My Turn: Arizona's Kaibab Plateau needs monument status

I recently returned “home” to visit the Kaibab Plateau north of the Grand Canyon, 40 years after my first visit at the start of a budding career in wildlife management.  The Plateau, or “Mountain Lying Down” to area Paiute tribe members, is the centerpiece of the proposed Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument.

My 29-year stint working for the Arizona Game and Fish Department began on the Plateau researching its mountain lion and mule deer populations. Back then, I had no benchmark against which to fully appreciate the Kaibab Plateau. Today, after a long career that has recently taken me to work in some of the world’s most biologically rich environs, I’ve gained a newfound and profound appreciation for the Plateau’s biodiversity.

Many factors contribute to the Plateau’s high biodiversity — its great elevational relief and remarkable geology, combined with its location at the crossroads of multiple biogeographic provinces, all interacting to create a diverse mix ranging from low-elevation desert scrub to high-elevation spruce-fir forests.

A window of understanding

Most impressive, however, are the Plateau’s extensive old-growth ponderosa pine forests, widely recognized as being some of the most exceptional remaining within the species’ entire range. Today, nearly half of this old growth remains. This forest gives us our best window into understanding the ecological complexity of these forests that are vital to the survival of a multitude of wildlife species.

Of the many species dependent on the Plateau’s ponderosa forests, none is more unique than the Kaibab squirrel. The plateau’s geographic isolation led to divergent evolution of the Kaibab squirrel, one of the best living examples of this evolutionary process in North America. Also unique among all North American squirrels is their reliance on a single tree species, the ponderosa pine. The squirrels are a vital cog in a highly evolved symbiotic relationship among squirrels, underground fungi and ponderosa pine. Not coincidentally, the area also supports the largest concentration of sensitive northern goshawks anywhere in North America.

One of the biggest challenges facing the Kaibab Plateau is restoring the health of its ponderosa pine forests that have been altered by past logging and interruption of natural fire cycles, exacerbated by stress from drought and climate change.

A need to preserve

Sadly, federal funding for extensive and proactive forest-restoration treatments across the Southwest has lagged in spite of broad consensus that this is a priority. A decade of my research informed us of the vital need to preserve remaining mature, old-growth ponderosas. But there is a propensity to fund “restoration” treatments here by harvesting large trees, while implementing effective mosaics adds cost to treatment that are already underfunded. I see national-monument status as adding impetus to actually securing funding for true, science-based restoration of the Plateau’s ponderosa pine forests.

The past 15 years of my career have focused on helping promote connectivity across the Southwest. National-monument status would help ensure that the Kaibab Plateau continues to serve its vital role as a migration corridor for far-ranging wildlife and reservoir of regional biodiversity. Aldo Leopold, founder of modern wildlife management, urged us to “think like a mountain” to fully appreciate the intricate and profound interconnectedness found within ecosystems and landscapes. It’s time for us as a society to think like a mountain, even one lying down, and support creation of the Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument.

Norris Dodd is a practicing wildlife biologist who spent nearly three decades working at the Arizona Game and Fish Department, where his career began conducting extensive on-the-ground wildlife research within the proposed Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument.