July 3, 1998



July 3, 1998

Fitzsimmons answer to Halvorson’s prelim problem

INTRODUCTION

Fitzsimmons Air Force Base has requested assistance to develop a plan to improve management of natural resources on the Base. The plan will utilize an ecosystem management approach which will address issues of biodiversity, restoration and remediation of damaged landscapes, protection of resources from further degradation, and increased coordination with other land managers and regulatory agencies. This management plan has been requested for several reasons. First is a legal requirement to develop detailed management plans for natural resources on military reservations. Second, there has been a change in the attitude regarding the state of the resources on the base from the military members using the property and the public residing in the areas around the base. The third reason is that the base has acted upon earlier environmental issues one at a time with no coordinated effort. Previously the land was managed only for military uses and there were no management directives regarding the use or protection of natural resources on the base.

This management plan will consider the base as part of a larger ecosystem and endeavor to manage the physical and biological resources in a manner consistent with an understanding that the impacts of actions taken on the base affect areas off the base and vice versa. Stakeholders including the military, federal and state resource managers in neighboring jurisdictions, environmental interest groups, regulatory agencies and private property owners adjacent to the base will be brought together for input to the ecosystem management plan.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

The base, named for the infamous retired fighter pilot and former UA AFROTC Department Head, consists of 10,000 hectares in south central Arizona. The base is bordered by the Halvorson National Park to the north, the Arizona National Forest to the east, by state lease land to the south and private property to the west. There are two urbanized areas on the base. One area in the eastern portion is the residential area. The area to the west is the aircraft storage and maintenance facility. On the private land to the west is a small town, West-town, that has grown up to provide services (licit and illicit) to the military personnel and the local farming community.

Most of the base property is low desert with one area rising to high elevation mountains in the northern point of the property. A 500 hectare lake is situated in the center of the property and is fed by treated effluent water from the base residential area. The East River flows across the northern tier of the base after arising in the National Park. The West River flows from these same mountains to the northern part of the West-town urban area. There are heavily wooded areas in the northern part of the base. The southern area is dominated by desert scrub. Two extensive areas of grasslands are situated along the border with the national park in the north and in the center of the base.

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE

Two issues of pollution and environmental damage must be addressed in the management plan. First, along the southern tier of the base, a gunnery range has damaged the desert ecosystem. Fires, fragments of heavy metals and repeated explosions have damaged most of the larger plants and disrupted the fauna. Second, tri-chloroethylene and other solvents have polluted the ground water below and to the west of the industrial area on the base. This ground water is flowing from under the base toward West-town.

METHODS

Define the area - One of the first requirements for developing an ecosystem management plan is to delineate the boundaries of the plan. In this case I will set the strict geographic boundaries to be the property lines of the base. However, the plan addresses the fact that the plants and animals do not recognize these anthropogenic boundaries and the ecosystem management plan encompasses aspects that occur outside the boundaries of the base. Portions of the base are in the watersheds of two rivers that it shares with the base neighbors. Therefore the plan will address issues of management inside the boundaries of the base within the context and with the coordination of managers of the surrounding properties. The actual ecosystem considered will have its northern border run along the ridge line of the mountains that run across the national park and national forest. The eastern border will be the shores of Lake Whatever, just beyond the eastern boundary of the Arizona National Forest. This will include the entire watershed of the Eastern River. The southern boundary will be the southern border of the state agriculture lease land to the south of the base. Private farm lands extend further to the south and are not included in the ecosystem. The western boundary of the ecosystem considered will be the western edge of the West-town area. The entire urban area is included because of the social factors involved, while the additional farm areas extending to the west are excluded. The town is related to the ecosystem due to the frequent movement of people and goods between the town and the base. In addition, the ground water supply to the town is influenced by the events on the base.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Define goals - Another important issue to resolve is the preparation of a detailed list of goals and objectives of the management plan. The broad goals were listed above, but specifics are required in order to develop activities and select an appropriate course when decisions must be made. To develop this detailed list of goals my first step will be to assemble a group of stakeholders in the management of the natural resources of the ecosystem. The group will be chaired by myself and will include a representative from the base commander, the military personnel responsible for the resources on the base, representation from the Forest, the National park, regulatory agencies, the state land lease agency, the individuals leasing the property from the state south of the base, a representative from the government of West-town and individuals farming along the western boundary of the base. Invitations will also be sent to representatives of the local environmental groups, academic experts on the local ecosystem, the local chamber of commerce, the state game and fish division, and the state water resource department who are responsible for both ground water and the surface water resources in the lakes and rivers.

It is important is these types of cases to include the social, political, commercial and biological interests in the stakeholders group. If decisions can be reached by consensus or at least in a collaborative process, there will be much stronger support for the goals and objectives and later for the decisions that must be made. Having the consensus of the group will also extend the temporal scale that the management plan can achieve. It would be preferable to have an extended time scale for an ecosystem management plan rather than a short term agreement. The group will be charged with determining the specific goals of the project and provide a outline for implementation of the plan. I will use these goals and the associated outline as the format for developing the management plan.

Goals to consider - How much diversity, what kind, and is it sustainable?

There are several levels of diversity that must considered. One of the general goals of the plan is to manage for biodiversity. More specifically we will need to define levels of genetic diversity within the species involved with the plan. We must identify the populations involved, where they reside, have an idea of gene flow and how our actions will affect these issues. Our overall plan will address the ecosystem and management of the ecosystem as a whole. However, many of the building blocks of the plan and many of the data collection and reporting requirements are based on individual species. We will identify the key plant and animal species based on the primary producers, major grazers and other primary consumers, and secondary consumers. To this list we will add any Threatened or Endangered species and others deemed important by the committee, including migratory birds, and a keystone species should one be identified that is not already covered. Goals for maintaining trophic diversity would also be considered based on the list developed above.

Beyond the species diversity, we would also consider guild and community structure and the environmental dimensions as they relate habitat. Considering the variety of habitat within the base and the relationship to adjoining property, this will be especially important. The variety of landscapes within the boundaries of the base as well as the ecosystem would be an important issue to address as it relates to issues of gene flow and species diversity. The next critical goals to consider are the human needs.

The social aspects of residents on the base and those living off the base will be considered in the planning process by the committee. The goals to be addressed would include air and water quality, availability of jobs, access to native flora and fauna, hunting, hiking, off-road use, and camping locations. Recreation activities within the base, the Forest and the National Park will be reviewed along with their impacts. Recreation effects on water quality will be a separate issue. The goals of determining appropriate ground and surface water quality and availability will be important for social and ecological properties. Setting in-stream flow requirements for the rivers and streams will be a priority. How best to guide urban development along the borders of the base will be an additional goal. Integration of these human needs with the needs of the plants and animals is central to an ecosystem management plan.

Defining the goal of having a sustainable system will be difficult. Getting a group to agree on whether the ecosystem management plan will lead to a sustainable system may be impossible. But we shall strive to manage the resources in a manner that will allow the plant production to support wildlife densities similar to those found in the Forest and the Park. We will take into account the required missions of the military on the base and other uses that are integral to the ecosystem such as the role as a watershed, the role of fires in the forest and the grasslands, and recreation uses. We prefer a system that requires a minimal amount of human intervention.

Restoration goals - Another identified issue is to repair the environmental damage. For the range damage due to bombing the specific goals would be to remove the polluting materials, re-establish the native plants, and encourage the wildlife to return. We will use range land at a similar elevation in the National Park as the model for restoration. For the polluted groundwater, the first priority would be to remove the source of the pollutant. Next we would install a system to remove the water from the ground, filter the pollutant and then send the filter material to a recycling center and determine an appropriate use for the filtered water. Outside expertise may be needed to help us define the methods that could be used. Coordination with stakeholders is important as we utilize the recovered water.

Protecting resources from further damage - This goal will be dependent on two major aspects. First is a thorough determination of the present state of the various portions of the ecosystem on the base and second a negotiated agreement regarding the uses of the resources of the base and how the impacts of these uses can be mitigated. The planning committee will be important in this respect as the required uses of the base must be defined by the military while the ecosystem operations must be determined from study of the environment on and off the base. The advantage is that this is a goal that everyone agrees is worthwhile, the only conflicts being on how best to achieve this at the least cost. Mitigation procedures are important is these types of cases where the ecosystem is still subject to human pressures and changes.

Increased Coordination Goal - One of the other major goals of the management plan is to increase coordination with other land managers and regulatory agencies. The planning committee would be the first step toward this goal. A sub-group would be organized from the general committee to assist with the data collection that would be needed to develop the ecosystem management plan and then to implement it. A regular series of meetings and consultations would be scheduled and held to coordinate management efforts, share information and arrive at consensus when possible regarding the plan and its implementation.

DATA COLLECTION (archival, from neighbors, new)

Once the specific goals within the broad objectives have been defined, I will begin to collect data and literature on the ecosystem in and around the base. The first step would be to collect good maps of the area in question (Figure 1.) Much of the data needed is archival that could be collected from the Internet (see Appendix 1.), from libraries, gray literature, government data and reports, and from the files of neighboring property managers. Data from the adjoining Forest and Parks would be especially important as well as any records that the private property owners may have. Some information will need to be collected on the ground. Information needed to fill in gaps in the information data base, ground truthing and new data to update information critical to decision making processes will be gathered.

INVENTORY and DATA ANALYSIS

As part of the data collection process we will develop an inventory of resources. This will include vegetation maps, species ranges, use maps, watershed areas, etc. These will be entered into a Geographic Information System for improved access and for comparison and manipulation purposes. The Arizona GAP would be used for analysis of areas of special importance. Individual habitat models and Habitat Suitability Indices would be reviewed for species that are considered to be important on the base. Since we have lots of money for this project we will also develop a Wildlife Habitat Relationship Model for the “important” species. We will also get satellite and airborne remote sensing data for inclusion in the GIS. Infrared and visual spectrum wavelengths will be gathered in order to evaluate plant growth and water resource information. Specific plans will be developed for any T&E species on the property or any that are in the defined ecosystem that could be impacted by management decisions on the base. Existing species recovery plans and preexisting critical habitat designations would be incorporated into the plan. We may conduct a Population Viability Analysis if we feel that any species may be in danger of extirpation on the base.

WRITE THE PLAN

Once we have set the goals and objectives and gathered the pertinent data I will write the plan. The first part will recapitulate the specifics of the goals. The second part will report the data gathered, the analysis and conclusions. The third part will be the detailed suggestions of how to proceed with the ecosystem management plan. Within that part will be operational plans for the restoration activities, guidelines on vegetation management, wildlife management criteria and instructions, recreational rules, watershed management and guidelines to mitigate the effects of necessary military operations. The restoration and remediation operating plans would be included in this section. Mitigation of unavoidable future damage would also be addressed in this section. General guidelines would be prepared for predictable damage or habitat loss with suggested mitigation procedures. Damage that is unpredictable would be deferred to meetings of the stakeholders for consideration. A fourth part will include plans for monitoring of the results of the plan. This would be critical to evaluate the progress of the plan and to determine which areas are not being addressed adequately. If funding is sufficient I will also include a plan for some Adaptive Resource Management which would provide for experiments within portions of the base. Feedback from these experimental vs. control blocks could be used to see if we need to institute changes. The fifth part of the plan will be the coordination activities with other property managers within the ecosystem. This is important to achieving the objectives of the plan and to utilizing the expertise and skills of people with a vested interest in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

RECONVENE STAKEHOLDERS

Once we have set the goals and objectives, gathered the pertinent data and written the plan, we will bring the stakeholders together again. This meeting would be critical to insure that most if not all of the stakeholders can have input and agreement on the management plan. This is especially important to get “buy-in” at this stage. Agreement on the “human needs”, the general mechanics of the plan, and cooperation with the neighboring property managers should be acceptable to most of the stakeholders.

IMPLEMENT THE PLAN

After the stakeholders have agreed that the management plan is ready for implementation, the base could begin to implement the effort. When the plan goes into operation the managing entity, in this case the military, would best to follow the plan with minimal changes. When alterations are needed it will be important to review these changes with the stakeholders so that there is not a perception that they have not been made without regard to stakeholders. A rigorous monitoring program is also important, again with regular review by the stakeholders. The GIS developed in the data collection and inventory stage would be an important tool to use during the monitoring phase. This will provide the historical data and current information needed for analysis and evaluation. Work on the restoration projects would begin with range clean-up and groundwater pumping and filtering. This would be followed with an evaluation of the effects of using the treated effluent from the housing areas on the base for the central lake. Of special interest would be the impact of this activity on wetlands associated with lake. The resource managers would utilize the information gained in the earlier phases along with the species and habitat models when making management decisions within the ecosystem plan.

The sub-group of property managers within the ecosystem should meet on a regular basis to evaluate progress under the plan and to compare activities under their own control. The complete group of stakeholders meetings can be conducted on an irregular basis as needed to review progress and discuss changes in the plan. Perhaps more important is to have the input of the stakeholders regarding outside influences to the ecosystem. The ecosystem management plan must recognize that circumstances change and that the most likely changes will occur outside the boundaries of the base. Having advance notification of changes and having input to these decisions and if not, advance knowledge of the effects should be a goal. Urban development or changes in property usage in the ecosystem could have important ramifications to the area within the base boundaries.

CONCLUSION

The development and implementation of an ecosystem management plan should not be a static process. Ecosystems change naturally and with human pertubations they change even more rapidly. A good plan will evolve. Adjustments should be made as conditions change on the ground and as new information and experiences add to our knowledge. We can never completely understand nor manage an ecosystem but as we do learn more of our impacts on our environment we should try to reduce the damage we do and enjoy and benefit from our place within the system.

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