Establishment Record for Red Canyon Reearch Natural Area

Tuhy, Joel

Red Canyon contains small but significant examples of xeric woodland and shrubland communities that are poorly represented in existing RNAs. The site also supports coniferous forest communities, on two contrasting geologic substrates, that are not well represented in the RNA system. These forest strands are not strongly typical of stands under timber management in the region. However, they are representative of forests that occupy wide areas on the dissected flanks of the Paunsaugunt and adjacent plateaus. The Red Canyon area is also known among botanists as an unusually rich center of plant endemism. It received the highest priority for RNA recommendation by the rare plant working group at the 1982 Utah/Nevada RNA-needs workshop. The proposed RCRNA contains occurences of thirteen endemic or otherwise rare plant taxa: it has potential habitat for threee more endemics that occur nearby but have so far not been located in the tract. While none of these sixteen taxa are listed as Endangered or Threatened, four that definitely occur and two that potentially occur in the proposed RNA are candidates for such listing. RNA designation can protect portions of habitat for these taxa, so that future listing as Endangered or Threatened is unnecessary or at least less likely. In this way the spirit of the Endangered Species Act, which is to protect and recover very rare species, can be fulfullied with less need to invoke the official listing process.