Southwestern Willow Flycatcher. Photo: USGS

(Washington, D.C., September 12, 2008) The Lower San Pedro River Conservation Area is the best preserved riparian migrant corridor in the southwestern United States and the first site to be designated by American Bird Conservancy as a Globally Important Bird Area. Between three and five million passerines use this area each spring as they move from Mexico to breeding grounds to the north, according to The American Bird Conservancy Guide to the 500 Most Important Bird Areas in the United States.

This IBA is now at the center of a controversy over eminent domain. In play is an area of private land on which the owners sold a conservation easement to the Bureau of Land Management as a means of protecting riparian habitat against incursion by off-road vehicles and grazing cattle. The land was seized by Pinal County in county court at the end of January, 2008, under the principle of eminent domain, to fulfill an alleged emergency need to create an unrestricted passageway across the river. In doing so, the county stated that it did not believe the BLM would object. They were wrong.

BLM has objected, and so has a coalition of conservation groups, who have sued Pinal County in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, stating that there is no emergency basis for their actions. The coalition, consisting of the Center for Biological Diversity, Maricopa Audubon, and Tucson Audubon, is seeking to revoke the land seizure and stop all dredge and fill activities that the County is undertaking to maintain an open passageway for off-road vehicles. Such activities require a Clean Water Act permit, but no such permit has been issued to the county.

The coalition is concerned about the effects the county’s actions are having on habitat for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, which is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Lower San Pedro River has been designated as Critical Habitat for the bird, and as a result of the river crossing, it is being damaged by recreational off-road vehicles and campers.

“The BLM has a strong responsibility to protect this area,” said Lorraine Buck, Public Affairs Specialist with the BLM Tucson Field Office. “We are trying to keep lines of communication open, and are trying to find a resolution that will be agreeable to all parties.” Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and BLM lawyers are looking at the case. For more information, visit www.biologicaldiversity.org.