Diablo Trust News

An Award-Winning Northern Arizona Land Management Team, and National Reinventing Government Laboratory

 

 

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Text Box: April 2003Text Box: Research on Diablo Trust Lands We at the Diablo Trust are proud to have several major research projects ongoing on our lands. Some of these projects have been ongoing for many years. We are always open to, and welcome, new research opportunities. We greatly enjoy the relationships we have developed with all of our researchers, and we thank all of you for your hard work and persistence in helping us to find answers/data to our land questions. Below are summaries of the research projects ongoing on Diablo Trust at the moment. If you would like further details on any of the studies, please contact the office, at: 928-523-0588. Talbot Trotter, Graduate Fellow of the Merriam Powell Center for Environmental Research, and a Ph.D. student in the NAU Biology Department, is conducting his study, Research on the Demographic and Physiological Histories of Pinyon Pine, on the Diablo Trust. According to Talbot: As stands of Pinyon-Juniper woodland are thinned by the drought of 2002 and the subsequent bark beetle outbreaks, I am working to understand how the remaining trees (specifically pinyon trees) respond to the reduction in stand density. Using pinyon left standing in several clear-cut areas, including the demographic templates sampled on Diablo Trust Land, I will be using tree rings to determine whether pinyon trees respond positively (as a result of reduced competition), or negatively (as a result of reduced habitat amelioration). By understanding how the survivors of these thinning events respond, we can better predict the trajectory of the stand following these types of severe climatic events. From the Arizona Game and Fish Department: In the spring of 2002, the Arizona Game and Fish Department began a state-wide research study on several factors possibly affecting Arizona pronghorn populations (nutrition, disease, diet supplements, and predator density), with one of our study sites located on Anderson Mesa. Data collection began in the fall of 2001, when we began collecting the blood from pronghorn killed during the pronghorn hunt season, for disease testing. In spring of 2002 we began collecting data on Anderson Mesa for the nutrition, diet, and predator aspects of this study. Continued on page 2Text Box: DIABLO TRUST: Working To Keep Our ‘Open Spaces’ Open!!

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Text Box: The Diablo Trust works with communities, counties, State and Federal agencies, interested organizations, and citizens, to seek nontraditional sources of funding (including cost share programs, grants, in-kind contributions, and allowable fee systems) to support specific projects needed to achieve Diablo Trust's management objectives.Text Box: !! Diablo Trust April Meeting !! Date & Time: Friday, April 11, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM Place: Forest Service Peaks Ranger Station Agenda will be e-mailed. Includes preliminary planning for the Diablo Trust Rural Planning Area!Text Box: DIABLO CANYON RURAL PLANNING AREA - Another innovative idea! On March 11, 2003, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution, proposed by the Prosser and Metzger families, to establish the Diablo Canyon Rural Planning Area. This planning area, believed to be the first of its type in Arizona, is authorized under Arizona statute A.R.S. §11-806 D(3). This statute allows rural landowners, in counties with populations less than four hundred thousand persons, to petition the County Board of Supervisors to form a rural planning area. Norm Lowe, Norm Wallen, and Mandy Metzger addressed the Supervisors on March 11. Mandy explained that the Diablo Trust will assist in developing a rural master plan for the private ranch lands in the Diablo Trust area. She said a goal of the rural planning area is to “develop a truly rural area plan that maximizes planning tools and incentives to promote sustainable open spaces and healthy watersheds. This resolution comes to you with high hopes and no baggage .” Supervisors Deb Hill and Matt Ryan participate frequently in Diablo Trust activities, and Deb has served as chair of the public relations working group. Both indicated they looked forward to participating in the process. We anticipate that the rural planning area will provide for a wide array of planning tools, which may include: sale or lease of development rights, conservation easements, transfer of development rights, wildlife corridors, cooperative agreements and restoration zones. Funds have been secured from the Arizona State Department of Commerce to assist in the planning effort. According to Bill Towler, director of Community Development, the county will turn its attention to the rural planning in July. Coconino County is updating its County Comprehensive Plan (see http://co.coconino.az.us/partnership), which is slated for completion on June 30, 2003. In the meantime, Diablo Trust has formed a working group to help develop the Diablo Canyon Rural area plan. Stay tuned!