Conservation of the Tortolita Alluvial Fan landscape has been promoted by Pima County and Town of Marana over the past two decades. An interdepartmental team was formed to evaluate flood and debris flow hazards and the potential to create an expanded Tortolita Fan Preserve. This report provides an overview of the alluvial fan characteristics and evaluates information on the significance of the biological and cultural resources to determine of the area meets the criteria to create a federal preserve.

On the County's behalf, the Arizona Open Land Trust has entered into two purchase agreements for the Buckelew Farms property. Under this conservation acquisition proposal, farming would continue in the areas currently farmed, grazing would continue on a seasonal basis, and the popular annual pumpkin festival would continue. However, the County and the Buckelew's would work together to enhance opportunities for wildlife habitat on the farm and grazing lands.

The depiction of a historical-period property on an early map, whether a house, a ranch, a mining prospect, or an irrigation canal, is often the earliest (and sometimes the only) evidence that cultural features once existed in a particular place. Statistical Research used early maps as a regional preservation-planning tool by systematically examining a group of early maps of the county for depictions of cultural features. The typology will be used to plot the sites, distinguished by type, on a single map (or possibly on a series of maps) to be digitized by Pima County and incorporated into its GIS database.

For more than a year, a team of consultants, led by Poster Frost Associates, worked with the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Pima County staff, the Canoa Ranch Community Trust and Oversight Committee, and local stakeholders to develop a Master Plan for the Historic Canoa Ranch. Since purchasing the 4,800 acre Canoa Ranch, south of Green Valley, in 2001, Pima County has embarked on a number of projects at the ranch to preserve and protect the valuable natural and cultural resources. The preservation and restoration of historic buildings were completed in early 2013, and efforts to protect important habitat and restore natural systems continue today. The Master Plan represents an important milestone towards the goal of making the Canoa Ranch a public site where its rich history can be understood and appreciated by visitors.

The first four sections present background information to define cultural resources and to explain the results of three years of effort ot locate, characterize, evaluate and comparatively analyze cultural resources in eastern Pima County. The last section examines each of these alternatives and concludes with a brief assessment of the effect of the no action alternative on cultural resources.