los angeles – the timing has been terrible for california farmworkers in 2020: wilting heat waves, wildfires spewing acrid smoke across the state and the persistent threat of covid-19. this triple threat looms large over the lucrative fall harvest of grapes and almonds, which for some seasonal laborers is the busiest time of year, until november.

kent e. pinkerton, a leading expert in farmworker health, has been worried about such a threat for a decade. the pandemic, which is expected to linger in california for months, could be an invisible killer in the fields.

“it is extremely difficult for those workers to be able to social distance themselves, and so i think it is incredibly important that the workers and those who are supervising the workers take into account some of the things that they can do to protect the workers from potentially becoming infected with coronavirus,” said pinkerton, who is the director of center for health and the environment and a professor at university of california, davis.

farmworkers say they’re vulnerable to the health effects of the novel coronavirus and wildfires, and have little means to seek treatment because many lack health insurance.

“unfortunately, we don’t have insurance, and that is one of the consequences we face as farmworkers. that is why we have to be prepared,” said veronica mota, a farmworker for 20 years and an organizer with united farm workers.

mota spoke about her children, calling them her motivation and inspiration. her daughter, who is in college and voting for the first time, is mota’s reminder to focus on herself.

“during high school, she was really into cross country, and she motivated me to have a will to live,” mota said. “when you live and work in this country, you get stressed and can stop taking care of yourself in a way. but when you look at your daughter and see that she runs and crosses a whole community, you say, ‘wow, if she can do this, so can i.’”

mota has worked in california, oregon and washington, all three affected by wildfires, and has experience picking all types of fruits and vegetables. the challenges of 2020 have created exceptional frustration and fear, she said.

“we feel abandoned and like we have no support. we work honorably, and if it weren’t for the work that we do, there wouldn’t be food on the tables,” mota said.

heat stress and exhaustion are detrimental and life-threatening side effects of hot weather – and often unavoidable. poor air quality harms everyone’s health, and farm work is time sensitive: waiting for skies to clear of smoke could mean a crop rots in the fields. but that type of exposure also can harm lungs and hearts, pinkerton said.

the coronavirus makes battling these threats even harder because keeping a safe distance while harvesting is nearly impossible.

“as advocates and an organization made up of farmworkers and their families,” said irene de barraicua of lideres campesinas, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of female farmworkers, “we know that they live in very crowded housing, we know that they carpool to work and we know that employers are maybe at times going to do anything they can to make it safer and enforce social distancing and maybe give masks … what they don’t seem to take responsibility for is that once their workers are leaving the workplace they see them gathering in groups or getting in cars together.”

testing positive for coronavirus strips undocumented workers of their income, particularly when they are forced to quarantine with family. without the stimulus check or california coronavirus aid to undocumented immigrants, which was first come, first served, many undocumented workers are left with little assurance. often, for fear of losing work, many workers whose crew may have a small positivity outbreak move to the next farm, de barraicua said.

from 2015 through 2016, 51% of all farmworkers had work authorization, according to the u.s. department of labor. of those 51%, 29% were u.s. citizens, 21% percent were legal permanent residents and 1% had work authorization through some other visa program.

california grew more than a third of the vegetables and two-thirds of fruits and nuts in the country during the 2019 crop year, according to the california department of food and agriculture. the state accounts for more than 13% of the nation’s total agricultural value and is the leading state for cash farm receipts, according to the department.

in many parts of california, it is peak harvest season for the state’s leading crops. from the end of august through november, wine grapes, almonds and other mid-to-late season fruits are ready to harvest. in 2019, california’s top producing commodities were $6.09 billion in almonds and $5.41 billion in grapes, according to the california department of food and agriculture.

although big cities report bigger covid-19 numbers, 98% of american rural counties have reported positive cases and 75% have reported one or more deaths as of sept. 21, according to the national center for farmworker health. in nonmetropolitan areas, there have been 812,853 cases and 18,371 deaths reported as of sept. 22, according to data obtained from johns hopkins university.

fruits, nuts and vegetables are only part of california’s farming industry. one of the most significant coronavirus outbreaks among agricultural workers started on june 29 in livingston, where at least 392 employees tested positive and at least eight died due to the outbreak at the foster farms plant, according to the merced sun-star. due to more than 700 meatpacking and food processing plants experiencing outbreaks in the u.s., beef and pork production have declined by 40% during the summer of 2020, according to the national center for farmworker health.

in arizona, where the yuma area is a major producer of lettuce, the exact number of cases among farmworkers in yuma county is not reported, but “143 positive covid-19 cases in the county have occurred in or near farm labor camps,” according to the national center for farmworker health. overall, yuma county has reported 12,664 cases and 345 deaths as of friday, making it one of the top three counties in arizona for cases. one known outbreak happened on hickman’s family egg farm, in buckeye where five female prison inmates tested positive in june.

the pressure on these workers at the national level is tremendous, with demand for farm labor exceeding the actual number of farm laborers, said elizabeth strater, the director of alternative and digital organizing at united farm workers.

“given the context of the labor shortage, this time of year in california, especially when you are talking about high sensitivity or high investment crops like wine grapes, there is a tremendous amount of pressure on everybody’s part to get those crops in, regardless of what the air quality is like,” strater said.

many undocumented workers are afraid to be deemed essential workers, especially in counties hit hard by the coronavirus and wildfires. de barraicua said many of the undocumented workers she speaks with were scared to work for fear of having to show a police officer an essential worker letter from their employer.

lideres campesinas listed education surrounding the virus as one of the organization’s main concerns in its letter to the governor in april. this concern now extends to education about fires, heatwaves and smoke exposure. language and cultural differences often are barriers to health information, which is concerning because undocumented farmworkers typically are more vulnerable to poor health resulting from lack of access to care, de barraicua said.

mota, as someone who advocates for the rights of farmworkers and organizes events to spread awareness, said united farm workers has done everything possible to distribute the appropriate protective equipment and educate laborers on the best ways to stay safe.

the high levels of wildfire smoke along the west coast typically contain carbon based particles, and toxic materials or irritants might be in the smoke from the destruction of buildings and dwellings. pinkerton said all smoke can be “an irritant and potentially injurious to the lung.” eye and throat irritation, coughing and sneezing are symptoms related to particulate matter exposure.

properly fitted n95 masks offer the highest degree of protection against inhalation of the particles, pinkerton said. the maximum recommended use of n95 masks is eight to 12 hours, and they should not be worn for multiple work shifts, according to the centers for disease control and prevention.

labored breathing is a side effect of those wearing properly fitted n95 masks, and as the mask clogs with particles over time, it may become even more difficult to breathe, pinkerton said. he and other experts recommend work to be reduced to shorter time periods, and that it’s done in a nonstrenuous way.

mota said many farmworkers are not offered the proper equipment to do their jobs safely.

“because i work under a union job, it’s the union that brings those resources to the farmworkers, like me, to help us be protected in the work conditions we are in.”

the reuse of masks presents a significant risk of contact transmission from touching the surface of the contaminated respirator and can add additional discomfort to the worker when worn for too long, the cdc said.

the california department of food and agriculture directs farmworkers unable to obtain personal protective equipment to contact their county office of emergency services branch to provide information on lack of supplies.

mota, who has appeared in a campaign advertisement and has had a couple of encounters with california sen. kamala harris, who’s now the democratic vice presidential candidate, said farmworkers have received a lot of support from her.

“she focuses on the well-being of the farmworkers,” mota said.

mota also praised current california gov. gavin newsom’s state relief program to provide $500 to undocumented workers who were not eligible for federal stimulus funds.

strater said that united farm workers and harris emphasize that there is “no worker justice without climate justice.” the impacts of climate change may alter the path of agriculture’s future, including the lives of workers, even though weather has always been a concern.

with climate change there will be differences in agriculture, and among those different outcomes, a shift in the social population of workers may be one of the most intriguing. pinkerton explored the idea that workers might question their future in agricultural work.

“it could be a need to change the type of crop that is being grown, just simply because the weather is different than it has been in the past. there may be concerns about water use through droughts or desertification of lands that also creates some issues with agriculture,”  pinkerton said.

“i think also what we may see is a shift in the social population. the workers … where do they go? where do they find work?”

—

this story originally was posted at cronkite news, and features additional reporting. for more stories, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

phoenix – when the sun is up, he’s up and ready to hit the road by 8. flatbed trucks are loaded with brimming barrels of water, and the teams take off – up and down the burnt orange washboard roads that crisscross the navajo nation reservation.

zoel zohnnie grew up on a ranch in these vast lands, knowing what it’s like to live without running water, knowing what it means to drive for miles to fill up at a community water station and then haul it back home.

“for some families, it’s a whole day of leaving home, waiting in line, coming back, unloading,” he said. “just to drink water and have water for living.”

when the covid-19 pandemic arrived on the reservation, zohnnie saw families and elders sheltering in place – and no one helping them to haul water they desperately needed.

“so i took up a paypal and purchased a water tank, put it in the back of my truck and hit the road, and ended up doing that day after day,” said zohnnie, who calls his group water warriors united.

water is a precious commodity that’s scarce in many places across the u.s. but even more so in rural native american communities like the navajo nation, where a virus that requires hand-washing and proper hygiene has taken an especially heavy toll.

zohnnie, 42, is a boilermaker by trade, doing pipe welding, power plant maintenance and refinery construction. but he was laid off at the end of march, just as covid-19 cases began increasing across the sprawling reservation.

he has underlying health conditions that put him at higher risk of contracting covid-19 and suffering more. but as the virus that causes the disease took hold of dinétah, he knew he had to find a way to help, even while practicing social distancing and staying safe.

his is the story of how one person saw a problem that needed a solution and started a movement to try to find one – as a friend said, “changing the world one barrel at a time.”

a scarce resource

a november report released by the nonprofit us water alliance found that more than 2 million americans lack access to running water, indoor plumbing or wastewater services.

those disparities are worse in communities of color and even more extreme, the study found, among indigenous people – whose households are 19 times more likely to lack indoor plumbing than those of white families.

on the navajo reservation, which stretches 27,000 square miles through arizona and into new mexico and utah, an estimated 30% of the 174,000 residents lack access to running water. many, the us water alliance report said, have less than 10 gallons of water in their homes at any given time, sometimes using as little as 2 or 3 gallons a day. the average american uses 88 gallons a day.

some residents drive hours to get water to haul home, ration what water they do have between hygienic uses and cooking, or stockpile it in case of emergency.

one woman, the report noted, has bartered homemade pies for water.

these obstacles often force residents to travel to towns bordering the reservation to buy water, said monica harvey, a navajo who founded defend our community, a group working to assist elders during the pandemic.

harvey, who lives in leupp, points to other problems, such as broken windmills that hinder water pumping and limited hours at tribal chapter houses, the government subdivisions and communal gathering places where navajos often get their water.

“there was one point … where the chapter house in leupp was announcing that they were going to shut down a water station,” harvey said. “the water from that water station is for livestock only. but sometimes, residents have to resort to that water to drink.”

a report by the navajo nation’s department of water resources notes that a lack of reliable drinking water “stifles economic growth throughout the reservation” while contributing to higher incidence of disease.

add an extremely contagious virus into this mix and the circumstances become even more dire, experts note.

“you can imagine if you don’t have access to running water, then the very basic things you need to do to stay home and stay safe during a viral pandemic aren’t possible,” said george mcgraw, founder of digdeep, a nonprofit that works on the reservation to bring running water into homes and schools.

“you can’t wash your hands for 20 seconds several times a day with soap and water. you’re constantly being forced to leave social isolation … to drive to a grocery store that’ll have bottled water … or to drive to a gas station, a truck stop, a school, a library – if they’re open – to take a shower or collect water.”

cynthia harris, director of tribal programs at the environmental law institute in washington d.c., said the long-standing issues around access to water and water quality in indian country can be boiled down to three main obstacles: resources, logistics and battles over water rights.

funding for infrastructure improvements is limited. the indian health service reported last year a backlog of almost 2,000 sanitation-related construction projects in indian country and estimated it would cost $2.7 billion to provide all american indians and alaska natives with safe drinking water and adequate sewerage systems.

the rural nature of homes also makes for logistical challenges. on the navajo reservation, which is bigger than the state of west virginia, many households are not good candidates for centralized water systems because extending water lines to low-density, mountainous areas is extremely expensive, according to harris’ group.

“we’ve heard quite a bit from congress and the executive branch about looking at infrastructure, ensuring that tribes are included in that at a sufficient level,” harris said, noting some opportunities to address these issues may be part of the $2.2 trillion coronoavirus relief package known as the cares act.

“there is a toolbox,” she said. “the question is, which tools bring to bear ensuring tribes are included.”

the navajo nation has received $714 million under the cares act, and president jonathan nez has proposed using $300 million of that for agriculture projects and water infrastructure, including improved residential plumbing.

final expenditures are being negotiated between the navajo nation council and nez. but time is running out: the federal government is requiring that cares act funding be spent by year’s end.

a hand for the forgotten

“we will never be able to measure the magnitude of language, culture, or history that this virus has taken from our tribes. … we have already lost so much, but are also collectively doing so much.”

zoel zohnnie’s words punctuate the website of collective medicine, the nonprofit that serves as the umbrella organization for his water warriors united campaign. the effort has grown from one man and one water tank to an operation where volunteers deliver on average 5,000 gallons a week to residents across the reservation.

“the idea behind this whole campaign … was to reach the people who can’t get to the water themselves, and to reach the people who are … far away enough to have been forgotten,” zohnnie said.

“and there’s been a lot of people that have been forgotten.”

the more he ventured out, the more donations started flowing in. he used the money to buy 55-gallon water barrels for navajos living out of 5-gallon buckets or small containers.

zohnnie now has four 16-foot flatbed trucks that carry 550-gallon tanks, hoses, equipment and a water pump. his team has delivered more than 400 barrels and more than 100,000 gallons of water to more than 20 communities.

“now what we’re trying to do is figure out a refill system for the places we’ve already been, so that we can just go back to these homes and kind of recirculate where we’ve already been,” he said. “but if we do that, then it takes away from us being able to reach other areas that haven’t been given barrels yet.

“so we’re trying to get as many barrels out there as possible, first, so that way at least the residents and our elders and tribal members can have a barrel. that makes their life a little easier when they have to haul water for themselves.”

along the way, zohnnie has met dozens of people, many whose circumstances brought tears to his eyes. one family of 18 was living in a small shack with no running water. another home included several children living alone without water or electricity.

“the dad had passed away probably four months ago, and the mom had passed away two months before that,” he recalled. “so the kids were just trying to make their way, and there was nobody that was really helping them.

“that was one that kind of stuck with me.”

another man was caring for his 90-year-old mother, who requires a feeding tube. they lived off a 20-mile dirt road and were unable to haul water on their own because the man couldn’t leave his mother for the time it would take to go out and return.

“it’s been quite an eye-opener,” zohnnie said. “growing up on the reservation, you kind of know what’s going on. but until you’re there visiting each home, talking to each person, it never really hits you until you hear them or you look at them in the eye and see how they feel.”

harvey’s group, defend our community, began collaborating with zohnnie to get water to the elders it works with.

“it was very difficult for elders throughout the community to get drinking water, so his team came out and was able to provide 55-gallon water barrels with drinking water,” she said. “they had a water tank in the back of their vehicle as well. so elders who needed water jugs or containers filled, they were able to help fill those containers with drinking water.

“a lot of them were so grateful … that a few of the elders broke into tears because they received help. finally someone showed up to help them, to provide aid to them.”

zohnnie’s effort is just one of several, and harris and others note that any permanent solutions to the water access issues must go beyond trucking in gallons here and there. the pandemic, harris said, is “an opportunity to stop, to pause, to reflect and consider these issues and look at how we can do better.”

zohnnie hopes to continue his initiative beyond covid-19, to keep helping his people in whatever way he can. he wants the world to see that not all that’s come from the pandemic is sorrow and tragedy.

“i feel like because of this virus, there are beautiful things happening,” he said. “and i think one of them is the fact that it has brought a lot of people together.

“there’s a lot of people still out there suffering from it, still out there protecting themselves from it, too.”

but, he added: “even though it’s a dangerous and ugly virus, it has done beautiful things to help people see that we can come together in times of crisis.”

—

this story originally was published on cronkite news and features additional reporting. for more stories, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

alpine – the day in late january began like any other for a mexican wolf pup living in the spectacular solitude of eastern arizona: searching for food with other wolves in the apache national forest.

then came the terrifying chatter of a helicopter, a dash for cover, a jab in the rump – and a nap, courtesy of the sedative telazol, delivered by dart gun.

after being transferred by helicopter to a remote location just outside alpine, the 10-month old male was rushed into a warm, compact trailer where a team of biologists quickly analyzed him.

what they discovered thrilled them.

the capture of this wolf pup – later named mp-1858 – reaffirmed to the team that a decades-old, multistate, multiagency effort to help save the mexican wolf population has made strides.

the biologists placed so much significance on mp-1858 because he was born in the wild, and he left his pack to tag along with a female and male mexican wolf, possibly laying the foundation of a new pack.

the team has spent years placing new-born wolf pups in wild dens – a practice known as cross-fostering – but team members ultimately hope to see an increase in natural-born mexican wolves, such as mp-1858, to help diversify the wolf population and raise its numbers.

young mp-1858 was a rare find.

“we’ve got a pretty good handle on who’s who, but the individual we caught today is a little different,” said maggie dwire, deputy mexican wolf recovery coordinator for the u.s. fish and wildlife service. “we’re not sure why he was running with the group of wolves that he was with. so that kind of thing is really neat, right?”

because mp-1858 was born in the wild, he’s exactly what those striving to boost the mexican wolf population want to see.

government agencies, including the arizona game & fish department, and the private endangered wolf center in missouri have invested millions of dollars and decades worth of research to save the mexican wolf from extinction. those efforts included breeding and releasing adult wolves into the wild, but that program has been placed on the back burner, replaced over the past six years by the cross-fostering program.

every year, they team up to count wolves to evaluate their progress.

“the primary objective for this operation is to get a good count of the wolves that are out there,” said genevieve fuller, a wolf biologist with arizona game & fish. “secondary objective is to capture any animals that are deemed targets” – meaning any wolf found in a counting area.

to researchers, mp-1858 is a wolf that could symbolize the next phase of wolf rehabilitation.

where it all started
since its doors opened in 1971, the endangered wolf center in eureka, missouri, has played a huge role in saving the mexican wolf, through the release of captive-bred adults and cross-fostering pups into the wild.

biologists traced mp-1858’s roots to the endangered wolf center in eureka, missouri. center officials said he likely is the offspring of adult wolves raised and released by the center or the offspring of cross-fostered wolves born in captivity and placed in dens by biologists.

the center has led the mexican wolf cross-fostering program since it began in 2014. founded almost 50 years ago, it sits on 63 isolated, wooded acres of a former military munitions area southwest of st. louis, and is part of the washington university tyson research center. the center was constructed to match the cold, silent and humanless habitat where mexican wolves live.

the center’s goal is to boost the genetic diversity and population of wolves through cross-fostering, in which 8- to 14-day-old pups born in captivity are placed in a den of similar-aged wild pups in remote areas of the southwest.

“when we are looking at fostering pups to the wild, the captive program has a lot of different genetics than what the wild population has,” said regina mossotti, director of animal care and conservation at the endangered wolf center. “so being able to take puppies from facilities like the endangered wolf center and sneaking them into wild litters is a great way for us to be able to get new genetics out into the wild to help keep that wild population healthier.”

mexican wolves breed in april and may, leaving a narrow window for cross-fostering.

“fostering can be incredibly challenging in its own right,” mossotti said. “the stars, the moon, the planets, everything has to align to make it happen.”

to successfully cross-foster a wolf pup, officials must identify a wild wolf that has given birth about the same time that a female wolf in captivity at the center gives birth.

when that does happen, the clock starts ticking.

“we have to be able to find a flight, the weather has to work and we have to have enough people to do it,” mossotti said. “so all these things, these logistics have to come together to make it happen.”

once the team from the endangered wolf center arrives in arizona, game & fish employees join them on a hike to a specific wolf den, often hidden in the rugged terrain along the arizona-new mexico state line.

the team carefully places the captive wolf pups, fitted with tracking collars, into the wild den and leaves them to their new lives.

being part of the cross-fostering process “is so worth it,” mossotti said. “to know that you’re helping release these puppies in the wild to give them that chance of freedom to help save a critically endangered species, there’s nothing better.”

in 1977, the mexican wolf population in the u.s. was down to just seven. the center initially released adult mexican wolves directly into the wild before adopting cross-fostering in 2014. although the direct-release program was considered a success, biologists don’t plan to resume it unless absolutely necessary.

“we wouldn’t have the mexican wolf program today if it (releasing adult wolves) didn’t work,” mossotti said. “but you are releasing naive adults, and that can take them a little bit of time to get used to the area they’re in and to establish a territory.”

the endangered wolf center opened its doors in 1971 when american zoologist marlin perkins and his wife, carol, set out to address the endangerment of several species of wolves.

virginia busch, executive director of the endangered wolf center, said wolves were a favorite animal of perkins, the longtime host of tv’s “wild kingdom,” who died in 1986.

“we’re really proud that marlin, even before the endangered species act, had the forethought to build such an institution,” she said.

at the time of the center’s opening, the only captive mexican wolves were being held at the arizona-sonora desert museum in tucson. the only remaining captive female, nina, was transferred to missouri after failing to breed with any of the males.

in 1981, nina mated with one of the last wild-caught wolves and gave birth to the first wolf pups conceived in captivity, according to the center.

“our goal at the endangered wolf center as well as through the species survival plan programs is to continue to breed those animals and have a healthy population,” busch said. “for mexican wolves, we are doing just that.”

as of 2020, mexican wolf pups have been cross-fostered from centers across the country, including the wolf conservation center in new york and the sedgwick county zoo in wichita, kansas.

where the program is now
biologists in arizona and new mexico put boots on the ground to study wild mexican wolves that live on both sides of the state line.

nearly 1,250 miles west of the endangered wolf center, the apache national forest in eastern arizona is home to most of the wild mexican wolves in the country.

in late january and early february, officials and biologists from arizona game & fish in alpine capture and examine wild mexican wolves to gain more of an understanding of the current population and the progress of the cross-fostering program.

game & fish monitors 31 wolf packs by helicopter and tracking collars. this allows biologists to track the growth, location and progression of current packs while noting the creation of new packs.

“since 2009, we’ve had an average annual increase of about 12%,” said paul greer, mexican wolf interagency field team leader for game & fish. “the population has been cyclical up and down, but overall it’s an increasing population.”

wolf biologists also have identified successes beyond the numbers. for example, biologists are seeing improvement of survival skills in cross-fostered wolves that they did not see in adult wolves that were released from captivity.

“so far, (cross-fostering) has been a better alternative to the release of adult wolves from captivity into the wild,” fuller said. “we’re seeing a lot more wolves that understand how to be a wolf in this landscape because they were raised by wild parents.”

although the cross-fostering efforts toward growing the mexican wolf population have seen success, some critics of the program believe the process could be accelerated.

sandy bahr, director of the sierra club’s grand canyon chapter, agreed cross-fostering has improved the mexican wolf’s chances for survival, but she believes the introduction of captive adult wolves should resume.

“it (cross-fostering) can only be done on a pretty limited basis, because you have to have pups of the right age in the wild and in captivity,” bahr said. “i agree that like a lone wolf might not be the best way to do it. that’s why we’ve really advocated for bonded packs. they’re much more likely to stay together. they can hunt together.”

bahr said cross-fostering, in tandem with the release of adult wolves in packs, would increase the population more quickly than releasing adult wolves only.

“what (the sierra club) has said is release bonded packs, you know, release an alpha male and an alpha female,” bahr said. “they’re much more likely to stay together, work together and survive versus what we’ve seen like with a lone wolf.”

emily renn, executive director of the grand canyon wolf recovery plan, advocates for releasing adult wolves because they can add to the evolving genetic pool in a more immediate way.

“one of the things with the cross-fostered pups is it’s going to take at least two years before those wolves become adults and potentially become breeding wolves,” renn said. “obviously, it (releasing adult wolves) still needs a lot of consideration into how it’s done, but we want to see that included as an option.”

progress so far
although the recovery program has a long way to go before the biologist will call it a success, progress has been made by the steady increase in the mexican wolf population.

since the cross-fostering program began six years ago, arizona game & fish has had success on multiple fronts.

in may, the field team conducted cross-fostering over six weeks, releasing 20 wolf pups in eastern arizona and western new mexico. in 2019, the team cross-fostered 12 wolf pups across western arizona.

“it was a lucky year (2020),” said jim devos, game & fish assistant wildlife director. “it also took a tremendous amount of effort.”

according to the mexican recovery wolf program, about 50% of cross-fostered pups survive to reach prime breeding age.

the 2019 end-of-year census done by game & fish recorded the population of mexican wolves had increased to 163 from 131. the department’s u.s. southwest population goal is 320 wolves. the recovery plan also has set a goal for increasing the wolf population in mexico to 200.

“of the 12 wolves we released (in 2019), we’ve got four that have survived to breeding age and have already produced multiple litters of their own,” greer said. “we’re seeing cross-fostered wolves surviving, breeding and producing multiple litters.”

even with the success of the past few years, those close to mexican wolf recovery programs aren’t quite satisfied.

“it’ll be nice one day if we can get the genetics up to where they need to be to be able to step back and let wolves be wolves,” dwire said.

at what cost?
saving an entire species is not something that can be done for free, but with funding from the government and generous donations, it is possible.

preserving an endangered species takes money.

in 2018, expenses ran about $1.5 million at the nonprofit endangered wolf center, which is funded mostly through donations. to support its work, donors can pay to “adopt” a single wolf or an entire pack for a month or a year. the center also participates in classroom outreach, where biologists discuss how wild wolves survive and what can be done to save them from extinction. schools and after-school programs are charged $150 to $350 per session.

as for game & fish, the department puts about 7% of its budget into wildlife conservation, according to its 2018 budget breakdown.

the mexican wolf program also receives funding from the department’s heritage fund, which provides $10 million each year from arizona lottery proceeds.

is it worth it?
there are more than 1,300 endangered species in the united states alone – what makes the mexican wolf special?

more than 1,300 species in the u.s. are endangered or threatened and could use human help to avoid extinction. with so many plants and animals facing potential extinction, why save mexican wolves specifically?

in fact, mexican wolves have posed a threat to ranchers and livestock since europeans first settled the southwest. as the wolf population has edged up each year, so have ranchers’ anxieties.

however, mossotti said, the mexican wolf may play a bigger factor in the environment than seen at first glance. it’s classified as an “umbrella” species, she said, meaning the wolves affect a good portion of the ecosystem just by going about their business.

mossotti compared the effect that the recovery of mexican wolves has on the environment to a similar project the endangered wolf center was a part of at yellowstone national park.

after scientists found no evidence of wolves in yellowstone national park for decades, the u.s. fish and wildlife service began a wolf reintroduction program in 1995.

“when we released wolves in yellowstone,” mossotti said, “they had been extinct in the park for decades, and the park changed without them there. elk population skyrocketed, deer population skyrocketed and they ate everything. they ate all the plants down to the dirt. when trees would fall, no new trees would replace them. those trees and shrubs … provided habitat for birds and butterflies and lots of animals.”

mossotti said the reintroduction of wolves to the park brought the elk and deer populations down to sustainable levels and allowed the plants to recover enough to provide for other animals that were suffering without them.

“to put all this energy into the wolf is ultimately to help make sure the ecosystem is healthier for everybody,” mossotti said.

—

this story originally was published on cronkite news and features additional audio reports. for more stories, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

phoenix – rows of cardboard boxes containing corpses line the walls of refrigerated storage containers, waiting for charred human remains to be cleared from the incineration chamber to make room for the next body.

the cremations continue through the night in a scene that has unfolded across america as covid-19 deaths have risen to more than 540,000 over the past year.

in arizona, where 16,842 have died in the pandemic, the smoke and the hum of crematoriums working overtime have left some neighbors desperate for relief from the odor and pollution.

arizonans opt for cremation more frequently than the national average, with 67% choosing that option in 2020, according to a july 2020 report from the national funeral directors association.

the national cremation rate reached 56% last year, an increase from 47.9% in 2015, the last reported year. the rise was fueled by the covid-19 death toll and pandemic restrictions, the low cost of cremation services and the flexible timing for funeral arrangements with cremated ashes.

some condo owners in east scottsdale have taken notice of unexpected wafts of smoke and a lingering odor coming from the nearby paradise memorial crematory near 93rd street and shea boulevard.

“the smell was so unbearable that everybody needs to run into their houses,” said retiree marlene dove, who moved there in september. “if you have guests, they have to come in or they put things over their heads and their faces to keep the smell out.”

her complaint is among 20 filed in maricopa county regarding crematorium smoke from feb. 27, 2020, to march 2, 2021. records from maricopa county air quality show the complaints include black or brown smoke and a “horrible odor.” some residents claimed the emissions gave them sore throats.

“i understand that you have to take care of the dead,” dove said. “but i also understand you have to take care of the living.”

last april, maricopa county air quality lifted a regulation prohibiting crematoriums from operating past sunset, giving them more time to cremate the increased number of covid-19 deaths. that lift, which was extended in june and again in december, is in effect through may 31.

according to arizona department of health services data, the state saw surges in covid-19 related deaths during the summer and winter, with a single-day high of 173 deaths reported jan. 18.

the occasional smoke coming from crematorium chimneys is an inevitable byproduct of the cremation process, said james ahearne, coo of messinger mortuaries, the company that oversees paradise memorial crematory.

“every crematory will smoke, if they tell you they don’t, they’re lying,” he said. “it’s just the way it is.”

last year, paradise memorial crematory – one of the largest in the state – cremated 6,868 bodies, an increase from 6,071 in 2019, before the pandemic began. from the start of 2021, paradise memorial already has cremated 1,931 bodies, ahearne said, with much of those coming in january after the holidays. if the trend continues, 2021 could outpace last year.

ahearne said a walk-in freezer used to store bodies at paradise memorial had 60 to 70 bodies backlogged in january, waiting to be cremated.

by 2030, the cremation rate in arizona is expected to reach nearly 80%, the national funeral directors association says.

nationally, the median cost to bury an adult in a traditional ceremony is $7,640, according to the association. in arizona, it’s $6,906.

cremations cost an average of $6,645 nationally, with a cremation casket and urn, and about $5,812 in arizona, according to the association.

there’s also the convenience of cremating now and organizing a service later at a particular destination, said barbara kemmis, executive director of the cremation association of north america.

with travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines in place for many states throughout the pandemic, cremation extends the time frame for grieving families to make decisions for the deceased.

as covid-19 cremations surged across the country, so did neighbor’s complaints about smoke and sore throats.

“that’s completely a danger when they’re overwhelmed and trying to do as many cases a day to return those cremated remains to loved ones,” kemmis said.

issues with smoke coming from paradise memorial crematory are not new but have seemingly worsened throughout the pandemic, said david dubner, 79, who has filed multiple complaints with maricopa county and is dove’s neighbor.

“there’s not just been puffs but pouring smoke, sometimes for up to five, six minutes. (it) covers the whole area,” dubner said.

three years ago, paradise memorial crematory expanded the number of cremation ovens on their premises from three to six, ahearne said, and plans to add another in the next five or six months.

“what we’re trying to do here is cremate as many as we have to for our clients and not smoke at all,” ahearne said. “and unfortunately, sometimes we do.”

throughout the pandemic, said gregg busch, funeral service manager at neptune society in tempe, the increased number of covid-related deaths and cremations has forced staff members to work into the night and put employees at risk of covid-19 infection.

“everybody is shorthanded and everybody is struggling to keep up,” busch said.

“organizations like our own – which focus entirely on cremation – have been overwhelmed by the pandemic,” said busch, who has more than 40 years of experience in the funeral industry. “not only just the number of deaths that have occurred but also in the fact that our staff and our employees have many times become infected, which puts us even farther behind with low staffing.”

this wasn’t the first time crematoriums extended hours of operation to keep up with an increased number of deaths, he said, but “nothing compared to this.”

“it was certainly a difficult time during the h1n1 pandemic,” busch said. “the covid-19 pandemic is much more.”

an estimated 151,700 to 575,400 people worldwide died from the h1n1 “swine flu” pandemic in 2009, its first year of circulation, according to the centers for disease control and prevention.

in about the same time, more than 2.5 million people worldwide have died from covid-19, according to the johns hopkins university of medicine.

dove tries to escape the emissions from paradise memorial crematory by keeping her windows and doors shut – or leaving her complex. she has stopped inviting people to her home, and some of her neighbors refrain from using their patios, she said, because they never know when the “smell is going to hit.”

“we’re not unreasonable people,” dove said. “we just need a break from this once in a while. i mean, it’s just continuously going.”

crematorium emissions depend on the materials burned in the chamber, according to a 2020 canadian study, such as natural gas used to fuel incineration chambers and particulate matter and heavy metals, such as trace amounts of mercury from dental fillings.

the cdc says obesity increases likelihood for severe illness and death from covid-19, and bodies weighing more than 200 pounds generate more smoke than those weighing less, ahearne said. paradise memorial crematory processes heavier bodies in the morning and the lighter ones in the afternoon and evening to limit visible pollution.

“the size of people that are dying of covid are larger people,” he said. “weight has a lot to do with the ability to cremate somebody, and when you can cremate them. when you have a lot of heavier people, you do those first thing in the morning.”

no matter the materials burned, or the weight of the deceased, crematoriums are allowed to release smoke visible up to 20% opacity in the air, according to maricopa county air quality regulations.

the hazardous visible aerosol particles, referred to as particulate matter, that crematoriums emit is of “minimal” concern compared with the pollution caused by vehicle traffic or backyard bonfires, said philip mcneely, director of the air quality department.

the county sets crematorium emission standards and includes regulations to test for machine efficiency, times of operation and allows for 2,500 tons, or 5 million pounds, of total material to be burned within a 12-month period. all complaints are individually investigated by the department, mcneely said.

although rare, accidents and machine malfunctions do happen, ahearne said.

a power outage march 2 interrupted an active cremation at paradise memorial and sent black smoke billowing from the chimney for 5 to 10 minutes while the system shut down, ahearne said.

“that was the worst i’ve seen,” he said. “i’ve been doing this for 50 years and it was just terrible. but once it starts, there’s nothing we can do.”

system malfunctions are not unique to paradise memorial crematory and similar situations have been reported at other crematoriums in the phoenix area.

one funeral director in sun city reported a thermocouple, a sensor used to measure temperature, malfunction and told county investigators that “black smoke was visible for about 10 minutes” during a cremation, according to county records. the thermocouple was replaced and the investigation has been closed.

despite unexpected malfunctions and the increased of cremations, the accompanying emissions still have significantly less of an environmental impact on total air quality than unregulated fires that burn at lower temperatures around 600-900 degrees, said leif abrell, an associate research scientist with the arizona laboratory for emerging contaminants at the university of arizona.

burning trash or wood used in a bonfire increases “the potential for other noncarbon dioxide pollutants” to be released into the atmosphere compared to county regulated, high-temperature burning at crematoriums, abrell said.

“that’s why one person burning trash in their backyard at a low temperature can kind of obliterate a whole bunch of work that’s done by other people (operating) at high temperatures according to regulation,” he said.

although vehicle traffic and backyard fires of of greater concern for county regulators, dove and dubner are waiting for relief from both the pandemic and the smoke wafting from the crematorium chimney.

“you can’t be inside during covid,” dove said, “because you’re not supposed to be in a closed area with people, and you can’t sit outside because sooner or later the smell is going to come up.”

ahearne said the number of cremations is incrementally decreasing, and lasting relief may be on the horizon as vaccines reach more arizonans and fewer people test positive for covid-19.

“hopefully this pandemic thing will calm down and get back to kind of normal,” he said.

—

this story originally was published on cronkite news. for more stories, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

phoenix – tourism continues to expand in arizona, a boon for jobs, development and tax revenue, but the growth presents challenges to preserving the natural beauty drawing visitors to the state.

“it just really appears that there is a problem as far as people management,” said alicyn gitlin of the sierra club. “but it’s a fine line because you want people to have access to this place that belongs to all of us.”

the tensions between economic driver and environmental impact are revealed in the numbers of dollars and people, both of which reach into the millions. tourists generate jobs and tax revenue, some of which is spent on advertising to lure even more tourists and build the roads and other infrastructure needed to accommodate them. selfie culture and social media increases such strains as littering and overuse on the most picturesque sites, and visitors forego the excitement of exploring the unfamiliar in favor of social media likes.

in 2018, for the first time in arizona history, more than 45 million tourists generated more than $1 billion in state tax revenue, surpassing the record set the previous year by 8%, according to the arizona office of tourism. these visitors help support about 200,000 jobs and provide $7.4 billion in earnings for arizona workers.

flagstaff is one of the primary destinations for visitors, enticing tourists with its craft beer scene, connection to lunar missions, route 66 nostalgia, proximity to lowell observatory and, above all, its status as a portal to arizona’s natural splendors. the city’s proximity to the grand canyon, the nation’s largest ponderosa pine forest and the red rocks of sedona is a large part of why visitors from across the globe spend more than $500 million each year in flagstaff, according to a 2017-18 tourism study from the arizona office of tourism.

debbie johnson, director of the arizona office of tourism, said tourism spending in arizona reduces each resident’s tax burden by more than $1,300 per year.

“tourism revenue is a big chunk of their government provided services,” johnson said. to maintain their same level of service for residents “in coconino county, it would be $3,000 more a household.”

in flagstaff, 5 million annual visitors provide 8,000 jobs, said meg roederer, spokeswoman for discover flagstaff, the city’s tourism agency. and much of the money collected from the bed, board and beverage tax that tourists pay is spent developing infrastructure to help absorb the increased traffic.

“if you’re dining in our restaurants, if you’re staying in our hotels, you are going to be contributing to our economy,” roederer said. “our parks and recreation department gets a portion of it, public art … and arts and sciences education programming for students.”

some of the money also goes back into the city’s visitor center, tour guides and media operation roederer said.

where’s that tree i saw on instagram?

gitlin, conservation coordinator for the sierra club grand canyon chapter, worries the promotion of natural wonders in arizona could threaten the picturesque wilderness tourists are clambering to see for themselves.

“people are seeing more photos online and they are going to specific locations instead of wandering and distributing themselves around,” gitlin said. “there are a few sites that tend to get a lot of impact.”

gitlin was hesitant to give examples, lest the publicity attract further traffic to the sites, but she did mention end of the world, a popular campsite in coconino national forest. the often promoted site sits at the end of a 29-mile road, which gitlin warns makes proper safety and etiquette even more of a priority.

people crave the experience being sold to them through marketing and advertising, she said. when everyone gravitates to the same locations, the heavy foot traffic may trample the local flora or lead to increased litter.

the power of marketing can pressure local infrastructure beyond its capabilities.

“flagstaff started marketing itself as … arizona’s winter wonderland,” gitlin said. “and all of a sudden, all of these people came up and they wanted to play in the snow. there’s really not a lot of infrastructure to direct people to places where they can safely play in the snow. and so what they end up doing is crowding the highways, crowding the roads, and participating in unsafe activities.”

for gitlin, this advertising problem isn’t limited to tourism boards. the rise of selfie culture and social media plays a huge part in tourists flocking to iconic wilderness sites.

“i’ve heard of hiking guides who have said their clients come in, and they’re like, ‘where’s the tree?’” she said. “you know, the tree that everybody’s got the picture of on instagram?”

some people have noticed this problem and have creatively utilized social media to address it.

“a lot of people i know have recently started using ‘#somewhere,’” gitlin said. “which is, i think, a really nice way of inspiring people to go out and explore on their own.”

she noted that the plugged-in culture can also negate the whole point of visiting these spots for tourists, too.

“that’s not why you’re here – to get to get that one picture,” she said. “people need to visit these areas and be able to turn off their electronics and be in nature. i mean, there’s so many health effects that are being shown from being in places where you’re surrounded by natural landscapes.”

leave no trace

with the museum fire currently burning more than 1,800 acres in the dry lake hills area north of flagstaff and limiting access to many sites in the coconino national forest, gitlin said overcrowded areas are an even greater problem.

still, many of the strains tourists put on nature can be mitigated through education.

“it’s a tricky question, because you want to get people into nature. you want them to learn to love it,” gitlin said. “but you also want them to love it in a way that’s going to leave it better than when they came.”

she wants to see schools teaching respect for nature at an early age; she is even more eager to see adults practice good stewardship.

simple things like sticking to paths, “picking up your trash, taking time to look at the stars, instead of having to have a campfire every time you’re outside,” would go a long way, she said.

“if you do have a campfire, make sure that you have ample water and a shovel on you that you’re able to put it out,” she added. “put your hand on it and make sure that it’s cool to the touch before you leave it, not leaving it burning overnight.”

discover flagstaff is aware of the potential problems with increased tourism and seeks to be proactive, promoting “eco-tourism,” a sustainable approach to visitation.

“as far as preservation of our area and responsible tourism, we do market a ‘stay and play responsibly’ messaging for our visitors,” roederer said. “if you pack it in, you pack it out, you leave no trace.”

discover flagstaff’s website touts many of the city’s environmental accolades, from its water-saving practices to its designation as the u.s. city with the cleanest air by the american lung association. flagstaff is also the first international dark sky city, a recognition of its efforts to curb light pollution. the website also maintains a list of eco-friendly attractions, hotels and restaurants.

discover the new, preserve the old

gitlin said government involvement has led to some positive changes in northern arizona. she cites the rearrangement of the south rim of the grand canyon from a frustrating parking lot into its current configuration as one such success.

“grand canyon created a different system where they built a visitor center that was back off the rim,” gitlin said. “people had to get out of their cars and walk through a plaza and walk by some beautiful monuments and landscape areas.”

this allowed the flow of tourists to be better directed, offsetting problems with overcrowding. it also had other benefits.

“i see people slowing down, taking their time, they’re in a better mood. they’re looking around, they’re enjoying themselves,” gitlin said. “that is a really good success story. because it’s an example of where, instead of trying to promote convenience and failing on it, they went a totally different route and promoted an experience.”

businesses like those on discover flagstaff’s website also play an important role in educating visitors. hotels touting their eco-friendly water practices remind customers to pay attention to their consumption habits, while outdoor companies teach consumers to be good stewards of the land, gitlin said.

improving business, personal practices

still, more could be done.

gitlin wants to see bike companies teach trail etiquette, including staying on trails, to their customers. she also said companies could work sustainability into their business models.

“i would love to see someone start a business in flagstaff, that rent out sleds, and you get a deposit back when you return it because we have a huge issue is broken plastic slides all over the forest,” gitlin said.

otherwise, gitlin wants tourists to use the information available to protect the natural beauty that attracts them, especially if it means putting an end to her biggest pet-peeve.

“throwing their orange peels down,” gitlin said. “it drives me nuts.”

——

this story is part of elemental: covering sustainability, a multimedia collaboration between cronkite news, arizona pbs, kjzz, kpcc, rocky mountain pbs and pbs socal. follow them on twitter.

republished with permission. see the original piece at cronkite news. for more stories from cronkite news, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org. 

washington – democratic lawmakers beat back a series of republican amendments wednesday before advancing bills to restrict mining around the grand canyon and on tribal lands in arizona and new mexico.

in a sometimes emotional meeting, the house natural resources committee gave preliminary approval to bills banning mining on 1 million acres around the grand canyon, taking uranium off the list of “critical minerals” and setting a 10-mile mining buffer around chaco canyon.

the approval came after three hours of attempted amendments by republicans, who said the bills in their current form are doomed in the senate.

“the three bills we are marking up today are going nowhere,” rep. rob bishop, r-utah, said at the opening of the hearing. “they’re not going to be considered in the senate. they’re not going to be signed by the president. we are simply spinning our wheels once again.”

republicans said the mining bills will hurt the local economy while standing in the way of national and economic security for the u.s. as a whole.

but rep. deb haaland, d-new mexico, pointed to the cultural and sacred sites that would be protected by the bills, noting that tourism and outdoor recreation offer greater economic potential for the region than mining would.

“grand canyon national park was responsible for $667 million in consumer spending around the park and supports over 7,000 local jobs,” she said during the hearing, adding that a bureau of land management report found that mining would only support about 295 jobs in the region.

more importantly, haaland said, the measures will protect the health of area residents after decades of mining on the navajo nation left a “toxic burden” that shows up in higher risks of cancer.

“we cannot allow people to suffer from these preventable impacts simply to do the bidding of the mining industry,” she said in a statement released wednesday.

the bills passed out of committee on mostly party-line votes, that followed mostly party-line rejections of 14 amendments, the majority of which were proposed by rep. paul gosar, r-prescott.

gosar argued that the bill prohibiting mining on federal land around the grand canyon alone would mean the loss of up to 4,000 potential jobs and billions of dollars worth of economic activity and tax revenues for the region.

“it’s copper, it’s mining, it’s where you get true wealth to come from,” gosar said.

the uranium bill would reverse a trump administration plan that put it on a list of non-fuel minerals that are critical to the nation’s economy and defense, and could be threatened if imports from other countries were cut off.

president donald trump ordered the departments of interior and defense to develop the list in 2017, and the commerce department last month released a plan for ensuring a reliable supply of the 35 minerals on the list.

gosar at one point offered an amendment to rename the bill the “enhancing soviet and chinese dominance act,” arguing that not having a ready stockpile of uranium runs the risk of making america dependent on potential adversaries.

“making ourselves completely reliant on other countries like russia, china … is exactly why this bill should be changed directly,” gosar said.

but democrats argued that uranium has no place on the list of “non-fuel” minerals the president ordered up and that there are decades of uranium stockpiles available for military needs.

rep. tom o’halleran, d-sedona, said in a statement after the vote that uranium mining “throughout northern arizona has impacted the health and wellbeing of families across the region, and communities are still grappling with the legacy of this activity decades later.”

“we cannot allow these precious lands to be turned over to mining operations that could irreparably harm the area,” said o’halleran, a co-sponsor of the grand canyon mining bill.

grijalva rejected gop claims that not all tribes support the bills, which he said have wide support. he cited a poll that showed the majority of those surveyed support a mining ban around the grand canyon and believe that protecting public lands and waters is essential to the future economy and quality of life in arizona.

“there is national support and there’s certainly support from tribal nations from across this country, and in arizona itself, considerable and strong support,” grijalva said.

——

this story is part of elemental: covering sustainability, a multimedia collaboration between cronkite news, arizona pbs, kjzz, kpcc, rocky mountain pbs and pbs socal. follow them on twitter.

republished with permission. see the original piece at cronkite news. for more stories from cronkite news, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org. 

phoenix – for some metro phoenix residents, the steady drumbeat of fourth of july fireworks were replaced with the high-pitched whine of electric motors as hundreds of drones took to the sky.

for the second fourth in a row, carefree sponsored a swarm of drones bearing led lights in lieu of a more traditional fireworks display. the display was at civana, which is a spa and resort in carefree.

there are several reasons to rely on drones, not the least of which is the risk of fire.

“we wouldn’t be able to do fireworks up in the dry desert like it is now,” mayor les peterson said. “we’re in the throes of year 20 of what could be a 30- to 50-year drought. so there’s no prospect, literally, of us being able to utilize fireworks in the foreseeable future.”

but that’s not the only local consideration driving interest in drone shows.

“up in (the) carefree, cave creek, north scottsdale area, a lot of people have horses, dogs, et cetera, and fireworks scares a lot of the animals,” peterson said. “we’ll have people call us and say, ‘our horses broke out, they were so spooked by fireworks.’

“another one is veterans. we’ve had veterans groups call us and say, ‘for someone with ptsd who’s been in a battlefield situation, the fireworks brings back all kinds of memories.’”

although the drone show is more expensive that traditional pyrotechnics, the mayor said, “they are immensely safer, and both easier on the environment and easier on animals.”

firefly drone shows of detroit put on civana’s fourth of july show. ryan sigmon, the company’s co-founder, said drone shows are the future, but not just because they can go where fireworks can’t. drone displays are more customizable than fireworks, he said.

“a lot of our clients love to do different formations or designs that fit their brand or their story that they’re trying to tell in the sky,” sigmon said. “it’s tough to compare it directly to fireworks because it’s such a different experience.”

the cost of a drone show depends on the production’s size, which can vary from 100 to 300 drones. sigmon wouldn’t give an exact cost but he said the price increases based on the level of customization.

“when we launched the company, our goal was never to revolutionize fireworks or compete against fireworks,” he said. “we definitely saw that there were some environmental aspects to what we did that were a bonus, especially where it comes to places like arizona.”

sigmon said the drone shows are a new form of media, “a new form of nighttime entertainment that has so much creative freedom… that really inspired us and motivated us to work towards this dream.”

——

republished with permission. see the original piece at cronkite news. for more stories from cronkite news, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org. follow them on twitter.

cottonwood, arizona – fighting nature with nature seems like a good idea – unless nature doesn’t care about geography.

today, the effects of a federal decision made 20 years ago to use asian beetles to slow the spread of an invasive shrub across the west are reducing nesting habitat for an endangered songbird – the southwestern willow flycatcher.

the u.s. department of agriculture’s animal and plant health inspection service, introduced tamarisk leaf beetles from china and kazakhstan around the west to kill tamarisk trees, also known as salt cedars. some of the beetles were released near moab in eastern utah.

“the goal of their program was to control tamarisk,” said greg beatty, a biologist with the u.s. fish and wildlife service who has led flycatcher recovery efforts since 1999. “reduce it. kill some plants. i don’t think they anticipated that it would kill all tamarisk, but that it would reduce its abundance.”

the beetles did their job, stripping the tamarisk of its feathery, green canopy, which often kills this fast-growing deciduous shrub. the tamarisk was introduced in the 1800s from eurasia as an ornamental, for use in windbreaks and as a way to control stream-bank erosion.

the aphis program wasn’t supposed to release beetles within 200 miles of where southwestern willow flycatchers nest. the birds can be found throughout the west; in arizona, around roosevelt lake and along the upper gila river. experts calculated even if the beetles migrated south toward arizona, the bugs would not survive the difference in climate.

but beetles don’t follow rules.

“in retrospect,” beatty said, “seems pretty clear there wasn’t really any type of geographical boundary that would have kept them where they were at.”

from the virgin river in southwestern utah and into the grand canyon and its tributaries, the beetles spread into arizona, beatty said.

“it’s happened faster than anybody would have expected because we didn’t expect them to be here,” he said.

tamarisk is reviled across the west. it is notorious for crowding out native vegetation, effectively choking riparian areas, particularly along dammed waterways. some scientists say it hogs water, leaving less for native species, although that’s in dispute. it’s considered a noxious weed in new mexico, montana, south dakota, wyoming and texas.

the usda terminated the biological control program in 2010. but now there’s concern over what will happen to flycatcher habitat in arizona.

the primary nesting habitat for the flycatcher, which was listed as endangered in 1995, is in willow trees surrounding riparian areas. however, researchers have found that flycatchers also use tamarisk.

robin silver, co-founder of the center for biological diversity in tucson, said flycatchers depend on foliage to protect their nestlings from the scorching arizona sun.

“even if there are willows, they’re still dependent on the salt cedar or the tamarisk,” silver said. “so to denude or kill that tamarisk right now is really putting too much on the flycatcher for them to be able to survive long term.”

the songbirds – which are brownish-gray with white wing stripes and measure about 6 inches from beak to tail – are also faithful to their nesting sites, returning year after year.

the birds still are listed as endangered. in an email, beatty said the flycatcher population is measured by territories, which include southern california, arizona, and new mexico. there are 1,200 to 1,600 territories, and the u.s. fish and wildlife service estimates there will be a breeding pair per territory. that puts the number of breeding pairs at 600 to 800.

the center for biological diversity successfully sued aphis in 2013. the court’s ruling found that aphis did not comply with the endangered species act in the conservation of an endangered species.

aphis declined to comment for this story, but the agency did provide documents that state the “greater than anticipated natural and intentional human-assisted movement of the beetle caused it to spread into flycatcher habitat.”

as for the future of the flycatcher, beatty is concerned that habitat loss will have significant impacts.

“i think we’re going to have greater booms and busts … the status of the population will decline as the beetle expands throughout its range.”

——

this story is part of elemental: covering sustainability, a new multimedia collaboration between cronkite news, arizona pbs, kjzz, kpcc, rocky mountain pbs and pbs socal. follow them on twitter.

republished with permission. see the original piece at cronkite news. for more stories from cronkite news, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org. 

soledad, calif. – there is a calming resonance of nature’s finest and subtlest sounds at pinnacles national park. leaves rustle and birds warble as the wind moves between the rolling mountains.

on a good day, park visitors might see california condors circling overhead, with wingspans stretching up to 10 feet.

rachel wolstenholme, condor program manager at pinnacles, carrying telemetry equipment to an outlook, prepared to track these giants of the sky. the park manages 44 condors in the wild and serves as a release site for reintroduction into the wild.

in 1987, condors were on the brink of extinction. all 22 birds remaining in the wild were taken into captive breeding through collaborative programs with the u.s. fish and wildlife service, ventana wildlife society and the peregrine fund.

three decades later, the california condor is slowly rebounding. earlier this fall, four california condors were released at vermillion cliffs national monument in arizona, where around 85 condors live in rugged terrain along the arizona-utah line.

“in fact, this year is really exciting, because this year we had a record number of nests,” said nadya seal faith, conservation and science associate at the santa barbara zoo, which runs a condor recovery program. “in southern california, there was 12. that’s the most of any that we know historically.”

seal faith works closely with condors in captivity, observing their behavioral and social behaviors.

“it’s not only a fascinating species but a fascinating program to work with.” seal faith said. the zoo started to exhibit the condors in 2009.

she says there are now about 500 condors in the world, 300 of which are in the wild.

but the scavengers, which survive off the remains of animals killed by hunters, still battle their leading cause of death: lead poisoning.

“the only issue is that lead ammunition fragments into many, many, many tiny pieces inside a carcass,” wolstenholme said.

she doesn’t want to discourage hunting, but to inform hunters of alternatives to lead ammunition.

“there’s copper bismuth, rifle ammunition,” wolstenholme said. “there’s also steel shot, if people are using lead shot right now, like in a shotgun, there’s steel shot.”

still, wolstenholme hopes california condors will be taken off the endangered species list in the near future.

“i like to say less than a decade. i actually know we can get there sooner. it’s all about making sure that they have a clean food resource,” she said.

in december, pinnacles national park will release three california condors into the wild.

“we’ll open the trap door for them, so they can leave when they’re ready,” wolstenholme said.

joint efforts and successful releases keep her and seal faith motivated.

“it’s just been so collaborative, and it’s been so great to see so many people, you know, wanting this bird to succeed,” seal faith said. “and i think that’s just been really special to be a part of.”

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this story is part of elemental: covering sustainability, a new multimedia collaboration between cronkite news, arizona pbs, kjzz, kpcc, rocky mountain pbs and pbs socal.

republished with permission. see the original piece at cronkite news. for more stories from cronkite news, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org. 

flagstaff – universities in arizona are stepping up how they handle food waste and single-use plastic. all three of the state’s universities have robust composting programs to reduce what ends up in landfills. but northern arizona university has expanded its efforts to include reusable food containers, and it banned plastic straws this year. now, flagstaff businesses are taking similar steps.

“i see all of the plastic in the ocean and i really want to make sure nau isn’t contributing to that at all,” said senior emerald mccormick, chair of the student run organization nau green fund, which provides funding for projects that reduce the university’s environmental impact. the funds come from a fee nau students pay for sustainability.

in january, mccormick implemented a system at all the campus dining halls that allows students to use “green” food containers that resemble takeout containers. students pay a one time $5 fee for a token, which allows them to check out a container. when they’re finished eating, students return the containers to a machine that stores them until they can be washed, and they get their token back.

“a lot of students are really excited for it. that’s why we expanded it all across campus because they kept asking for it,” mccormick said.

not much of the waste from the food containers goes into the trash. at least 90 percent of nau’s dining hall food waste is composted. after four stages of processing, the waste ends up in piles of compost hidden behind campus.

“all that soil just goes back to nau,” said nau campus-dining sustainability coordinator gaby galvan. “we use it on landscaping. we use it in community gardens. we use it in our greenhouses. it goes to the community members. so it’s just all recycled back into our community.”

composting saves the university on garbage disposal costs. last year, more than 300,000 pounds of food waste made it into the compost piles. that number could be more this year, as campus dining now uses straws that are 100% compostable.

galvan said it was “pretty easy” to get rid of small, disposable plastic on campus, “and also at the same time create a behavior change, and get students to start thinking if they really need all of the plastic disposables that they use throughout the day.”

the behavior change is spreading to flagstaff businesses. laura diez is the nau student who wants to get half of flagstaff businesses straw-free by 2020. she also leads the straw free flag campaign, which is an effort to eliminate single-use plastics.

“i really just am looking for some sort of mindfulness around straws. … obviously i hope to see those eradicated pretty soon,” diez said.

one local business, single speed coffee cafe, no longer uses plastic straws. instead, patrons can get a paper straw and pay extra for a plastic cup.

“nau is always going to be a really big influence on all of us and their ban kind of makes it more known to the students as well,” said zachary shouse, manager of single speed. “it kind of starts to be a normal thing as people go around.”

at least 10 businesses have signed the straw free flag pledge, and about 30 businesses now provide straws by request only, diez said.

arizona state university has similar programs in place. food is composted and plastic straws are not available in dining halls.

the university of arizona is exploring alternative straw options, according to trevor ledbetter, who directs the office of sustainability. the university also has a composting program in partnership with tucson.

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this story is part of elemental: covering sustainability, a new multimedia collaboration between cronkite news, arizona pbs, kjzz, kpcc, rocky mountain pbs and pbs socal.

republished with permission. see the original piece at cronkite news. for more stories from cronkite news, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.