AbstractConserving Crucial Wildlife Habitats and Corridors in ArizonaTrack: Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management Author Loss of wildlife habitat connectivity resulting from human population growth isn't inevitable, as long as the needs of wildlife are cooperatively addressed early in transportation and development planning processes. Following up on the Arizona's Wildlife Linkages Assessment in 2006, 16 high-priority wildlife linkages were modeled in a GIS using a least-cost corridor approach. Today, the Arizona Wildlife Linkages Workgroup (AWLW) is working on the next phase of this process: bringing stakeholders and partners together in each of Arizona's 15 counties to identify wildlife movement corridors and the crucial habitats they connect. In addition to general county-wide connectivity plans, the highest-priority linkages are modeled in GIS using the focal species/least-cost corridor approach, and additional fine-scale linkage reports are produced. This presentation will include a discussion on the history of mapping wildlife linkages in Arizona and will detail the methodology and processes involved in this new collaborative effort. Julie Mikolajczyk Arizona Game and Fish Department 5000 W. Carefree Highway Phoenix, Arizona 85086 United States Phone: 7275100500 E-mail: jmikolajczyk@azgfd.gov |