Tucson Weekly: Fish Story (January 8

In The Middle Of The Desert, It's Still Possible To Net A Few.
By Kevin Franklin
THE DESERT ENVIRONMENT can be a tough place to eke out a living, especially if you're a fish.
In the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge in the far southeastern corner of the state, a few native fish survive in 10 man-maintained ponds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service preserves these populations in the hope that, one day, riparian areas in the neighboring drainages will be able to maintain wild populations of desert fish.
Review A few volunteers from the Arizona League of Conservation Voters Habitat Fund have come out to lend a hand to the Fish and Wildlife Service in an surveying the fish population.
The basic idea involves a seining net: A thin mesh net about 10 feet long and four feet high is held down on the bottom by small weights and tied on each end to a pole. Operated by two people, the poles are pulled along in shallow water just like a hand-held version of a fishing trawler net.
Today we're trying to drag our seines through the ponds and count the number and diversity of fish we catch--and then return them unharmed to their pool. With this information Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Tony Velasco can keep tabs on what's happening to his gilled charges. Yaqui top minnows, Yaqui chubs and Yaqui catfish are all endemic to San Bernardino. The beautiful shiner fish also lives here. Since the entire staff at San Bernardino can be counted on one hand, it's difficult for Velasco to find anyone with free time to help with the survey. This is where we step in.
Velasco provides a quick lesson in operating a seining net. Struggling into waist-high waders, volunteer Luke Evans and I push through the cattails lining the bank to the murky depths of one of the pools. The waders keeps us dry, but the water is ice cold. Pockets of muck and fallen tree branches do their best to topple us over into the frigid water.
Luke and I pull up our seine. It's teeming with fish. We set about counting the different species.
For the most part, the ponds are artificially maintained, but once the San Bernardino Valley contained an extensive cienega, or swamp, and perennially flowing streams. Late in the 19th century, hundreds of thousands of cattle were brought to the area and proceeded to strip the land of its water-holding vegetation. Then in 1887, an earthquake struck just south of here in Mexico and shifted the flow of water in the area. To add insult to injury, a drought struck that next year, and soon the once-lush valley became a barren moonscape of erosion and denuded vegetation. Black Draw, the main drainage in the area that once flowed year-round, cut deeply into its banks--dropping 12 feet. The Draw stopped flowing and only a few boggy pools remained.
Eventually the drought passed and many of the cattle either died or were removed from the land. The chubs, top minnows, shiners and catfish struggled along--their numbers dwindling until the top minnow and chub were listed as endangered and the others were listed as threatened. Then in 1982, the Fish and Wildlife Service purchased about 23,000 acres. This became the core of the San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge.
Black Draw is still deeply incised and rarely runs, but the surrounding habitat is coming back. Refuge personnel are planting native grasses while neighboring cattle ranches are adopting progressive ranching techniques which allow the land to recover. One day Velasco hopes Black Draw will run again.
"The healing is going to come in with the rest of the valley," Velasco says. "If in 30 years when this stream heals up and isn't incut by 12 feet, maybe just six feet, and we get a perennial flow again, then maybe we can reintroduce the fish to natural habitat. It's going to be a lifetime project. If I can get the same kind of satisfaction from this as those folks did releasing the California Condor, then it will all be worth it."

Getting There

The San Bernardino Wildlife Refuge is just east of Douglas. Call (520) 364-2104 to get a free permit to enter the otherwise locked refuge. The Arizona League of Conservation Voters is always looking for volunteers. Call them at 622-2819 to find out more.

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