In late 2002, the Town of Marana began its Habitat Conservation Planning process. The purpose of this process was to produce a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), an essential component in the Town’s application for a Section 10 Incidental Take Permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A Section 10 permit allows the Town to incidentally “take” endangered species during the course of Capital Improvement Projects and other covered activities. The HCP, in turn, outlines conservation strategies for these species and mitigation for any “take” that occurs. The Endangered Species Act defines “take” as to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct; furthermore, “harm” to an endangered species can result from habitat modification or degradation.

From January 2003 to September 2004, the Town worked with two advisory groups – the Stakeholder Working Group and the Technical Biology Team – to develop a Preliminary Draft HCP. In this draft, six species were covered:

1) Cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum)
2) Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonyctens curasoae yerbabuenae)
3) Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)
4) Pale Townsend’s big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii pallenscens)
5) Ground snake (valley form) (Sonora semiannulata)
6) Tucson shovel-nosed snake (Chionactis occiptalis klauberi)

The overall objectives of the HCP, as outlined in the Preliminary Draft, include:

1) Facilitating compliance with the Endangered Species Act for planned urban development and capital improvement projects
2) Promoting achievement of regional economic objectives including the orderly and efficient development of certain lands, while recognizing property rights and legal and physical land use constraints; and
3) Complementing other regional conservation planning efforts such as Pima County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and the City of Tucson’s HCP project.

After September 2004, the planning process slowed due to some staffing issues. In April 2006, the Cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl lost its federal endangered species status. And in November 2006, the statewide passage of Proposition 207 significantly changed the legal landscape of the HCP. However, the Town continues to recognize the need for a HCP and is proceeding with the planning process.  An updated HCP was drafted for internal review in October 2007.  The 2007 version of the HCP includes 13 species.  In addition to the six species listed above, the following species were covered int he HCP in 2007:
1) Southwestern willow flycatcher (Empidonox trailli extimus)
2) Western yellow-billed cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus occidentalis)
3) Merriam's mesquite mouse (Peromyscus merriami)
4) Mexican garter snake (Thamnophis eues megalops)
5) Desert tortoise - sonoran population (Gopherus agassizii)
6) Lowland leopard frog (Rano yavapaiensis)
7) Talus snail (sonorella spp.)

In 2011, two additional species were included for coverage:
1)  Western red bat (Lasiurus blossevillii)
2)  Western yellow bat (Lasiurus xanthinus)