Summarizes four documents that reflect some of the work that Pima County and Department of Interior staff, along with the science and Geographic Information Systems technical teams, have created to develop the biological component of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.

An introduction to the impact of conservation alternatives on air quality which will be integrated into the land use and conservation plans. The air quality study is summarized in this memorandum.

The study generally confirms the trends and impacts identified in the February 2001 study "Air Quality in Pima County," and suggests two types of strategies for maintaining air quality and ensuring compliance with federal air quality standards. Potential funding sources and future legislative considerations are briefly discussed.

Pima County Department of Transportation's Technical Services Division maintains GIS hardware, software, and databases with skilled personnel and has applied TIS technology to the SDCP, adapting, creating or acquiring over 1000 data layers for use in the Plan. Metadata has been developed for some of these layers.