Conservation Easement in Arizona Protects a Safe Harbor Ranch in Perpetuity
 

January 15, 2010
“While implementing a Safe Harbor Agreement to restore habitat for the Little Colorado River spinedace, a threatened fish, and the southwestern willow flycatcher, an endangered bird, I was inspired to donate the EC Bar Ranch Conservation Easement to permanently protect 94 acres, including 3-miles of Nutrioso Creek,” said Jim Crosswhite, a rancher in Apache County, Arizona. The Arizona Partners for Fish and Wildlife program helped implement the Agreement through controlled grazing, vegetative plantings, and improved management. “The conservation easement will protect those practices in perpetuity,” Crosswhite said.

Arizona Ranch Protected with Conservation Easement [pdf]
Safe Harbor Agreement with James Crosswhite [pdf]
Information about the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
Listen to a Southwestern willow flycatcher [audio]

This story appeared on USFWS website at http://www.fws.gov/endangered/ on 1/15/10