The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (San Pedro Riparian NCA; SPRNCA) contains nearly of public land in
Cochise County, Arizona, between the international border with Mexico and
St. David, Arizona
St. David is a census-designated place (CDP) in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,699 at the 2010 census.
History
St. David was established as a result of the Mormon Battalion having earlier passed through the San Ped ...
. The
riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
area, where some of the upper
San Pedro River meanders, was, through the efforts of congressman
Jim Kolbe
James Thomas Kolbe (June 28, 1942 – December 3, 2022) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Arizona's 5th congressional district from 1985 to 2003 and its 8 ...
, designated by Congress as a Riparian National Conservation Area on November 18, 1988, and assigned to the protection of the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
One of the most important riparian areas in the United States,
the San Pedro River runs through the
Chihuahuan and
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...
transition zone in southeastern Arizona. The river's stretch in the southern
San Pedro Valley is home to 84 species of
mammals, 14 species of
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
, 41 species of
reptiles and
amphibians, and 100 species of breeding
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
s. It also provides invaluable habitat for 250 species of migrant and wintering birds and contains archaeological sites representing the remains of human occupation from 13,000 years ago.
In addition to protecting the San Pedro River's rare ecosystem for
future generations
Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future g ...
, the BLM also works to stabilize and preserve several historic buildings and structures located throughout much of the San Pedro Riparian NCA, including those of the
Fairbank Historic Townsite, the
Little Boquillas Ranch and the San Pedro House. The San Pedro House is located along the river to the east of
Sierra Vista
Sierra Vista is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 45,308, and is the 27th most populous city in Arizona. The city is part of the Sierra Vista-Douglas Metropolitan Are ...
and is a fully restored historic ranch house dating to the 1930s. It is now used as a visitor center and bookstore for the San Pedro Riparian NCA.
In April 2022, the San Pedro River was named as one of America's most endangered rivers.
Later in 2022, environmental protection groups, including the
Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit membership organization known for its work protecting endangered species through legal action, scientific petitions, creative media and grassroots activism. It was founded in 1989 by Kieran Suckl ...
, the Western Watersheds project and the
Sierra Club challenged the BLM’s proposal to expand livestock grazing in the protected area. In a lawsuit, they questioned whether cattle grazing was compatible with protecting against excess erosion and protecting the indigenous wildlife.
Gallery
See also
*
Las Cienegas National Conservation Area
The Las Cienegas National Conservation Area is a National Conservation Area of Arizona, located in the transitional zone between the Sonoran Desert and the Chihuahuan Desert.
Description
Facing housing and commercial development, more than of ro ...
*
Riparian-zone restoration
References
External links
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{{authority control
San Pedro Valley (Arizona)
National Conservation Areas of the United States
Protected areas established in 1988
1988 establishments in Arizona
Protected areas of the Sonoran Desert
Protected areas of Cochise County, Arizona