Wildlife

 

 
 Pinal County Wildlife Connectivity Assessment

This effort began with a successful workshop held in Florence, Arizona in 2010. At this workshop, stakeholders representing a broad range of organizations and interests identified and mapped the locations of important wildlife linkages across Pinal County. Participants included biologists, land managers, planners, and other professionals from federal, state, tribal, private, and non-governmental organizations. The workshop was supported by partnerships between the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) and the Arizona Wildlife Linkages Workgroup. This multi-agency, multi-disciplinary effort was undertaken to encourage biologists and non-biologists alike to incorporate information about wildlife linkages and strategies for their conservation into transportation corridor project planning as well as other community projects involving land-use decisions.

The Report on Stakeholder Input available below provides background information on the importance and benefits of conserving wildlife linkages for both people and wildlife in Pinal County, and describes the methods used in our stakeholder workshops and for developing the accompanying GIS products. It includes a series of maps generated from the digitized stakeholder data that depict the general locations of wildlife linkages important to wildlife movement. The maps are followed by tables with descriptive information about the habitat areas each linkage connects, the species each linkage serves, and known threats and potential conservation opportunities associated with each linkage. The information in this report reflects the views and expertise of workshop participants and likely does not represent an exhaustive mapping of all important wildlife linkages across Pinal County. It should instead be considered an initial assessment of wildlife movement patterns to be supplemented in the future by further analysis and refinement that includes additional expert input, GIS-based linkage modeling, and research studies of wildlife movement patterns.

Additional information on connectivity in Pinal County can be obtained by contacting the Department’s Region 6 (Mesa Office) Habitat Program at 480-324-3550. Higher resolution copies of these reports and associated GIS data can be obtained from the Department’s GIS Program at gis@azgfd.gov.

Results from the Pinal County Wildlife Connectivity Assessment

• Pinal County Wildlife Connectivity Assessment: Report on Stakeholder Input [pdf]
• Pinal County Wildlife Connectivity Assessment: GIS Datasets (available by contacting the Department’s GIS Program as listed above)