The Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan for Kids.

For several decades, Pima County in southern Arizona has experienced rapid population growth. At the same time, the Sonoran Desert is identified by the Nature Conservancy as one of the world's most important ecological regions. Due to the correlation between growth and the consumption of natural resources, the Pima County Board of Supervisors decided in 1998 to launch a Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.

The area to be covered in the plan, nearly 6 million acres (2.4 million hectares), includes the Tucson metropolitan area, two major eco-regions (the "Sky Islands" and the Sonoran Desert), the second largest Native American nation, and 850,000 residents from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Because of the numerous endangered, threatened, and vulnerable plant and animal species in this area, the effort is being designed to incorporate a multi-species habitat conservation plan and incidental take permit under section 10 of the Endangered Species Act.

More than 400 experts in various disciplines, 80 members of a steering committee, and 14 government agencies collaborated to gather scientific data that led to the adoption of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan as part of Pima County's land use plan in 2001. In 2004, we completed the draft Pima County Multi-Species Conservation Plan.

But that's only half of the story. Since 2001, more than 10,000 kids have participated in a companion project, the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan for Kids. The Kids Plan is the result of a broad cooperative effort on the part of schools, non-profit organizations, volunteers, and, primarily, the kids themselves.

Kids have been in the lead as the organizers of the annual Teen Summit, a student-led fair involving area high schools that encourages and facilitates community services, continuing education, and career opportunities in natural resource conservation.

There is a Sonoran Desert Kids Club for the younger participants, who create art and work with coloring books, fact sheets, and games based on information from the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan, translated for this audience.

The Kids Plan includes workshops and field trips, which are organized and conducted by the head of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan for Kids, Wendy Burroughs. Ms. Burroughs launched and developed the Kids Plan, and it owes its success to her energy and ideas, combined with the efforts of her many collaborators.

Kids are in charge of the graphic designs and images of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan for Kids. The web-based art gallery includes habitat maps and species illustrations by the participants. The lead artist is Austin Fetter, a high school student who has worked as part of Pima County's Summer Youth Program for a number of years. He has created over 100 images and cartoons that capture the spirit and fun of the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan for Kids, including the ones accompanying this article. To see his images and a lot more, visit the Sonoran Desert Kids web page at http://www.co.pima.az.us/cmo/sdcp/kids.html.

In terms of public process, the Kids Plan has been a wonderful model. During a recent Teen Summit, when bus loads of students who did not speak English showed up at the last minute, the kids figured out how to overcome communication problems: everyone was paired with a bilingual teen from Tucson. No NEPA guidelines are needed to instruct these innovators how to be inclusive and open. Enthusiasm and their love of the subject carry the project.

From lessons learned through the Kids' Plan, the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan process has learned more about how the community can become knowledgeable and empowered in natural and cultural resource protection issues. We recommend inviting kids into the planning process as participants and advisors as early as possible.

Maeveen Behan, Assistant to the Pima County Administrator, is the Project Director for the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. She can be reached at [e-mail] or by calling 520/740-8015.