1. Santa Fe County Focal Species Workshop Thank you all for participating with a special thanks to: –Santa Fe County –NM Department of Game and Fish –The Nature Conservancy –Earth Works Institute & Pathways –New Mexico State University –Federal, State and Community Galisteo Watershed Partners

2. Galisteo Watershed Partnership This Focal Species effort started with the Galisteo Watershed Partnership (GWP): –The GWP was formed in 2005 as a network of Federal, State, County and Community partners –In 2008 it hosted two meetings on wildlife in the Watershed –From those meetings the Galisteo Watershed Wildlife Corridor Group was formed.

3. Galisteo Watershed Wildlife Corridor Group The Galisteo Watershed Wildlife Corridor Group worked on: –Letter to the Governor sent on 6/23/08 proposing the Galisteo Basin Wildlife Corridor –Collaborating with Santa Fe County to define the Corridor –Developing an approach to help the County identify wildlife, habitat and corridors

4. Galisteo Wildlife Corridor Study

5. Santa Fe County General Plan The Oil and Gas Element of the Santa Fe County General Plan calls for protecting wildlife by: –Preserving wildlife habitat and migration corridors –Promoting biodiversity in rural areas of the County –Increasing data on wildlife and its habitat resources.

6. Oil and Gas Element Bird Richness Based on 324 Species

7. Oil and Gas Element Mammal Richness Based on 138 Species

8. Setting Santa Fe County Conservation Priorities To integrate wildlife into its conservation priorities, Santa Fe County needed: –Identification of Focal Species based on a defensible method –Identification and revision of predicted habitat for each of those Focal Species –Identification of possible corridors within and across its boundaries for Focal Species –Establishing ongoing data collection to updated and validate its conservation priorities.

9. The Simplified View –Community & Professionals –Focal Species Identification –Potential Key Habitat Modeling –Preliminary Conservation Priorities –Community & Professional Data Collection –Wildlife Corridor Modeling –Ongoing Community Revisions

10. Focal Species Defined Focal Species : A group of species selected for a particular purpose or study (Eycott, Watts, Moseley, & Ray, 2007), in this case, for setting conservation priorities in Santa Fe County. Please keep in mind that this is a community/volunteer effort.Focal Species : A group of species selected for a particular purpose or study (Eycott, Watts, Moseley, & Ray, 2007), in this case, for setting conservation priorities in Santa Fe County. Please keep in mind that this is a community/volunteer effort.

11. Focal Species and Habitat The approach being proposed for and tested in Phase 1 is based on: 1.Specification and prioritization of Focal Species 2.Modeling predicted habitats based on the Southwest Regional Gap Analysis Project (SWReGAP) data 3.Revising the key habitat patches based on additional soil, vegetation and wetlands data specific to the Galisteo Watershed.

12. SWReGAP Predicted Habitat

15. Selecting Focal Species Step 1 First, BISON-M was used to gather the 621 in Santa Fe County. From that list, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals (those in SWReGAP) were selected that met one or more of the following criteria: –Federal Endangered or Threatened –NM Endangered or Threatened –NM Species of Greatest Conservation Need –Pueblo Tribes: Cultural Importance

16. Selecting Focal Species Step 2: Today The above filtering results in 91 species that were compared against a list of all species in Santa Fe County designated as Demonstrably Secure. –Removing the Demonstrably Secure species from the 91 results in the 59 species. –This list will be used as a starting point today for the rating process at the Focal Species Workshop.

17. Species Deleted from the 63

18. Selecting Focal Species Step 3: Today The Focal Species Workshop will: 1.Present an overview of Species of Greatest Conservation Need in SF County 2.Provide you with an opportunity to add/delete species that are Vulnerable or have Ecological Significance 3.Present an overview of Cultural Importance 4.Provide you with an opportunity to add/delete species that have cultural or economic importance 5.Have you rate up to 70 species on Vulnerability, Ecological Significance and Cultural Importance.

19. Time Considerations Time is limited today and we have a lot to accomplish. To help with this, please: –Keep comments focused on adding/deleting species to/from Rating List –Give everyone a chance to participate before making a second comment –We will all vote on additions/deletions before the BREAK –Save most questions for the BREAK

20. Selecting Focal Species Step 4 Santa Fe County will work with NMSU to: –Analyze your ratings data and identify the top 15 for their first round of Focal Species –Review SWReGAP models for those Focal Species and identify additional data with the initial focus on the Galisteo Watershed –Revise predicted habitat for the Galisteo Watershed and then for the rest of SF County –Specify additional data (like tracking data) that can be collected and verified to support and adjust habitat models.

21. Future Steps We invite all participants to help SF County: –In the February 23 GIS Workshop with Ken Boykin from NMSU –Develop and promote an ongoing process to update focal species and conservation priorities –Develop community and scientifically based wildlife data collection activities –Refine these methods so that they can be used by other wildlife corridor and county efforts in New Mexico.