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RESOURCES
April 29, 2013
Legislation to Preserve Wild Sonoran Desert and Protect Arizona Military InstallationsNew report shows benefits of conservation to national security readiness and defense facilities.
Contacts: Barbara Hawke, Arizona Wilderness Coalition/ barbara@azwild.org / 520-326-4300 Ian Dowdy, Sonoran Institute/ idowdy@sonoraninstitute.org /602-393-4310 Mike Quigley, The Wilderness Society/ mike_quigley@tws.org / 520-334-8741
B-roll for TV stations: Download MP4 file of scenic, archaeological, and military footage here.
The legislation (H.R. 1799) is the culmination of more than six years of locally-driven effort that has built strong support across western Maricopa County from an array of conservation organizations, businesses, military interest groups, churches, developers, and West Valley elected officials. The roughly 954,600 acres of public lands encompassed by the bill are west of the White Tank Mountains, and are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). There are no private lands or land exchanges included in the legislation. The bill calls for a mixture of wilderness, national conservation areas (NCA), and special management area designations to be created on the BLM lands. Conservation Directly Enhances Military Readiness A report issued last week from the Tucson-based Sonoran Institute and the Arizona Wilderness Coalition shows long-term, no-cost benefits of legislated conservation measures to support Arizona’s military operations from Luke Air Force Base, MCAS Yuma, the Western Army Aviation Training Site in Marana, Davis-Monthan Air Force and the 162nd Fighter Wing in Tucson—all of which use the Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMG) to train their personnel in flight or land-based combat maneuvers. The legislation could result in the permanent protection of 80% of Maricopa County federal lands under military training routes (MTRs)—more than 650 square miles of additional protective designations—and nearly doubling the amount that is protected today. “As the report indicates, legislative measures that conserve federal lands around military installations can accomplish a number of fiscally prudent benefits for the Department of Defense,” says Jim Uken, retired director for the Barry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR). “In a tough budget environment, preserving The Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI) within the Department of Defense was specifically created to combat encroachment issues such as housing development, commercial communications structures, lighting, or any other external activity that inhibits military readiness. In FY 2012 alone, REPI spent $215 million securing lands outside U.S. military facilities for conservation mitigation and buffering purposes; combined with military branch funds and community partner funding, the total expenditures for enhancing compatibility of military installations was $784.5 million for FY 2012. The Sonoran Desert Heritage Act of 2013 is supported by military advocacy groups and retired military personnel for its potential to prevent encroachment around Luke Air Force Base and keep the Barry M. Goldwater Range viable as a world-renowned training area for the Department of Defense.
With over 7,000 employees and a financial impact of over $2.1 billion annually, Luke Air Force Base is critical to the state of Arizona’s economic viability. Together with the eight other military installations that train in air space over western Maricopa County and on the Barry M. Goldwater Range, the economic impact to Arizona communities from military facilities totals approximately $9 billion. “It cannot be overstated that the future fiscal climate will require us to think creatively about protecting military facilities and training routes with no-cost conservation designations like the Sonoran Desert Heritage proposal,” says Uken. “If development catches up with us, we’ll never be able to buy our way out. In the recent past, Arizona has proactively responded to threats to our military mission, acting before the risks became reality. I trust that our representatives in Washington will do the same by moving the Arizona Sonoran Desert Heritage Act toward adoption.”
Protecting Open Spaces and Quality of Life The legislation will enhance the evolution of West Valley communities into gateways for premier outdoor destinations. According to the Department of the Interior, recreation visits to Interior-managed lands result in over 316,000 jobs and nearly $25 billion in economic impacts each year to the communities and regions surrounding Interior-managed lands. In Arizona, outdoor recreation generates $10.6 billion in consumer spending per year, more than 100,000 direct Arizona jobs, and $3.3 billion in wages and salaries for Arizonans. “Public lands in Arizona are drivers for our economy,” says Dave Richins, director of the Sun Corridor Policy Program with the Sonoran Institute. “Arizona’s conserved public lands and open spaces attract a high skilled work force that sets us apart from the rest of the country. And we all know that tourists from around the world come here to visit our iconic landscapes. As an added benefit, land in this proposal prevents incompatible development from key training routes for Luke Air Force Base. This is a win-win-win for our economy.”
“I was born and raised in Buckeye, and I can tell you how special these lands are to the Arizona way of life,” says Mayor Jackie Meck of the Town of Buckeye. “If we allow our desert, mountain ranges, and hunting areas to be lost, we will never get them back.” Buckeye is one of many communities that sits at the edge of the proposed conservation lands and is projected to become one of Arizona’s largest cities. “It’s tremendous for such a large urban area, such as Maricopa County, to be able to live side by side with the nearly one million acres proposed by this bill,” says Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. “We must preserve our heritage and never lose it because of urban sprawl.” Preserving Cultural Resources, Wildlife Habitat, and Recreation Amenities The bill creates two National Conservation Areas (NCA), and within those NCAs, designates new wilderness areas, some as additions to previously-designated wilderness and several new wilderness units in the existing Sonoran Desert National Monument. The legislation also creates two Special Management Areas primarily for preserving wildlife connectivity corridors identified through Arizona's Wildlife Linkages Assessment. The area is predominated by rugged terrain that provides an escape for hikers, hunters, and outdoor enthusiasts of every kind. It is also home to a wealth of wildlife, from bighorn sheep to the desert tortoise and the Gila monster, bobcat, mountain lions, and more than 300 species of native birds.
"Landscape-scale habitat conservation is an important component of wildlife management,” says Tom Mackin, president of the Arizona Wildlife Federation. “The Arizona Wildlife Federation remains open to working with Congressman Grijalva and the rest of the Arizona delegation to ensure that responsible wildlife management remains at the forefront of this legislation and is inclusive of management tools necessary for wildlife to continue to thrive in the Sonoran Desert.” The lands in this region reveal a vivid human record in the Sonoran Desert: prehistoric Hohokam people, Spanish explorers, U.S. Army expeditions, hard-riding cowboys, ranchers, and hard-rock miners all converged here across generations to shape the area’s rich cultural heritage. “We want to see this area protected as wilderness for future generations of families like ours,” says Ella Pierpoint, who with her husband Roy, have farmed near the Red Rock Canyon proposed wilderness unit since the 1970s. “Someone can come out here and view the petroglyphs and the cultural features 1,000 years from now and that’s heritage we can pass on to the people who come after us.” The Pierpoints serve as official Site Stewards for the state of Arizona and monitor Red Rock Canyon and several other sites along the Gila River for resource damage. Cultivating Support from the Arizona Delegation Proponents of the legislation want to secure co-sponsorship of the Arizona Sonoran Desert Heritage Act from other members of Arizona's congressional delegation. "This entire process has culminated in one of the finest collaborative conservation efforts Arizona has seen since the 1990 Arizona Desert Wilderness Act,” says Les Corey, executive director with the Arizona Wilderness Coalition (AWC). “AWC and our partners have been working for more than 20 years to honor the collaborative spirit of Congressman Mo Udall, who made bi-partisan conservation a top priority in his home state of Arizona and around the nation. We hope this dynamic legislative package will help shape a new era of conservation in the West. It’s now up to Congress to embrace that opportunity.”
For more information about the proposal and the legislation, visit www.sonoranheritage.org. Western Maricopa County Military Land Use Nexus: Strategies to Protect Arizona’s $9 Billion Military Economy, April 2013. Link here. REPI 2013: 7th Annual Report to Congress, March 2013. http://www.repi.mil/Documents/Report/REPI2013RTC.pdf The Maguire Company, in collaboration with ESI Corporation. “Economic Impact of Arizona’s Principal Military Operations.” 2008. Outdoor Industry Association, 2013 Outdoor Recreation Economy Report, http://www.outdoorindustry.org/images/ore_reports/AZ-arizona-outdoorrecreationeconomy-oia.pdf For more information about the proposal and the legislation, visit www.sonoranheritage.org. Watch the This American Land episode about the proposal at http://youtu.be/Q4si4dTVrOY. ***** Arizona Wilderness Coalition: www.azwild.org Sonoran Institute: www.sonoraninstitute.org Fighter Country Partnership: www.fightercountry.org The Wilderness Society: www.wilderness.org Photos from top: Conserving lands outside the Barry M. Goldwater Range protects its future viability to host critical defense training missions. Photo: U.S. Air Force The F-35 fighter jet will train out of Luke Air Force Base, over the Barry M. Golderwater Range and the public lands that surround it. Photo: U.S. Air Force A remote-trigger camera captured this desert bighorn sheep in the Belmont Mountains proposed wilderness. Courtesy Mike Quigley/TWS Roy and Ella Pierpoint want to see Red Rock Canyon protected as wilderness. Photo: Mike Quigley/TWS
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PHOENIX –In the newly introduced “Arizona Sonoran Desert Heritage Act of 2013,” Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-Dist. 3) seeks to preserve critical tracts west of Phoenix that serve as important wildlife and recreation areas, safeguard the viability of Luke Air Force Base and the Barry M. Goldwater Range, and protect environmental amenities to boost economic opportunities for West Valley communities. 
lands for wildlife outside of the BMGR helps the Department of Defense avoid costly endangered species mitigation measures down the road as Arizona continues to grow and develop.”
“Fighter Country Partnership has supported this plan from the beginning because we saw the tremendous potential for protecting the long-term viability of Luke Air Force Base,” says Ron Sites, president of Fighter Country Partnership. “Luke has one mission and that’s to train the world’s best fighter pilots. The Base needs these public lands to remain open and undeveloped, especially as it anticipates the arrival of the new F-35 fighter jet.” 
Much of the area identified in the bill can be found within a short driving distance of greater Phoenix. Proximity of these lands to the West Valley’s growing urban centers necessitates careful management to minimize the impact of residents and tourists on wildlife habitat across this iconic Arizona landscape. 
"The Arizona Sonoran Desert Heritage proposal has been shaped both by the needs of the land and by the needs and desires of different stakeholders within our larger communities," says Mike Quigley, Arizona representative for