of the ranch in conservation easement in 2012, including natural corridors that she protects. The 1,530-acre cattle ranch, which has been in the Chrisman family for more than 100 years, provides valuable habitat for mule deer, bald eagles, sage grouse, and other wildlife.
Chrisman said,“ There’ s always been wildlife here. Conservation easement means it can’ t be subdivided and the wildlife would have a home.”
MANAGING CHANGE
In other areas, particularly those with highways and development, different strategies help protect corridors, wildlife, and humans.“ Here in Arizona, we’ ve done some very innovative work with elk-crossing structures,” said conservation biologist Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.“ With these new structures in place, and associated fencing along the highway, we’ ve actually greatly increased successful elk movement across these highways, and decreased mortality of elk, damaged vehicles and human life.”
Borderlands Restoration in Patagonia, Arizona is creating a corridor in a failed, 1,400-acre housing development 2 miles outside the small town near the Mexican border.“ It’ s one of the most important wildlife corridors in the Southwest,” said Executive Director David Seibert, who notes that ocelots and six other indigenous wild cats move through the area.“ There were a few houses built and the site has a few basic roads and a little underground water and power, but no one scraped the ground so it’ s relatively intact.”
A nearby nursery is readying 1,000 native plants that will be added to the corridor, including several species of milkweed( Asclepias spp.), musk flower( Mimulus moschatus), Canyon grape( Vitis arizonica) and Palmer’ s century plant( Agave palmeri).
The benefits of these corridors are more than simply to offer sanctuary to the beleaguered wildlife. While they can complicate matters for humans, they also provide critical services for us all. They help with air quality; carbon sequestration; sediment trapping; wind mitigation, which helps preserve critical topsoil; and runoff filtration, which prevents fertilizers and pesticides that wreak havoc on aquatic life( part of the human food chain) from reaching streams and rivers. There is also an ineffable emotional benefit.
“ It’ s one of my greatest pleasures, having all this variety here,” said Barbara Starkey.“ Life here would be a lot less rich without all the other things that live here with us.”
SOURCES FOR MORE INFO: Open Space Conservation Ranching advocates lack a rural vision Natural Resources Conservation Service: Florida Wildlife Corridor Florida Conservation Voters
Conserving Migratory Pollinators and Nectar Corridors in Western North America( Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Studies in Natural History) by Gary Paul Nabhan. University of Arizona Press.
Corridor Ecology: The Science and Practice of Linking Landscapes for Biodiversity Conservation, 2nd Edition by Jodi A. Hilty, William Z. Lidicker Jr. and Adina Merenlender. Island Press
Linkages in the Landscape: The Role Of Corridors And Connectivity In Wildlife Conservation by Andrew F. Bennett. World Conservation Union
GWA member Nancy Taylor Robson lives on the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland, where wildlife both enhances and challenges gardening, as well as other aspects of life.
13