This report examines how effectively Pima County’s natural open-space acquisitions have addressed priorities for conserving species’ habitats and landscape features identified in the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. The scope of this study is beyond the County's Multi-Species Conservation Plan, which is a subset of the overall Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.

The purpose of this study is to provide the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service with an analysis that identifies anticipated impacts to each of the covered species and asks the question: How effectively will the County's mitigation lands include the specific habitats of covered species under the Multi-Species Conservation Plan?

Develops the methods for using the National Land Cover Dataset to report change by jurisdictions and land ownership by utilizing an existing dataset. Local GIS-based measures of development based on tax assessor records do not provide direct measures of habitat loss.

Provides individuals and companies anticipating mineral exploration or mining in Arizona with a clear picture of the permitting process. This document is an honest attempt to present all the permits that may be required by a mining operator in Arizona.