Arizona Pinto Creek, a free-flowing stream with some of the highest quality and rarest riparian communities in the Southwest, is threatened with immediate ruin by a proposed copper mine. The mine would divert, dewater, and excavate a mile long secton of the creek. The life of the mine would be less than 20 years, but the destruction of the creek would be permanent. Pinto Creek, with its green riparian vegetation, provides a stark contrast to the surrounding chaparral country.
Trees provide filtered shade over the babbling stream.
In places, the creek flows through narrow gorges with stark rock walls up to 600 feet high. The riparian vegetation provides important habitat for breeding neotropical birds and a host of other wildlife species, and the creek serves as an important migratory corridor for some of these species. A wide variety of wildlife species inhabits the area, including bear, mountain lion, deer, coyote, javelins, quail, bobcats, and bats, along with nine species of reptiles, four species of amphibians, and six species of fish. The fish community in Pinto Creek is dominated by native fish species, which is uncommon in the Southwest, where introduced exotic species are defeating native fish in the race for survival. Ancient peoples inhabited the area along the creek, and their homes remain in the rock walls.