Wildlife Specialist report

juniper, and then Piñon-juniper woodlands are the next community down on the elevation
gradient. The semi-desert zones at lower elevations include mesquite, yucca, cacti, desert
ceanothus, beargrass, and black grama in the various communities. Riparian zones range
from the alder-narrow leaf cottonwood zones in higher elevations to sycamore-walnutboxelder
and Fremont cottonwood zones at the lower elevations. Data from a recent midscale
vegetation mapping project was used to summarize the acres of the different
vegetation types on the forest (Table 2):
Table 2: Primary vegetation types on the Forest
Vegetation Type
USFS
Acres
Non-Wilderness
Acres Wilderness Acres
Spruce - Fir 2540.41 0.00 2540.41
Mixed Conifer 163916.45 84337.23 79579.22
Ponderosa Pine 1177746.00 905500.46 272245.55
Pinyon Juniper/Shrub Oak Woodland 1643096.46 1228044.12 415052.35
Plains Grassland/Mountain Grassland 227231.69 217998.45 9233.24
Desert Shrub/Grassland 18138.20 17446.93 691.27
Sparsely Vegetated 5744.84 3874.06 1870.78
Lake 269.00 269.00 0.00
Wet Meadow/Wetland 423.29 384.51 38.78
High Riparian 6387.25 3474.78 2912.47
Mid Riparian 10870.67 6918.44 3952.23
Low Riparian 10862.33 6672.37 4189.96
Sum 3267226.59 2474920.36 792306.24
The diverse topography, elevations, and climatic conditions on the Gila National Forest
create a diversity of landforms and plant and animal habitats.
Several federally listed threatened and endangered species occur on the forest. Federally
listed terrestrial species include the Mexican Spotted Owl, Southwestern Willow
Flycatcher, Chiricahua leopard frog, and the Mexican gray wolf.
In January 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published the Final Rule that allowed
for the establishment of a Non-Essential Experimental Population of the Mexican gray
wolf on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona and the Gila National Forest.
As part of the Mexican Gray Wolf Reintroduction Program, the wolf has been
translocated onto the Gila National Forest.
Biological study of the Gila National Forest first started in October of 1846, when Emory
(1848) made observations and collected specimens there en route between the Rio
Grande and San Diego, California (Hubbard 1977). Hubbard 1977 reports that various
biologists visited the area to collect specimens and carry out research, including members
of the U.S. Biological Survey in the period 1906 to 1913. Hubbard (1977) documents
that the first attempt to summarize this biological information appears by said author in
1968. Zimmerman (1968) expanded considerably on the available information related to
the bird fauna of the Gila River Valley.
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