We owe a sincere apology to Supervisor Ray Carroll. Last week we took him to task for a radio ad promoting Proposition 430, Open Space & Conservation, by appealing to hunters about the bonds opening more land for hunting. Based on several “Pima County Conservation Area” signs we have observed which explicitly bar firearms or archery, and believing that Open Space & Conservation went by the dictionary definition, we thought Supervisor Carroll was mistaken.
We thought that conservation meant the dictionary definition:
con·ser·va·tion
ˌkänsərˈvāSH(ə)n/
noun: conservation
1. the action of conserving something, in particular.
· preservation, protection, or restoration of the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation, and wildlife.
Perhaps not the Yes campaign – they never mention hunting. This is what the Yes on Pima County Bonds website says about Prop. 430 (unedited):
PROTECTING OUR SONORAN DESERT: INVESTING IN A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Our Sonoran Desert is home to animals, plants and cultural artifacts found nowhere else in the world. Right in our backyard we have spectacular mountains, saguaro-covered hillsides, desert wildflowers, and open rolling grasslands. We get to experience rare desert water-based habitats and the animals supported by them, and also have the ability to glimpse into the past and appreciate the cultures of the people who lived here before us. All of these contribute to making Pima County a special place to live, work and recreate.
Visitors from all corners of the globe come here to experience this landscape firsthand, and their visits generate significant economic activity and employment opportunities. Many seeking a healthy outdoor lifestyle choose to live in our communities and become our neighbors because of our natural environment. For these reasons, conserving our Sonoran Desert is an investment we must make.
Tourism in Pima County annually generates more than $2.6 billion in economic activity and employs more than 20,000. Our natural environment is the number one reason visitors come to our community, according to a 2012 study conducted by tourism officials. In 2011, watchable wildlife recreation activities, such as birding, generated $304.3 million in retail and indirect sales and supported in excess of 2,700 jobs. Preserved open space also attracts high-wage employers seeking to relocate.
Hunting is rather different than “watchable wildlife…such as birding….”
From Nicole Fyffe, Assistant to County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry (unedited):
The County owns and manages 176,677 acres that was funded by the 2004 open space bond program.
The County owns 46,969 acres.
The County manages another 129,708 acres of state and BLM grazing leases whereby we acquired the leases by purchasing ranches that included both fee and lease land.
All of the grazing leases have been opened to hunting specific species of animals per Arizona Game and Fish Commission Orders. 100%
Out of the 46,969 that the County owns, all but 2,627 acres are open to hunting – meaning less than 1% is closed to hunting, or more than 99% is open to hunting.
Here are the notes Kerry sent over that provide more explanation. Kerry references Tucson Mountain Park because his list included all County owned/managed properties, not just 2004 bond acquisitions so I had to filter out the non-2004. Our 2004 bond funded Tucson Mountain expansions are part of the 2,627 NOT open to hunting because of their proximity to homes.
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From Kerry Baldwin, Natural Resources Supt., Pima County Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation (unedited):
As previously noted, in Game and Fish Commission Rules under Title 17 A.R.S., all county parks in Arizona are closed to hunting unless opened by Commission Order- R12-4-321.
Pima County park lands have been opened to hunting specific species in the Commission Orders. That information is contained in the species specific annual Commission Order in the printed and online regulation booklets distributed by Arizona Game and Fish. The specific county parks are listed in the Notes section of the species specific information.
Under the Commission Orders, the following properties are open to hunting for different species and/or with different approved methods of Take. In general, all of the listed 2004 Bond acquisition properties are open to all species. In the specific case of Tucson Mountain Park we only allow archery hunting with additional special regulations set by AZGFD. We have some newly acquired properties that will be formally open as soon as they are integrated into published Commission Orders.
By Commission regulation, hunting is also not permitted in a park opened by Commission Order within ¼ mile of any developed picnic area, developed campground, shooting range, occupied building, boat ramp, or golf course.
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So: at least some of us who voted for Open Space and Conservation bonds in 2004, and who may have planned to vote for them again in 2015, were under the mistaken illusion that we were voting to preserve, protect, safeguard and restore the natural environment, natural ecosystems, vegetation and wildlife, the normal definition of “conservation.” Instead we opened land to exploitation and wildlife to terror and death.
I’ve done my share of hunting, but never on what I understood to be protected, “conserved” land. Supervisor Carroll has spoken out against alleged “ignorant rants and half-truths” from the No campaign. I wish he would be that militant when it comes to the misinformation from the Yes campaign.
Albert Lannon