments to incorporate wildlife protections and habitat connectivity into general plans.

• Improve OHV management and enforcement to reduce adverse impacts to habitats.

7. External Capacity Building

• Support partnerships and alliances to promote information sharing, learning, and collaboration.