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The Coronado Planning Campaign
The Coronado National Forest of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico is a global treasure. This unique region of grassland valleys and Sky Island mountains is a bridge between wild realms, where the temperate Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau meet the subtropics of the Sierra Madre Occidental. These landscapes harbor a huge slice of our nation's natural heritage, including many native species found nowhere else. The Sky Island region is also rich in human culture—contemporary, historic, and prehistoric.
But the Coronado is in peril. Signs are everywhere on the landscape: habitat fragmentation, the legacy of fire suppression, invasive and exotic species, water withdrawals, disturbance of cultural sites, and encroachment from Arizona's population explosion, among others. The Coronado is home to more threatened and endangered species than any other National Forest in the United States. Without stewardship that challenges these threats, how many more natives will join their ranks?
(Click here to download a PDF version of this map)
We now have a rare opportunity to secure this kind of stewardship. In 2006 the U.S. Forest Service initiated planning processes that will guide forest and grassland management for the next twenty years or more. The Coronado will be one of the first National Forests in the Forest Service's Region 3 (Arizona and New Mexico) to undergo management planning under new regulations. Over the 2006-2008 span, this process not only can strengthen the protection of this extraordinary landscape but also will create a model for the other National Forests in Arizona, and across the country. Now is the time for citizens, scientists, and other Coronado advocates to pool their experience and work together on behalf of the Forest's future.
Sky Island Alliance launched the Coronado Planning Campaign in 2005 to unite the voices of these diverse stakeholders. The campaign is a collaboration that puts scientific information and the new planning rule to work for the Coronado while it informs the protection of National Forests throughout our state.
The Coronado Planning Campaign has several major components: (1) a coalition devoted to influencing and overseeing the new Forest Plan (the Coronado Planning Partnership), (2) a network of Forest neighbors, (3) the Sky Island Action Center, (4) reports on individual Ecosystem Management Areas (EMAs) on the Coronado (Status Reviews and Management Recommendations), (5) outreach to nontraditional allies, (6) engagement of the scientific community, (7) statewide extension of best practices in Forest-planning collaboration, and (8) a framework for citizen-advocate oversight of the Forest Plan.
Explore the Coronado Planning Campaign...
• The Coronado Planning Partnership
• Status Reviews and Management Recommendations
• Outreach to Other Coronado Stakeholders
National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule:
The National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule of 2005 guides the revision of management plans for all National Forests in the United States, including the Coronado. As a result of the new planning rule, Forest Plans are intended to become strategic documents that are one stage in a cycle of adaptive management. This rule will set the stage for all management strategies on the Coronado for the next 20 years or more.
Click here for more information about the new Planning Rule.
Travel Management Rule:
The Travel Management Rule of 2005 provides a national framework for local Forest Service units to use in designating a sustainable system of roads, trails, and areas for motor vehicle use. The rule's goal is to secure a wide range of recreation opportunities while ensuring the best possible care of the land. The Forest Service identifies unmanaged recreation, including impacts from off-highway vehicles, as one of four key threats facing the nation's forests and grasslands.
Click here for more information about the Travel Management Rule.
photographs by Sky Jacobs, used by permission.