Bird lovers Neither birds nor birders are limited by political boundaries. If you have been to SE Arizona you have probably been to the San Pedro River --- the last free-flowing river in southern AZ (or the SW). For 30 years the Center for Biological Diversity has been trying to protect the river and its birds, mammals, and plants from further loss to the aquifer. The latest threat is a proposed development that would add 70,000 people to the watershed. The CBD has been fighting this devpt with a lot of science and multiple filings with state and federal agencies. The devpt would further lower the water table and dry up the river, according to ground water modeling. The Rillito, Tanque Verde, and Santa Cruz rivers in Tucson are now dry even during the monsoon. And gone with the water are the riparian habitats. The San Pedro is now at 60% of the baseflow in 1945.
100's of species of birds use the San Pedro during spring migration. You may have recorded some of them on a birding trip. Here is a brief background document about the river. <https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/rivers/san_pedro_ river/index.html> San Pedro River (biologicaldiversity.org) It includes a link to a 13 min video of the river and interviews with botantist, anthropologist, hydrologist, and bird person. At the bottom of the webpage, you can watch a CBD webinar from last spring with Robin Silver and others who have been trying to prevent further loss to the river from the new housing devpt. Silver is a co-founder of CBD and has spent many 100's of hours in legal proceedings and compiling documents to save this river. GAndersson St Paul ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html During the pandemic, the MOU encourages you to stay safe, practice social distancing, and continue to bird responsibly.
