| Cluff
Ranch Wildlife Area |
| |
 Cluff
Ranch Wildlife Area was formed on December
28, 1949 when the Arizona Game and Fish Department
(Department) acquired 240 acres from the
General Services Administration. The Department
added 200 acres on September 18, 1967 and
308 acres on September 27, 1988 by patents
from the Bureau of Land Management. These
748 acres were acquired at no significant
cost to the Department. On March 18, 1985,
the Department acquired the remaining 40
acres for $23,240 with funding associated
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Federal Aid Program (Pittman-Robinson Wildlife
Restoration Act). Cluff Ranch Wildlife Area
is located five miles south of Pima on Ash
Creek.
- View a map of this wildlife
area
Narrative Description
and Vegetation Types
Cluff Ranch Wildlife Area lies at the base of the north slopes of the Pinaleno
Mountains at an elevation of 3,000 feet. The topography is gently sloping
and intersected by Ash Creek, with low-lying desert mesas extending from
the mountain to the southern half of the area. The 788 acre Cluff Ranch
Wildlife Area includes: 1) cottonwood-willow riparian woodland habitat
(28%) along Ash Creek which is well developed and represents vegetative
communities originally found along the upper Gila River; 2) agricultural
fields (22%); 3) wetlands and ponds (1%); 4) upland habitat (49%); 5) Two
impoundments totaling 14 surface acres with a capacity of 150 acre-feet,
a water right for 1,223.48 acre-feet per year from Ash Creek with a 1912
priority date which is appurtenant to 137 acres of irrigated fields; and
6) three residence buildings, one office building, two storage buildings,
two barns, one fuel storage area with three fuel tanks, fence, wells, ponds,
ditches and pipelines.
Management Objective
Goals
To optimize the potential of the area as wildlife habitat. To promote us
of the area for present and future generations for public hunting, fishing,
wildlife viewing, education and other wildlife oriented recreation.
Public Use Opportunities
and Resource Management Emphasis
The current management emphasis for Cluff Ranch Wildlife Area is fishing
for warm and cold water species, hunting of upland small game (mourning
and white-winged doves, Gambel quail and cottontail rabbits), big game
hunting (archery hunting for deer and javelina). Other wildlife oriented
recreation uses such as wildlife watching; photography, and environmental
education may play a greater role in Cluff Ranch Wildlife Area management
in the future as new programs are developed and existing programs enhanced.
Wildlife Species
Populations of upland bird and small game species including, mourning and
white-winged doves (Zenaida macroura and Z. asiatica), Gambel quail (Callipepla
gambelii) and cottontail rabbit flourish (Sylvilagus spp.) at Cluff Ranch
Wildlife Area. A healthy population of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
and limited numbers of mule deer (O. hemionus) also use CRWA. A diverse
assemblage of non-game birds including several species of raptors, and
riparian and wetland associated birds are represented on the wildlife area.
The ponds at Cluff Ranch Wildlife Area support a productive warm water
fishery including largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), black crappie
(Pomoxis nigromaculatus), bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), channel
catfish (Ictalurus pinctatus) and black bullhead (Ameiurus melas). The
ponds are also stocked with catchable rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
during the winter months.
Special status species occurring on or near the Cluff Ranch Wildlife Area
have been identified through the Department's Heritage Data Management
System, and are listed below.
| Special
Status Species - Species
Abstracts | Status
Codes |
| Common
Name |
Scientific
Name |
Status |
| Birds [View
abstracts] |
| American
peregrine falcon |
Falco
peregrinus anatum |
SC,S,WSC |
| Mammals [View
abstracts] |
| Cave
myotis |
Myotis
velifer |
SC,S1 |
| Greater
Western mastiff bat |
Eumops
perotis californicus |
SC |
| Plants [View
abstracts] |
| Arizona
alum root |
Heuchera
glomerata |
S |
| Branching
penstemon |
Penstemon
ramosus |
S |
|
|
|
| |
| back
to top |
|
|
|
| Related
AZGFD Info |
 |
|
|
| |
|
| External
Resources [More] |
|
|
|
 |
| NOTE:
External sites will open in a new browser
window. |
|
| |
|
