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Digital Geographic Data to Support
Long-Term Ecosystem Management
for the Fort Huachuca Region
Robert Lozar\ John Wickizer2 , Sheridan Stone3 , David Mouat\ Carl Steinitz5 ,
Gretchen Kent6 , Winifred Hodge7 , and Robert Anderson 8
Abstract-Fort Huachuca, AZ resides within the Upper San
Pedro River Basin. The basin is experiencing a number of challenges with respect to natural resources management issues both
on and off the installation. These issues have prompted the Army
to take a close look at the interaction between the Army and its
regional neighbors over the next several decades. This will include identifying a broad range of alternative future scenarios
that are possible within the basin. Through a Geographical Information System (GIS) evaluation effort, possible land use distributions which are most likely to develop as a result of each stated
guiding scenario will be predicted. One of the tasks at this initial
stage of the project is the assemblage of the GIS database to
support the study.
INTRODUCTION
The Upper San Pedro River Basin, within which Fort Huachuca, AZ
resides is recognized for its globally-significant biodiversity value, its
aesthetic and recreational value, the presence of a concentration of endangered species, as well as the aquifer which is the sole water source for the
region. It is experiencing a number of interrelated challenges with respect
to natural resources and natural resource management issues both on and
off the installation. The issues of water usage, military mission, urban
growth, rural economy and unique natural values have prompted the
Army to take a close look at its role relative to these complex issues over
Land Planner, Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. Champaign IL
Master Planner, Fort Huachuca Master Planning Office, AZ
3
Wildlife Biologist, Fort Huachuca Natural Resources, AZ
4
Research Scientist, Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Research Laboratory,
Corvallis OR
5
Professor, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge MA
6
National Environmental Impact Coordinator, Fort Huachuca Master Planning Office, AZ
7
Ecologist, Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign IL
8
Natural Resources Specialist, US Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe VA
1
2
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-5. 1998
261
the next several decades. Therefore the Department of Defense's Legacy
Resource Management Program (Legacy), with the support of the U.S.
Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Headquarters, is
funding a multi-year project to identify alternative futures for the Upper
San Pedro River region under different projections of change over the next
few decades.
GIS BACKGROUND DATA EFFORT
The study area (figure 1) is the Upper San Pedro River basin (probably
including the Sonoita Planning Area).
Interstate I 0
U.S.-
Sonoita Planning Area
Fort Huachuca
Upper San Pedro Basin Edge
Figure 1. Alternative Futures Study Area.
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USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-5. 1998
One of the initial tasks of the project, is the assembling of a Geographical Information System (GIS) database to support the study. Data from
many sources, in both the U.S. and Mexico, are being assembled from
cooperating agencies and organizations.
The team has identified several critical data types. The data set being
assembled will include spatial information about the existing human
environment as well as historical satellite imagery, which is intended to
provide a temporal context (figure 2.) for the identification of regional
trends. The data being collected will focus on four major themes:
• Topography,
• Land Use/Land Cover,
•
Soils, and
•
Population and Demographic characteristics.
Figure 2. Upper San Pedro River Basin over a June 1986 satellite image.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-5. 1998
263
Progress in the development of this supporting data set has been made.
An initial survey of .desirable sources has been developed and is presented
in table 1. Table 1 can be expected to change as progress is made in the
assemblage of the final theme data base.
Table 1. Initial data themes to support Alternative Futures study.
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USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-5. 1998
We are interested in identifying additional agencies which also are
involved in the future of the Upper San Pedro River Basin and who are
willing to share some of the digital GIS data in support of this effort.
RESOURCES AND CONSTRAINTS FOR THE REGION
The Upper San Pedro has an interesting set of regional dynamics. If we
develop a listing of the known unique resources of the region it would
probably include:
•
High Biodiversity
•
Attractive Climate
•
San Pedro River National Conservation Area
•
Fort Huachuca
•
Sonoita Upland Areas
Similarly, a listing of known potential constraints of the region is likely
to include:
•
Arid Land
•
Limits of Subsurface Water Availability
•
Impacts to Biodiversity
•
Desirability for Development, Recreation and Retirement.
•
Erosion Potential
•
Stream System Stabilization
Clearly there is a high relationship between these two listings. One is
tempted to conclude that the area's benefits are also its constraints. It is
within this somewhat contrasting environment that the Alternative Futures project must be carried out.
POSSIBLE RANGE OF FUTURES AND PROJECT SCHEDULE
The study activities will:
• Include the development of several alternative futures for the Upper
San Pedro Region.
• Generate the distribution of land uses that are likely to result from
each alternative over a time horizon of several decades. It is not
possible to predict exactly what land use will develop at a specific
location, but it is reasonable to expect the mix or proportions of land
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-5. 1998
265
uses within the region to be relatively predictable based on the planning imperative (i.e. the alternative future) followed through time. It
is expected that these alternatives will serve as a basis for regional
land management decision-making.
• Include the development of a web-based tool and data access for
future regional planning. The data and techniques developed will be
made available to local planning agencies.
• Allow local stakeholders to more clearly see the ramifications of their
proposals and actions.
• Provide an outline, not a plan, of the region's options for change and
their likely effects. This outline will be publicly available.
This project is part of a three year effort. The first year (fiscal1998)
identifies stakeholders and GIS data availability. One of the purposes of
this paper is to encourage such groups to identify themselves. In the
second year, the data will be used to generate the effects of the alternatives
into the future. During the third year final reports will be produced including the Internet website. The website and supporting tools will be
transferred to regional users.
CONCLUSIONS
We are in the initial phases of a three-year planning process to generate
possible outcomes of various alternative planning imperatives for the
Upper San Pedro Watershed. This project represents the first time the
Department of the Army will look at long term regional questions which
might arise within the sphere of influence of one of its important training
installations, Fort Huachuca. Currently, the authors are in the process of
identifying sources of base-line GIS data and cooperating agencies that
will collaborate in this work.
REFERENCES
Department of Community Affairs and Economic Development. Arizona's
Growth and the Environment- A World of Difficult Choices. 68th Arizona
Town Hall, Phoenix, AZ, May 1996.
Environmental and Natural Resources Division, Fort Huachuca. Approval
of Long Range Land Use and Real Estate Investment Strategy in Support of
Real Property Master Planning Environmental Impact Statement. (Internal
Review Draft- Not yet published), Environmental and Natural Re-
266
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-5. 1998
sources Division, Directorate of Engineering and Housing, US Army
Garrison, Fort Huachuca, AZ, February 1998.
Mouat, David A., Lancaster, Judith. Use of Remote Sensing and GIS to Iden-
tify Vegetation Change in the Upper San Pedro River Watershed, Arizona.
Geocarto International. Vol. 11, No.2, June 1996.
Steinitz, C., Binford, M., Cote, P., Edwards, T. Jr., Ervin, S., Forman, R.T.,
Johnson, C., Kiester, R., Mouat, D., Olson, D., Shearer, A., Toth, R., Wills,
R., Biodiverstiy and Landscape Planing: Alternative Futures for the Region of
Camp Pendleton, California. Harvard University Graduate School of
Design, Cambridge, MA, 1996.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Robert C. Lozar is a Community Planner and Principal Investigator
with the Army Corps of Engineer's Construction Engineering Research
Laboratory in Champaign IL. He graduated from Harvard University with
a Master's Degree in Landscape Architecture in 1974. He does research in
spatial analysis and applications for land and natural resources management. Readers may contact him at r-lozar@cecer.army.mil.
John D. Wickizer is the Community Planner at Fort Huachuca, AZ. He
graduated from Eastern Washington State University with a Bachelors of
Arts (BA) degree in Urban and Regional Planning, in 1972. He is responsible for the development and maintenance of the Installation's Real
Property Master Plan.
Sheridan Stone is the Wildlife Biologist in the Wildlife Section at Fort
Huachuca, AZ. He graduated with a B.S. in Wildlife Biology from the
University of Montana in 1976. He manages natural resources on the
military reservation to support conservation of biodiversity and sustainable uses of land and natural resources.
David Mouat is a Senior Environmental Scientist at the US EPA Environmental Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, (on loan from the
State of Nevada's Desert Research Institute). He received his Ph.D. from
Oregon State University in 1974 for examining the relationships between
terrain and vegetation landscape variables. His research focuses on remote
sensing and other techniques for assessing landscape dynamics, including
desertification in arid and semi-arid areas.
Carl Steinitz is the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Landscape
Architecture and Planning, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University. He graduated with a Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning, with a
major in Urban Design, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
1967. Professor Steinitz' teaching and research activities concern landscape
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-5. 1998
267
change, methods of landscape analysis, visual quality and landscape
planning and design.
Gretchen R. Kent is a Physical Scientist who works in the Environmental
and Natural Resources Division of the Directorate of Installation Support,
U.S. Army Garrison at Fort Huachuca, AZ. She received her Master of
Science Degree in Geology /Geochemistry from Michigan Tech University
on 1983. She is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Coordinator. In this position she coordinates compliance with the NEPA for organizations on Fort Huachuca, prepares and manages contractors who prepare
NEPA analyses and documents and manages physical science, hydrology
and geological projects.
Winifred Hodge is an ecologist working for the Land Management
Laboratory, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories in
Champaign, Illinois, USA. HerBS degree is in Soil Science and Land
Management from Cornell University in 1983, MS in Ecology and Environmental Management, Arizona State University in 1985, and MAin
Political Science, University of Illinois, 1994. She provides research to
assist US Army and Department of Defense to manage their lands and
natural resources for long term stewardship and sustainable use.
Robert L. Anderson is a Natural Resources Specialist at Headquarters,
US Army Training and Doctrine Command, Environmental Division in
Fort Monroe. He received his B.S. from Old Dominion University in 1968,
and his M.A. degree from the College of William and Mary in 1988; both
are in Biology. Mr. Anderson manages the Natural Resources program for
sixteen Army installations in the Training and Doctrine Command.
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