Conservation Practices
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Prescribed Grazing Practices
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Adaptive Ranch Management Practices
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Surface & Sub-Serface Irrigation Practices
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Watering Facilities, Pipelines, & Wells
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Solar Power Conversion
Primary Resource Concerns
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Fire Management
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Watershed Health/Soil Erosion
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Urban Expansion/Loss of Production Lands
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Rangeland Improvement
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Water Quality & Allocation
District Contact Information
District Meeting information
Meetings are held quarterly (Feb, May, Aug, Nov) on the second Tuesday of the month
The next meeting is scheduled for: August @1:00 p.m., Plant Materials Center, Tucson, AZ
Visit the District website for agenda and minutes
About the District
The Pima Natural Resource Conservation District (NRCD) encompasses 2.14 million acres in Eastern Pima County and a small portion of Pinal at Red Rock. As a part of the Basin and Range Province, it ranges from grasslands of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge to the peak of Mt. Lemmon. Many of the old and new 5-Cs are here: cotton, cattle, copper, climate, and cities. Tucson, Marana, and Oro Valley are in the District as well as Arivaca, Vail, and Green Valley.
Pima Natural Resource District lands encompass areas with historic and cultural significance, with vast reaches of open space and with well-managed lands essential to farms and ranches. They strongly believe that conservation of land in the District includes and depends upon the protection and development of all multiple productive uses of the District’s natural resources. The Pima NRCD seeks to:
- Assist private property owners, farmers, and ranchers with the conservation of natural resources
- Protect water rights, grazing rights, and other property rights
- Promote the production of natural resources including food, fiber, and mineral wealth with the intention of increasing gainful employment and economic well-being within the District and contributing real wealth and well-being to the State of Arizona
Physical Features
- Elevation: 2,000 ft. to 9,157 ft. at Mt. Lemmon
- Terrain: From undulating Grasslands to the Mexican Oak-Pine Forest of the Catalinas, Rincons, and Santa Ritas
- Precipitation: Average of 7-30” annually, varying with elevation
Land Use/Ownership
- Federal: 598,750 acres
- State: 786,900 acres
- County: 7,200 acres
- Private: 756,290 acres
Board Members
- Jim Chilton, Chairman
- Calvin Laffoon, Vice-Chairman
- Sugie Fisher, Secretary
- Johnny Hill Jr., Member
- Duncan Fisher, Member
District Highlights
The Pima Natural Resource Conservation District plans to foster recognition of and legal protection for our Southwestern customs and culture and to address rural/urban interface issues. We will seek to enhance and sustain the productive tax base of the District and to strengthen and protect individual property rights within the District.
Private lands provide the tax base that supports most county and state services. Additionally, private lands are the underlying lands for historic federal and state grazing leases. As these lands are the basis for economic productivity, we will advocate for a policy of no net loss of private land and no decrease in livestock grazing on federal and state land within the Pima Natural Resource Conservation District. We will support and contribute when relevant to scientific research and publication of materials informing agencies and the public about land and resource conservation. We consider the purchase of ranches and farms by Pima County to be a major issue. The District is concerned there may be insufficient long term availability of funding and personnel over the next several decades to maintain the County lands within the District in a healthy and economically productive state without overburdening the taxpayers.
We recognize that soil and water conservation are fundamentally important to the economic productivity of our District. We will advocate for plans to enhance soil and range productivity and for economic investments leading to increased water resources for the District. Education will also be an important element.
We are mindful of the high-value ore within this State and will support environmentally responsible modern development of the District’s mineral resources. We view these resources as critical to national security as well as to the local and national economy. We believe Arizona’s mineral wealth can make a significant contribution to national self-sufficiency while reducing economic dependence upon a service/tourist economy.
The rural/urban interface is causing our agricultural producers problems with Off Highway Vehicle use. This increase in access without regard or respect to ownership causes:
- Degradation to the water shed
- Loss of production of cattle and crops
- Vandalism, litter, and even abandonment of unwanted horses and dogs
