CCS BLM (AZ) Madrean Archipelago Wildlife Habitat Safford Field Office (SFO)

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The Madrean Archipelago Ecorection, also known as the Sky Islands, are a unique region of more than 40 isolated mountain ridges surrounded by a sea of semi-desert grasslands that straddles the Mexico/Arizona/New Mexico border. It is one of America's great hotspots for wildlife diversity, hosting more twice as many mammal species as Yellowstone National Park and supporting America's highest diversity of reptiles, bees and ants. Sky Island Grasslands are threatened by wide scale disruption of natural fire regimes that have already allowed shrublands to invade and likely permanently transform 4 million acres of grassland and this threat continues to expand. Historic grazing, agriculture, development, stream channelization, fire suppression, and OHV use resulted in a reduction of watershed function, and reduced ecosystem function and resiliency. Inventorying, restoring and enhancing ecosystems within the Safford Field Office will serve to improve watershed function, provide habitat and water for wildlife species, and enhance ecosystem function and resiliency. b. Objectives: The BLM seeks partners for collaboration whose interests are to promote environmental research, public awareness, and conservation throughout the Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion, with particular focus in Arizona on 1) wildlife monitoring, studies, and assessments, 2) spring inventory, assessment, monitoring, and restoration, 3) watershed and riparian restoration, and 4) implementation of identified road closures. Project outcomes may include inventories, reports, and completed databases, maps, and ArcGIS shapefiles.

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