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Tourism and Recreation
Case in Point: Valued recreational areas within
the Chiricahua
Mountains study area were lost in 1994 as a
result of the Rattlesnake fire. The 27,500 acre fire destroyed
much of Southern Arizona's black bear habitat, torched nesting
sites in an internationally known bird haven (the Chiricahuas
are home to species such as the threatened Mexican
spotted owl and the northern goshawk), and killed all the
trout in the upper South Fork of Cave Creek. Rucker Lake,
the only fishing lake in the Chiricahua Mountains and a popular
fishing spot for rainbow trout, was completely eliminated.
About three-quarters of the 100 miles of wilderness trails
-- used heavily by hikers, backpackers, and birders, were
destroyed by the fire subsequent erosion. Tourism and recreation constitute increasingly
important sectors within local and state economies. Recreation
in the nearby mountains is popular to residents and visitors
alike. Destructive wildfires may disrupt recreational activities
for decades or more, and may permanently destroy the very
things that made certain places highly valued. The capability
to evaluate the risk under different scenarios of losing
important places, features, species, habitat, ecosystems,
and so on, may help assure that these values are protected.
Recreation Survey Results
Coronado
National Forest,
National Visitor Use Monitoring
Results, August 2002
Santa
Fe National Forest, National Visitor Use
Monitoring Results, June 2004
Tourism
in the Tucson Metropolitan Area
Birding in Southern Arizona
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