Volunteers at Sycamore Canyon
Sky Island Alliance formed in 1991 when a group of concerned citizens came together to protect the Sky Islands adjacent to Tucson. Wanting to ensure that future generations would have an equal opportunity to enjoy the quiet solitude of a mountain meadow and experience a landscape where native species still roamed, they worked to keep our public lands intact and wild. Today, Sky Island Alliance is still a place where people come together to protect our rich natural heritage and restore native species and habitats.
To date over 600 volunteers have put in over 50,000 hours inventorying the impacts of user created illegal roads on our public lands, documenting the presence of wide ranging species, such as black bears and mountain lions in corridors between mountain ranges and restoring habitat for endangered species of fish, reptiles and amphibians.
Past volunteers can look to hiking trails that were once roads and areas that were turning into ORV playgrounds that are now protected in perpetuity with pride. Friendships built while monitoring a plot for wildlife tracks or discussing the days adventure around a campfire can last a lifetime.
New volunteers come out all the time, whether they are seasoned backpackers or have never looked at, much less know what a topographic map is. With field weekends scheduled every month of the year, there are events that suit those that are just looking for a day trip just outside of Tucson to those that would like to try a few nights out under the stars. Others are ready to build a long-term relationship with a place, going out every six weeks to document the presence of six focal species after an extensive training with some of the regions accomplished trackers and wildlife biologists.
Weekend volunteer trip
COME JOIN US!
Volunteer opportunities include:
Documenting illegal user created roads on our public lands: Documenting illegal user created roads on our public lands: Volunteers gather at a base camp and are paired up with 3 to 4 other volunteers, a map, gps unit and digital camera. The teams are sent out to adjacent areas to identify and then walk user created roads. Each team collects photo and gps points to document their findings. Depending on the distance to the site, volunteers drive out for the day or camp out.
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Road closures and habitat restoration weekends: These trips are more physically demanding though there is still a wide variety of tasks to suit different skills and fitness levels. Closures include placement of barriers and signs to block roads; breaking up the road surface behind the closure to allow water to penetrate and seeds to take hold; and planting native vegetation to help bring back the ecological balance to the area and disguise the roads existance. Eventually natural processes take over and what was once a road becomes un-fragmented habitat.
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Monitoring the presence of mammal species in important inter-mountain corridors: This volunteer program involves the largest commitment. After an extensive training in identification of wildlife sign and how to properly document the presence volunteers are teamed up with other trained trackers to monitor a transect every six weeks.
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Data entry and office needs: The data collected in the field is compiled into a database so that Sky Island can put that hard -earned information to work. If you are interested in data entry and analysis please let us know by emailing acasia@skyislandalliance.org