The Cochise County Comprehensive Plan adopted in 1984 and last revised in 2011 serves to promote orderly and well-planned County growth. The Plan consists of a written document establishing land use, transportation, water conservation and public facility goals and polices and a series of maps that serve as a blueprint for the intensity and type of land uses expected near the incorporated cities and towns and in the outlying rural areas. Community and area plans are amendments to the Comprehensive Plan that address the future growth of a specific community or region of the County. They offer an opportunity for citizens who live and work in an area to have voice in the location, type and intensity of growth in their community. These plans based on long discussion with the community are designed to support land uses that enhance and protect an area’s unique character.

Saguaro National Park encompasses two geographically distinct areas: Rincon Mountain District and Tucson Mountain District. Of the two, only Rincon Park has significant riparian habitat due to Tanque Verde Ridge. The scope of this study includes Rincon Creek, its tributary riparian areas and Tanque Verde Creek riparian tributary areas within or immediately adjacent to the Park. Both of these creeks have riparian resources that will likely be impacted by proposed development adjacent to the Park boundaries.

Concern has been expressed that mesquite bosques are disappearing or diminishing in quality, and that the survival of the mesquite mouse is consequently threatened. This study, funded by a grant from the Arizona Heritage Fund to the Pima County Regional Flood Control District, investigated the current distribution of the mesquite mouse by reviewing historical records from museum specimens, examining existing potential habitat at historic locations of the species and elsewhere in the county, and conducting a live-trapping study at 19 sites representing a range of ecological communities with mesquite as a major component.

A number of significant positive and negative economic impacts could result from Pima County's SDCP and related programs, according to an analysis of existing research on large-scale conservation planning undertaken to provide a framework for community decision-making. This report offers no final verdict on the net economic impact of Pima County's current, ambitious initiatives in habitat conservation and growth management. However, it does provide a framework for future assessment and decision-making.