Items by Tony Davis
A conservation plan puts science ahead of politics.
Republican Gov. Doug Ducey is sticking by regulations and negotiating deals.
In the Sonoran Desert, rainwater harvesting is finally going mainstream.
Looking back on Bazy Tankersley: publisher, rancher and conservationist
A federal agency asserts its water rights to the San Pedro river in a case that might eventually lead to limits on growth in Arizona.
In Northwest Mexico, rancher Carlos Robles Elías works hard to make his Rancho El Aribabi into an oasis of biodiversity, despite the challenges of a sagging economy and rampant drug cartel violence.
Maps, photos and text describe some of the federal and private, nonprofit work in Northwest Mexico to preserve imperiled landscapes and a rich diversity of plants and animals.
In southern Arizona, the Forest Service is debating whether to defy the 1872 Mining Law and stop a controversial copper mine.
A conversation with Western writer Philip Fradkin.
Longtime activist Kieran Suckling talks about the Center for Biological Diversity.
An obscure legal ruling muddied U.S. water-protection standards, leaving Western intermittent streams and rivers unprotected.
Southern California wants to use desalination to increase its water supply, but critics think the idea needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
The Verde River is one of Arizona’s last
free-flowing stream, but environmental and local activists fear an
ambitious planned pipeline, designed to bring groundwater to the
growing Prescott area, will end up sucking the river dry
Chris Wallace’s refusal to pay daily user fees on
Arizona’s Mount Lemmon led to a courtroom decision that has
thrown the entire future of the federal recreational fee program
into doubt
Golf – the game that brought grass to the desert
– appears to have hit a rough patch in the West
The cactus ferruginous pygmy owl has been removed from the
endangered species list, but Tucson area leaders say they plan to
continue the desert conservation efforts put in place to help the
very rare bird
Misinformation and exaggeration abound in the debate over
the Endangered Species Act’s critical habitat
provisions
A working group of 23 experts convened by the nonprofit
Keystone Center could not reach consensus over how to reform the
Endangered Species Act’s critical habitat
provisions
A behind-the-scenes look at the struggle over critical
habitat reveals the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be an agency
at war with itself
In Riverside County, Calif., the conflict between the
Endangered Species Act’s critical habitat rule and the
West’s booming, sprawling, growth-driven economy comes to a
head
The Quivira Coalition has a lot of anecdotal evidence
supporting its claim that its grazing methods work, but hard,
independent science on the topic is much harder to find
Rancher Jim Williams believes the Quivira Coalition helped
change his life, but restoring his arid rangeland has proved
difficult, and between drought and an uncertain economy, the future
of his ranch still hangs in the balance
The Quivira Coalition wants to bring peace and prosperity
to the West’s public grazing lands, but some critics question
whether the collaboration-based group can accomplish its
goals
The Bureau of Land Management rewrote a scientific report
critical of its new grazing rules, and two veteran scientists have
quit the agency in protest
Developer George Johnson is being sued by the state of
Arizona for major violations of environmental laws, committed in
the early stages of his planned La Osa Ranch development
Groundwater pumping in the Sierra Vista area may be
already reducing water flow to the San Pedro River
In Sierra Vista, Ariz., a partnership of developers,
environmentalists and government agencies is trying to keep the San
Pedro River alive, while at the same time allowing for continued
growth in this burgeoning Sunbelt city
Even the National Rifle Association came out in support of
a Tucson, Ariz., open-space saving bond, which passed in a
landslide despite complaints from critics that it was just
pork
Following a flurry of sightings and a much-publicized,
ill-starred hunt for mountain lions in Sabino Canyon near Tucson,
Arizonans push for changes in how the state manages its big
cats
Tucson environmental consultant Mary Darling pleads guilty
to illegally moving endangered Pima pineapple cacti, in a
complicated plan to raise the value of local real estate
