A forum that brings together natural and cultural resource managers, scientists and non-government conservationists will be cohosted by the U.S. Geological Survey in Tucson, Ariz., May 16-18.

"Creative Cooperation in Resource Management" is the third conference on research and resource management in the Southwest deserts. Oral presentations, discussions and posters will highlight the energy going into natural and cultural resource management, including research, interagency planning, interagency management and public education. Other cosponsors of this event are the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona State Parks, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, State Historic Preservation Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service.

"As in other areas of the Sun Belt, southern Arizona has a rapidly expanding human population, making conservation and preservation of natural and cultural resources more difficult with each passing year. Land managers have been challenged to find new ways to accommodate urban growth yet ensure lasting desert resources," says Bill Halvorson, USGS research ecologist and conference organizer.

"Creative Cooperation in Resource Management" highlights the work of researchers, public land managers, private property owners and volunteers on behalf of the region's resources. The public is welcome to attend the three days of presentations and posters addressing topics such as:

• Leopard frog conservation on national wildlife refuges
• Bird-banding in the borderlands
• Sea turtle research in the Gulf of California
• History of the San Rafael Ranch
• Saguaros and disease
• Illegal immigration and wilderness
• Rattlesnakes on the urban boundary
• Importance of ironwood
• Sonoran pronghorn and military activity
• Preserving dark night skies in Southwest deserts
• Volunteer vigilance in defense of cultural history
• Sonoita Valley planning partnership

Invited speakers will headline each day and be featured at lunchtime on the first and last days of the event. These guests and their topics include:

• Tuesday May 16, 8:15 a.m., Jim Garrison, State Historic Preservation Office, Phoenix, "Creative Resource Management within the Grand Canyon"
• Tuesday May 16, 12:30 p.m., Peggy J. Turk Boyer, CEDO, Puerto Peņasco, Sonora, "Conservation Collaborations in the Upper Gulf of California Region"
• Wednesday May 17, 8:15 a.m., Todd Esque, USGS, Las Vegas, "A River Runs through Them: Conservation Status of Sonoran and Mojave Desert Tortoises"
• Thursday May 18, 8:10 a.m., Jerry Turner, Friends of the Santa Cruz River, Green Valley, "Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring in the Upper Santa Cruz River"
• Thursday, May 18, 12:30 p.m., Maeveen Behan, Pima County Administrator's Office, "The Integration of Land, Water, and Fiscal Resource Decision-making under the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan"

Conference preregistration is recommended. Onsite registration begins each day of the conference at 7:30 a.m., at InnSuites Hotel, 475 N. Granada. The three-day fee is $90 and one-day admission is $30. For details, please visit the conference website or call 520-670-6885.

As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2,000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial, scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, contribute to the sound conservation, economic and physical development of the nation's natural resources, and enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy and mineral resources.