2014 30 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
Arizona Forward
Moving Arizona
forward Economic growth and the movement toward healthy communities go hand-in-hand
B
y the time you’re reading this, the election may be over – no more TV ads, random phone calls and finger pointing. I’m guessing that’s a relief to most of us! Here’s something inspiring to think about. Through all the campaigning of the past year, many Arizonans throughout the Grand Canyon State were busy working on solutions to complex natural resource issues in bipartisan circles comprised of diverse interests and industry sectors. They represent large companies and small businesses, cities and towns, educational institutions and a host of concerned citizens. Their common denominator is a shared interest in advocating for Arizona’s environmental quality and economic vitality. They are the voice of balance. And, they’re delivering their holistic sustainability message through Arizona Forward. Now celebrating 45 years of operation, Arizona Forward is the state’s oldest new organization, Diane Brossart having just taken its mission Arizona Forward statewide last year. Four major counties are now involved, including Pinal, Pima, Coconino and Maricopa. The high level support of Apollo Education Group, Inc. /University of Phoenix and founding participation of Arizona State University is now bolstered by new participation from the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. The historic association of the city of Phoenix has expanded to new involvement by the cities of Tucson, Casa Grande, Gila Bend, Sedona and Jerome, as well as the Town of Clarkdale. But Arizona Forward is first and foremost a business-based organization. Its members understand that economic growth and environmental excellence go hand-in-hand. Not only can you have both but sustainable design depends on it. Over the past four-and-a-half decades, Arizona Forward’s basic agenda hasn’t changed much. It includes land use planning and open space; transportation and air quality; water; canalspace; energy; and a newly added area of focus in healthy forest ecosystems. All of these efforts fall under the umbrella theme of “healthy communities.”
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There are no signs stating it, but this organization has had a significant influence, from the revitalization of Rio Salado in its early years to a Canalscape initiative that embraces the Valley’s vast network of canals as place-makers. And from ribbons of freeway to light rail transit connecting Valley communities and a new streetcar in Tucson, Arizona Forward and Valley Forward before it has been there. But there’s much more ahead. Unprecedented droughts and growing human demands on the Colorado River Basin have highlighted the vulnerability of Arizona’s water supply. The hardest-working river in the West was recently named the No. 1 most endangered river in the nation. This dramatic reality opens the door to real conversation about essential changes in water policy, conservation and sustainability. Our state’s forests are critical to the water supply of millions of Arizonans, billions of dollars of agricultural production and vast economic activity. We have to work together to reduce the risk of wildfires, proactively treat our forests and protect our watersheds. Preservation of forests and grasslands is the key to preserving the water cycle, biodiversity and our way of life. New regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed “Clean Power Plan” pose serious challenges for Arizona. Carbon pollution standards for the electricity sector forces an energy transition in 2.5 years or less, and Arizona must achieve more emission reductions than any other state by 2020. Indeed, the movement toward healthy communities is evolving across the globe. Arizona is no exception. Arizona Forward is dedicated to convening public and private sector influencers from around the state to encourage healthy community initiatives. We’re helping to mentor the next generation of stewards through our EarthFest Educators Night program for K-12 teachers. We believe it’s every Arizonan’s responsibility – regardless of political affiliation, industry sector or demographics – to be vested in making our state the best place in America to live, work and recreate.
Diane Brossart is President and CEO of Arizona Forward.
ASU tuition is among the lowest in the nation What does that mean? • It means that over 80 percent of ASU students receive $1 billion in financial aid every year. • It means that ASU is an excellent investment at an affordable cost. • It means that our students graduate with less student debt than most in the nation, empowering them to pursue a better life with the education and experience they've gained at ASU.
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Arizona Forward
Creating an
urban oasis Canalscape project aims to transform canals into a hotbed for recreation, socialization and connectivity By LORIN PARKHURST
W
ater-front property in Arizona that’s been 1,300 years in the making? Not in the foreseeable future. But Phoenix residents can expect attractive canal-front properties and attractions thanks to Canalscape. The idea of transforming the Valley’s canal system into place-makers for recreation and social interaction is gaining significant traction. Arizona Forward has been working on a specific project along the Grand Canal within the school communities of Brophy, Xavier, St. Francis and Central High. The project involves a diverse group of stakeholders, including the City of Phoenix, SRP, ASU and the private sector. It will be a demonstration project for sustainable development engaging the canals. “This project has been around for many years in various forms,” says Kerry Wilcoxon, traffic engineer for the City of Phoenix. “The vision for Canalscape came from the work of Arizona Forward. The plan for a contiguous series of street crossings was developed in parallel with Phoenix Streets. Canalscape was also widely discussed during the recent REInventPHX community charrettes. The City of 116 AB | November-December 2014
PHOTOS BY SHAVONRose, AZ BIg MEDIA
Phoenix and Arizona Forward are now working on the project together.” This important initiative presents a significant opportunity to boldly shape our environment. Canalscape uniquely intersperses urban vitality into our majestic landscape, offering an alternative to sprawl, quality places to gather, beautiful and comfortable recreational corridors, alternative transportation routes throughout the region (walking or biking instead of driving) and homegrown non-polluting energy for local use. “The goal of the project is for our canal system to re-emerge and re-appear in the urban landscape as a vibrant, accessible, safe and inspired urban ecosystem services corridor — water, wildlife, nature and people,” says Lynette Pollari, owner of Thompson + Pollari, Planning and Architecture and chair of Arizona Forward’s Canalscape committee.
Blueprint for success
Cities including San Antonio (5 miles), Indianapolis (3 miles), Oklahoma City (1 mile) and Venice, Calif., have
Lynette Pollari
Stephen Thompson
developed successful canal developments. “In San Antonio it can be said that the Riverwalk, a relatively short section of the San Antonio River, is the signature landmark of the city,” says Stephen Thompson, partner with Thompson Pollari Studio. “Tourist income, especially in San Antonio, is significant.” Thompson points out, though, that only Phoenix can boast over 180 miles of canals. The Hohokam dug the first canals about 1,300 years ago to water their corn, beans and squash. Today, canals that are maintained by SRP were put there to bring water to thirsty acres of alfalfa, cotton, citrus and dates. Although there are a few pumping stations along the way, nearly all the system operates on the principle that water flows downhill. “Phoenicians have to accept that the process of canal improvements must be entertained over many years and with the understanding that some portions of canal will prosper as thoroughfares,” says Thompson, “while other locations will form activity nodes responding to specific neighborhood development.” According to SRP, there are currently about 51 miles of canal bank pathways throughout the Valley. These canal bank trails are primarily used as recreational trails. Although some
Chris Wass
Kerry Wilcoxon
have crossing treatments at street crossings — traffic signals, HAWKs (High-Intensity Activated crossWalK beacon) or crosswalks — many don’t. In addition, the roads many of the canal paths cross have relatively few cars on them. However, Wilcoxon ensures that the Canalscape project will have signals or HAWKs installed at each of the major street crossings to allow trail users to stay on the trail and eventually walk or bike all the way to Tempe Town Lake.
Making strides
“The City of Phoenix has made improvements to parts of the Arizona Canal near Sunnyslope and the Highline in south Phoenix,” says Chris Wass, founder of Firefly Real Estate and vice chair of Arizona Forward’s Canalscape committee. “The canals that have been enhanced greatly contribute to neighborhood life, with residents and businesses alike embracing them.” Wilcoxon adds, “The thing that makes the Canalscape project different is that we are designing a bicycle and pedestrian commuter trail that will allow people to use the canal banks and the street crossing points to get to and from work, school AB | November-December 2014
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Arizona Forward and shopping in the busy central core of Phoenix. The project focuses on connectivity with the light rail, transit, retail and neighborhood links throughout the project area.” Residents can expect to see more and more energy and excitement about the project in the next several years. Residents can also expect to see new, exciting projects that are using the canal as an important amenity that can enhance development projects and fiscal sustainability. Pollari cites the O.H.S.O Eatery in the Arcadia neighborhood on Indian School as a prime example — it’s a modest restaurant that has become a community hot spot” because of the restaurant’s connection to the canal bank. The first steps of the Canalscape project have been happening for several years, with great canal-oriented projects accomplished by the City of Scottsdale and other municipalities. According to Pollari, the City of Phoenix’s Canalscape Phase One will create a high visibility pilot project for enhancing the Grand Canal and its crossings. Inspired and safe crossings are a critical component of the overall plan.
Changing the perception
Thompson notes that nothing is inviting until you provide access and purpose to its course. “Housing neighborhoods need to adopt positive frontage with canals and the pedestrian opportunities they represent,” he says. “Those who fear development should consider current research indicating that newly developed pedestrian thoroughfares experience dramatically reduced crime rates due to the added eyes of the public. Neighborhoods are more prone to success when they are linked to adjoining neighborhoods with transportation and pedestrian pathways that allow for differing local signature qualities.” The canals in many parts of the valley have been forgotten and have become a refuge for homeless people and a convenient place to dump trash. One of the goals of the Grand Canalscape is to drive pedestrian and bicycle traffic to the canals. For this project to be a success, experts say we have to improve how the canal banks look and how people perceive them. The Grand Canalscape Project will focus energy in Phoenix and beg comparison to other positive developments, such as Tempe Town Lake or the Scottsdale Waterfront. Once all of the local
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municipalities are engaged, the tide will turn, experts predict. Pedestrian use will increase dramatically and successful venues along the canal length will become commonplace. “We will also be lighting them with a string of dusk to dawn pedestrian lights to make them more attractive to commuters and neighborhood residents and less so to people who do not want to be seen,” claims Wilcoxon.
Paying for the project
The City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department recently announced it secured $4.2 million from Salt River Project’s Municipal Aesthetics Program to design and construct a multi-use trail and street crossings along the Grand Canal in the Uptown (15th Avenue to 16th Street) and Gateway North (Garfield to Van Buren streets) corridors. This project represents Phase One of the Grand Canalscape Project as conceived by Arizona Forward. The funds have historically been used for under-grounding power lines, but recently the program was expanded to allow use of the funds for Canalscape projects like this. “This seed money will set the tone for all facets of future canal development, within the Canal right of way,” Thompson says. “This includes fencing, lighting, signage, landscaping, bridges, pathways and street crossings. The effort will be seeded in neighborhood involvement and the development of partnerships along the canal length. Already, several schools along the Grand Canal are engaged in this dialogue, creating a constituency that can speak to their own needs along the canal. Future development should become neighborhood-based.” Wass predicts, “This stretch of the canal will become vibrant connective tissue with increased utilization both for recreation and transportation. The experience of being on the canal will be that of an urban oasis — tranquility with a distinctly urban buzz.” Wass expects the project to transform the image the image of both the canals and the city they serve. “I believe the entire network of canals will become an iconic element for Phoenix,” he says, “something Phoenix will become known for throughout the world. The combination of rich historical significance and the important role canals play in making life in the Valley possible will give rise to something that is unique to this region.”
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Arizona Forward
The
roaD to success Improving transportation infrastructure is the key to greater job creation and economic development, experts say By EMILY GERSEMA
a
sk an Arizonan what improvements need to be made in transportation, and you will likely hear complaints about potholes on city streets, highway and freeway traffic congestion, late buses or a lack of bike lanes. David Skinner, area operations manager for the engineering and construction firm HDR, hopes he and other transportation advocates can persuade Arizonans to think much more broadly about transportation issues beyond what they experience on a day to day basis commuting to work or the grocery store. “Arizona can’t look at (transportation) as just fixing an existing problem like congestion,” said Skinner, who also leads the transportation committee for Arizona Forward, the statewide nonprofit group focused on sustainable growth. “It’s about addressing the needs of the state.” Everyone has a stake in transportation. Roads, freeways, freight rail and public transit are the backbone of job creation, business development, manufacturing and trade. Transportation investment has a high rate of return for local, state and national economies: Every $1 billion invested creates 36,000 jobs, adds $1.8 billion to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (the measure of the nation’s goods and services), and generates more than $490 million in tax revenue, according to the American Public Transportation Association. Arizona Forward, a group of statewide civic and business leaders focused on sustainable development, is working with stakeholders to advocate for Arizona’s transportation expansion and transit projects, at both local and state
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BE A PART OF SOMETHING BIGGER THAN ALL OF US.
Together, we can keep Arizona majestic. SRP is proud to help customers take action with programs focused on the environment. You can help reforest land destroyed by fire. Give the gift of solar to local nonprofits. Or purchase energy for your home from a local solar plant. After all, taking care of Arizona takes all of us. That’s why SRP is dedicated to ongoing environmental measures, including using a diverse mix of wind, solar, and other sustainable resources. To learn what SRP is doing and how you can be a part of it, visit srpnet.com/environment.
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Arizona Forward levels. Through various community meetings and discussions with stakeholders in recent years, the organization has found several points of agreements for prioritizing Arizona’s needs. “If you start looking at these issues as political, they’re never going to get resolved,” said Diane Brossart, president and CEO of Arizona Forward. “We try to take the politics out of it. We try to think of it as: What does it bring to Arizona in terms of economic impact, social impact? Then, I think people can rally around it.”
Interstate 11
One of Arizona Forward’s priorities for the state is Interstate 11, a 345-mile freeway that would link Casa Grande to Las Vegas, likely paved over what is now U.S. 93. Of course, I-11 would ease the road trip for business and leisure travelers who frequent Vegas’s casinos and hotels. However, from an economic standpoint, the freeway would serve a much greater purpose, facilitating international trade and manufacturing, and creating jobs. I-11 is one leg in a series of trade routes connecting several western states – the Intermountain West Corridor - to two of the United States’ largest international trading partners, Mexico and Canada. The interstate also is crucial for completing the “Golden Triangle” – the network of freeways connecting Arizona, Nevada and California. How important is I-11 to the West? An initial study shows that I-11 could generate up to $24 billion in economic benefits - trade and job creation - over a 25-year span while also generating travel benefits of nearly $40 billion. This year, Congress recognized I-11’s potential value and deemed the project a priority for the Intermountain West Corridor, which is comprised of a web of freeways that stretch from the U.S.Mexican border northward to the U.S.-Canadian border. Arizona benefits from this trade network due to its location. An estimated $19 billion in U.S. products such as aircraft engines and parts, circuits, copper and cotton were exported via Arizona in 2013, according to trade data maintained by the U.S census. Arizona last year also imported a nearly equal amount of products, from aircraft and semiconductor device parts, to tomatoes and peppers. Most imports come from Mexico, China, Canada, Japan and Malaysia. Traffic bottlenecks, delays in shipping and other difficulties with delivery are chief considerations for manufacturers as they study whether to open new facilities or relocate existing ones to other states, said David Martin, president of the Arizona Chapter of General Contractors. He noted that several manufacturers are building and assembling parts in different locations and different countries, instead of maintaining a single location as their manufacturing and assembly stronghold. “A system that allows manufactured products to be delivered is extremely important,” Martin said. “Otherwise, you have companies like Gore (W.L. Gore & Associates) coming down from Flagstaff to Phoenix because of issues they’ve
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had with traffic on Interstate 17. Transportation is really the pinch-point for our success for attracting manufacturing jobs here.” Arizona Forward’s mission is to advocate for sustainable development. Adding roads can increase traffic, pollution, and threatens ecosystems while increasing trade, unless plans include the addition of passenger transit and careful use of existing roads and corridors, said Janice Cervelli, dean of the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture who is chair of Arizona Forward’s board of directors. Plans for I-11 must include high-speed rail, she said. “We’re looking at land conservation and wildlife corridors and at how we can take advantage of existing infrastructure like Interstate 19,” Cervelli said. “The next important step for I-11 is to do an environmental assessment.” Transit systems are largely a municipality issue that can reduce stress on state and local roads and railways. Reducing commuter traffic on freeways that trek through Arizona’s largest metropolitan areas requires city and regional planning and investment in passenger rail, buses, and roads.
Local transportation
Phoenix City Council has convened a group of 34 business and community leaders for the Citizens Commission on the Future of Phoenix Transit, which includes Brossart of Arizona Forward, as well as Mary Peters, a former secretary of transportation under President George Bush Sr. The group started meeting in September, and the council has assigned it to complete a series of recommendations for transit and transportation spending and improvement by the end of November. Martin Shultz, a commission co-chair and longtime lobbyist in the Phoenix area, said the most difficult hurdle facing any city and state with transportation is funding. The recent recession drove Arizona to dip into its Highway User Revenue Fund – a large transportation fund comprised of gas and other user taxes - to backfill other spending priorities. Grant opportunities and other federal funds also have waned, which, Shultz said, is forcing cities such as Phoenix to include in their planning discussions any ideas for potential funding. Phoenix’s road maintenance budget suffered during and after the recession. Several roads and streets are deteriorating. At the same time, Phoenix wants to expand the light rail westward from 19th Avenue into Glendale. Unless the city devises a series of funding sources to support these road and rail improvements, transportation conditions will worsen, which will also impact freeways through the Phoenix metro area. Shultz said he hopes that by the end of this year, the commission will have recommended a series of options that the city could pursue for new funds for transit and roads. Those options could include voter-approved sales taxes, and public-private partnerships.
Diane Brossart
Jan Cervelli
David Martin
Martin Shultz
David Skinner
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Arizona Forward
Hot topic A Wildfires impact not only Arizona’s landscape, but our water supply and economy By ETHAN FICHTNER
rizona is home to the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forest in North America, with a single stand stretching from near Flagstaff all the way to the White Mountains of the east. And in the last 10 years, 25 percent of it burned, said Patrick Graham, Arizona state director for the Nature Conservancy. Fire suppression and subsequent cleanup costs have risen far beyond estimated prevention costs, according to studies by the Nature Conservancy, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the U.S. Forest Service and the Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) at Northern Arizona University (NAU), among others. The tourism industry in Arizona, an estimated 20 percent of the state’s economy, is largely dependent on the health of forested lands and other wildlife preserves, a 2007 report by the Governor’s Health Oversight Council stated. But “wildfires affect the entire state — not just the north,” said Eric Marcus, executive director at the Northern Arizona Sustainable Economic Development Initiative. A full-cost economic analysis of the 2010 Schultz fire outside of Flagstaff by the ERI revealed the deeper effect of forest fires. More than 15,000 acres of forest were burned, causing an estimated $147 million in economic damage, the report found. An investment of only $15 million could have prevented this catastrophe, said Marcus.
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Fire and water
But most of the damage from these wildfires occurs after the fire has been extinguished. When major wildfires remove the trees and grasses necessary for holding soil in place, a once standard rainstorm can now cause dangerous floods and massive erosion, filling up the reservoirs and ultimately decreasing the carrying capacity of our water supply, said Bruce Hallin, director of water rights and contracts with the Salt River Project. “These catastrophic wildfires go in and the fire burns so hot that it burns everything,” said Hallin. “It turns it into this wasteland.” But nothing can hold back sediment from flowing directly into the water supply if a fire were to ignite downstream from the reservoirs, such as the Sunflower fire in 2012. If ash-laden water were to be delivered to processing plants, treatment costs would increase dramatically, thus increasing the price of the water, said Marcus. The 2002 Hayman fire in Colorado deposited more than 1 million cubic yards of sediment into Denver’s primary drinking water supply. To this day, cleanup is still underway to restore Strontia Springs Reservoir, with costs exceeding $150 million. “Ultimately, through forest thinning, we don’t want to get to that point,” said Hallin. One century ago, Arizona’s northern forests were more akin to open grasslands interspersed with towering ponderosas.
Ignited by lightning, the grass beneath the trees would carry a smoldering fire along the ground, burning the young trees while only charring the thick bark of the older, more established ponderosas.
million acres of forested land within 20 years. However, almost no thinning has taken place in nearly five years since the initiative began.
Need for thinning
“Forest lands have been managed for the last 20 years through litigation and attorneys, not projects,” said Hallin. Because of these legal barriers, Northern Arizona’s timber industry has all but vanished. So even the lands that have been approved for thinning cannot receive the treatment prescribed because there is no longer any industry to do the work, he said. “You can make money with big old trees, but we don’t want those trees taken out of the forest,” said Marcus. Private enterprise doesn’t want to invest because no money can be made from the small diameter trees, he said. The only way to thin the forests in a timely manner is through convincing industry that their investment will not be inhibited by litigation because the federal government can’t do it by itself, Hallin said. “The fact of the matter is, without a successful forest products industry, that entire forest is going to burn.” SRP, in conjunction with the National Forest Foundation, has created the Northern Arizona Forest Fund, enabling individuals and businesses to invest in restoring the lands that provide them water. “We don’t need to do more research to know what our problem is; we need to generate public interest in fixing things,” said Marcus. “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later. But if you pay me now, you pay me a fraction of what you’re going to pay me later and have nowhere near the devastating effects that you’re going to have down the road.”
But Arizona’s northern forests have “all departed from the way they were historically,” said Diane Vosick, director of policy and partnerships at ERI. When grazing came through in the late 1800s and removed all of the grass, fires could no longer move through the forest naturally. Bare soil — which resulted from result over-grazing — allowed the pines to germinate seeds more easily. However, when fires did ignite, the U.S. Forest Service fire policy at the time required any and all fires to be extinguished. This fire policy went unchanged until 1995, allowing millions of young ponderosas and other vegetation to crowd the once-thin forest. A study conducted by ERI Director Wally Covington found that historically, Arizona’s ponderosa forests contained roughly 25 trees per acre. But now, one acre of forest can contain more than a thousand trees. “You’ve basically got a big wood pile out there waiting to burn,” said Vosick. SRP, the water supplier for more than half of Phoenix and nearly all of Tempe, manages eight reservoirs deep within Arizona’s northern region. “That’s the goal,” said Vosick. “You want fire to do its natural role and to help manage the forests.” The Four Forest Restoration Initiative, or 4FRI, is a collaborative effort comprised of residents, industry, and the government to restore the Coconino, Kaibab, Apache-Sitgreaves and Tonto national forests through thinning and prescribed burning. Vosick said that 4FRI hopes to have thinned at least 1
Wally Covington
Patrick Grahan
Seeking a solution
Bruce Hallin
Eric Marcus
Diane Vosick
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