Soaptree grasslands
Sky Island Alliance was formed in 1991 by proposing an interconnected National Conservation Area across southeastern Arizona. The proposal was in response to plans from the Coronado National Forest to create a National Recreation Area, thereby prioritizing motorized recreation and creating a playground for the city of Tucson in the heart of a world recognized biological hotspot. At that time a group of scientists and concerned citizens came together to form the alternative plan and advocate that the region be managed for conservation, spanning jurisdictional boundaries and implementing the new science of conservation biology. The vision quickly grew to encompass the greater Sky Island region and Sky Island Alliance became the first conservation group in the Southwest to "connect the dots" between landscape-level planning, implementing large scale on-the-ground conservation, organizing people, and influencing public policy.
In the mid-1990s, Sky Island Alliance worked in coalition to complete a conservation plan for the Sky Island region by engaging a broad coalition of scientists, land managers, and citizens to create a science-based blueprint for the future of conservation in the region. Acknowledging that isolated wildernesses or National Parks are not enough to protect species and biodiversity, the plan called for the linkage of wildlands by protected corridors so that wide-ranging animals such as bears, mountain lions, wolves, and jaguars--our keystone species--continue to survive. It also placed the utmost importance to engaging all stakeholders in the conservation process, from citizens to land managers to policymakers.
San Pedro River
That vision continues today, stronger than ever. To date over 2000 Sky Island Alliance volunteers have logged more than 50,000 hours of fieldwork for conservation planning and advocacy to affect land-use and public-lands policy and restoration. We continue to grow and succeed, largely due to our huge grassroots base, our landscape-level planning, and our ability to forge partnerships with diverse stakeholders. This success has proven that we can make a conservation plan become conservation action, using science to plan restoration of habitat and through direct action by a huge grassroots citizen base.