Transcript Focal Species Workshop - CASE

Santa Fe County Focal
Species Workshop
Thank you all for participating with a
special thanks to:
– Santa Fe County
– NM Department of Game and Fish
– The Nature Conservancy
– Earth Works Institute & Pathways
– New Mexico State University
– Federal, State and Community Galisteo
Watershed Partners
Galisteo Watershed
Partnership
This Focal Species effort started with the
Galisteo Watershed Partnership (GWP):
– The GWP was formed in 2005 as a
network of Federal, State, County and
Community partners
– In 2008 it hosted two meetings on wildlife
in the Watershed
– From those meetings the Galisteo
Watershed Wildlife Corridor Group was
formed.
Galisteo Watershed Wildlife
Corridor Group
The Galisteo Watershed Wildlife Corridor
Group worked on:
– Letter to the Governor sent on 6/23/08
proposing the Galisteo Basin Wildlife
Corridor
– Collaborating with Santa Fe County to
define the Corridor
– Developing an approach to help the
County identify wildlife, habitat and
corridors
Galisteo Wildlife Corridor Study
Santa Fe County General
Plan
The Oil and Gas Element of the Santa Fe
County General Plan calls for protecting
wildlife by:
– Preserving wildlife habitat and migration
corridors
– Promoting biodiversity in rural areas of the
County
– Increasing data on wildlife and its habitat
resources.
Oil and Gas Element Bird Richness
Based on 324 Species
Oil and Gas Element Mammal
Richness Based on 138 Species
Setting Santa Fe County
Conservation Priorities
To integrate wildlife into its conservation
priorities, Santa Fe County needed:
– Identification of Focal Species based on a
defensible method
– Identification and revision of predicted habitat for
each of those Focal Species
– Identification of possible corridors within and
across its boundaries for Focal Species
– Establishing ongoing data collection to updated
and validate its conservation priorities.
The Simplified View
– Community & Professionals
– Focal Species Identification
– Potential Key Habitat Modeling
– Preliminary Conservation Priorities
– Community & Professional Data Collection
– Wildlife Corridor Modeling
– Ongoing Community Revisions
Focal Species Defined
• Focal Species : A group of species
selected for a particular purpose or
study (Eycott, Watts, Moseley, & Ray,
2007), in this case, for setting
conservation priorities in Santa Fe
County. Please keep in mind that this is
a community/volunteer effort.
Focal Species and Habitat
The approach being proposed for and tested
in Phase 1 is based on:
1. Specification and prioritization of Focal
Species
2. Modeling predicted habitats based on the
Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project
(SWReGAP) data
3. Revising the key habitat patches based on
additional soil, vegetation and wetlands
data specific to the Galisteo Watershed.
SWReGAP Predicted Habitat
SWReGAP Predicted Habitat
Selecting Focal Species
Step 1
First, BISON-M was used to gather the 621 in
Santa Fe County. From that list, amphibians,
reptiles, birds and mammals (those in
SWReGAP) were selected that met one or more
of the following criteria:
– Federal Endangered or Threatened
– NM Endangered or Threatened
– NM Species of Greatest Conservation Need
– Pueblo Tribes: Cultural Importance
Selecting Focal Species
Step 2: Today
The above filtering results in 91 species that
were compared against a list of all species in
Santa Fe County designated as
Demonstrably Secure.
–Removing the Demonstrably Secure
species from the 91 results in the 59 species.
–This list will be used as a starting point
today for the rating process at the Focal
Species Workshop.
Species Deleted from the 63
Selecting Focal Species
Step 3: Today
The Focal Species Workshop will:
1. Present an overview of Species of Greatest
Conservation Need in SF County
2. Provide you with an opportunity to add/delete
species that are Vulnerable or have Ecological
Significance
3. Present an overview of Cultural Importance
4. Provide you with an opportunity to add/delete
species that have cultural or economic importance
5. Have you rate up to 70 species on Vulnerability,
Ecological Significance and Cultural Importance.
Time Considerations
Time is limited today and we have a lot to
accomplish. To help with this, please:
– Keep comments focused on
adding/deleting species to/from Rating List
– Give everyone a chance to participate
before making a second comment
– We will all vote on additions/deletions
before the BREAK
– Save most questions for the BREAK
Selecting Focal Species
Step 4
Santa Fe County will work with NMSU to:
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Analyze your ratings data and identify the top 15
for their first round of Focal Species
Review SWReGAP models for those Focal
Species and identify additional data with the
initial focus on the Galisteo Watershed
Revise predicted habitat for the Galisteo
Watershed and then for the rest of SF County
Specify additional data (like tracking data) that
can be collected and verified to support and
adjust habitat models.
Future Steps
We invite all participants to help SF County:
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In the February 23 GIS Workshop with Ken
Boykin from NMSU
Develop and promote an ongoing process to
update focal species and conservation priorities
Develop community and scientifically based
wildlife data collection activities
Refine these methods so that they can be used
by other wildlife corridor and county efforts in
New Mexico.