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- All Subjects: Ranches
- Creators: Pima County (Ariz.). County Administrator's Office
Drafted to facilitate discussion of implementation options. The concepts will assist in future planning and implementation discussions that take place as the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan is finalized. A purchase of development rights program could assist in the funding of open space lands that contribute to the overall conservation reserve.
A companion to the Preliminary Ranch Conservation Element, this report brings together leaders in the area of ranch conservation and compiles their expert writings on ecological and economic sustainability in ranching.
Through the conservation of ranchland in eastern Pima County, the metropolitan urban boundary is better defined, vast landscapes of open space retain their integrity and the heritage and culture of the West is preserved.
The Santa Rita Ranches operate in cooperation with the Santa Rita Experimental Range located to the west of the Santa Rita Mountains, in the upper Santa Cruz Valley. It was established in 1903 and is recognized as a principal site for research on the improvement and management of semiarid grasslands in the Southwest.
We need to look at what is management and how it has changed. What was once considered good practice in farming in some areas is no longer considered good practice because you are losing soil. The same thing is happening in ranching and as we look at the way range management has changed in the last 30 years, it is really dramatic in what the goals and objectives are of those people that are on the land is to stay on the land.
The author takes issue with the statement, "Only three percent of the cows are from the West" and discusses all that is involved in raising cows that are then shipped east to graze before slaughter. They forget that they were born and raised out here. The Altar Valley alone produces millions of pounds of beef a year.
To prevent unwanted urban sprawl and unregulated development, it is most important that Pima County encourage and retain viable ranches. Ranching is a significant land use that has served to protect our natural open space, and it continues to be an important traditional industry that has shaped the rural landscape.
