The Arizona Game and Fish Department recently acquired the Horseshoe Ranch, located south of Cordes Junction and east of I-17 in the Bloody Basin area. The approximately 200-acre ranch is located adjacent to the Agua Fria River and is surrounded by expansive desert grassland mesas transected by streams and riparian habitats. There are grazing allotments on about 70,000 acres of federal lands that would be managed through a coordinated resource management planning process authorized by an MOU between Game and Fish, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Tonto National Forest.

The ranch property and allotments would be managed toward goals that ultimately strive for long-term sustainability of native wildlife populations, native habitats, public access to open space, outdoor education and recreation opportunity, and the tradition of ranching in central Arizona.

Horseshoe Ranch Management Plan

The Department has solicited input from the public on potential management alternatives for the ranch. Three public meetings were held in early October. If you didn’t have a chance to attend one of the public meetings, you can still view the fact sheet and powerpoint presentation at the links below.

Comments from the public meetings are being reviewed and incorporated into a proposed alternative.

• View the fact sheet
  
• Horseshoe Ranch powerpoint [presentation]
  
• Download a 'resource values' comment form
  
• Download a 'management model preference' comment form

Results of the community-based process

Based on the public/stakeholder input, a hybrid model was chosen that incorporates important resource values/management opportunities. This model would utilize the property for outreach, education, recreation and public access, as well as serving as the base property for livestock operations on the Horseshoe and Copper Creek Allotments pursuant to Inter-agency and Cooperative Agreements previously approved by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. This model would allow for a diversity of activities and interests to allow for maximum opportunity to benefit a broad array of users/groups. The model would also provide for uses that preserve the purposes for which the property was acquired (i.e. fish and wildlife habitats, public access to open space, outdoor education and recreation, ranching tradition).

Management Planning Process Results

The Coordinated Resource Management Planning Process for the Horseshoe-Copper Creek Allotments

The Horseshoe Ranch, recently purchased by the Department, is the base property for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Agua Fria National Monument Horseshoe grazing allotment and the US Forest Service Tonto National Forest (TNF) Copper Creek grazing allotment, which are managed jointly. 

The three agencies are creating a tri-agency Coordinated Resource Management Plan (CRMP) for the two allotments. The CRMP planning process is a public collaborative process designed to engage all interested publics/stakeholders in the identification of local resource needs/opportunities, assist agencies in the collection of resource data, assist in the development of alternatives that address these needs/opportunities, and to encourage participation on long-term resource working groups.

The Horseshoe-Copper Creek CRMP Website.