BRN 9-4 - Flipbook - Page 60
Empirical data from this study suggests that protected zones
should be at least as large as the San Andres Mountains
chain, about 3,000 km sq. The full details of this study add
greatly to the richness and fabric of human understanding of
an illusive predator, the desert puma. Hopefully this
information will be heard. Scientists Logan and Sweanor
give us all the elements of an extraordinary adventure story
as well. It deserves the wide popular readership enjoyed by
the best of the genre of popular animal stories. All that is
needed is an old-fashioned storyteller.
Note, however, that ÒNew MexicoÓ is a completely artiÞcial
construct based on human politics. When the USGS range
map is viewed, the CookeÕs Peak population is simply an
outlier, at the edge of the range. That, of course, has
implications for the stand because of the political
boundaries drawn by humans.
The specimen sheets in question, accessed via SEINet, are:
' Several specimens including #59488, collected by J.
Von Loh on May 20, 1975, in Upper Ash Canyon of the
San Andres Mountains (32.65744859 -106.4612695
and 32.62689887 -106.5296113 +/-15m.). See
specimen sheet on the following page; and
Bret Snyder MS, Stanford University and DVM, Colorado
State University; Head Veterinarian, Albuquerque
Biological Park, 1977-2000; Continued afÞliation with
the Biological Park as a consultant.
' #5309 collected by Kenneth Heil, Dave Anderson,
and Patrick Alexander on September 9, 2010, at about
the same location as J. Von LohÕs collections
(32.6355333333 -106.5465166667).
This Book Review is provided for free and open access by
the Law Journals at UNM Digital Repository. It has been
accepted for inclusion in Natural Resources Journal by an
authorized editor of UNM Digital Repository.
Readers of this magazine will probably recognize that ÒJ.
Von LohÓ, who made the original collection, made major
contributions to the April 2022 issue of this magazine on
butterßies. Jim noted in his MasterÕs thesis that the trees
Òwere introduced into the canyon some twenty years ago.Ó
That would be in the mid 1950s. On March 8, 2022, he
noted:
Early Settlement and
Arizona Cypress
The July 3, 2022, issue of this journal included an extended
discussion of the relict population of Arizona Cypress,
Cupressus arizonica var. arizonica, found just north of
CookeÕs Peak. A portion of that article is reprinted here
because it ediÞes the issues associated with human
introduced species and the difÞculty sometimes
experienced in distinguishing them from the native ßora of
the area - and in this particular situation, when the
introduced may have been part of the ßora which existed in
the area during the Pleistocene. The following copy of the
2022 article has not been altered. (Ed. update: These plants
have been elevated to full species status: Hesperocyparis
arizonica.)
Òthat was me when I was a puppy at UNM Ð my MS thesis
is: ÒA Floristic Inventory of the San Andres National
Wildlife Refuge, Dona Ana County, NM.Ó (1977). I
would travel in with Refuge Manager, Doyle Day and
grab plant specimens like crazy while he counted desert
bighorns and graded roads with a WWII surplus
bulldozer . . .Ó
On March 14, 2022, Von Loh noted that:
ÒThe people with the most intimate knowledge of
Refuge resources then, and whom I interviewed in 1975,
were Dr. Carlton H. Herbel; Research Leader, Jornada
Experimental Range (Dr. Herbal maintained and allowed
me access to a small herbarium collection at JER) and
SANWR Manager, Mr. Doyle Day (by agreement with
WSMR and NWRS, Doyle was required to accompany me
into SANWR for my specimen/ photography collecting
trips or access would be denied - he was a treasure-trove
of local and Refuge knowledge). They were my most
likely sources for this Arizona cypress information.Ó
Arizona Cypress in Ash Canyon
San Andres Mountains
As noted above, the population of Arizona Cypress in Ash
Canyon, in the San Andres Mountains which border White
Sands to the west, are believed to be introduced. Since
discussions of this group of trees comes up periodically it is
worth spending some time discussing it.
The question usually arises because of specimens in the
University of New Mexico Herbarium collection, collected by
J. Von Loh and others. Here we discuss the history of these
specimens and how the determination was made that this
population was initially planted by humans.
Over the years, the trees at this site have been observed by
various naturalists, Anderson, Hall, Alexander, Logan, and
Allred for starters.
Ken Logan and Linda SweanorÕs book, Desert Puma:
Evolutionary Ecology And Conservation Of An Enduring
Carnivore, is based on their years of experience doing
Mountain Lion research in the San Andres Mountains. In
correspondence of March 5, 2022, Logan noted that:
It can be difÞcult, at times, to determine if a specimen is
native to the area in question or has been introduced by
human actions. In general, if specimens are located at
human habitations or areas of human activity, but nowhere
else, they are assumed to be introduced.
ÒWhen we were there, that part of Ash Canyon had high
puma travel, so we consistently ran a snare line there. I
vaguely remember crawling on my hands & knees under
the dense growth at the upper reaches of the spring
ßow and encountering those strange cones.Ó
Applying this rule results in a conclusion that only the
CookeÕs Peak stand of Arizona Cypress is native to New
Mexico, as Richard Felger concluded, (see above).
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