Dear friends,
I’m touching base with an update on border wall construction in the Sky Islands, impacts to our Border Wildlife Study, and actions to take below.
For the past month, staff and I have been preparing for the start of new border wall in the Huachuca Mountains and San Rafael Valley. This magical grassland and oak woodland sits at the heart of the Sky Islands and is home to an incredible diversity of plants and animals. It’s also one of the last open cross-border corridors in the region. On Monday, after years of documenting wildlife here, wall building began.
On that day, staff and I traveled through the valley to share its beauty with local filmmakers and to meet with community leaders like Alma Guadalupe Téllez, the mayor of Santa Cruz, Sonora (below, at left). These are our neighbors just south of the San Rafael Valley with whom we share the Santa Cruz River and larger landscape. Over sandwiches and burritos passed across barbed wire fence, Alma shared her convictions on taking care of our shared wildlife and water and on maintaining connections going back hundreds of years.
Alma also shared that her community in Santa Cruz is ready and willing to host a set of Sky Island Alliance’s Border Wildlife Study cameras, after we were recently told that border cameras in the construction zone will be removed. This was wonderful news that we can continue border monitoring from Mexico to document construction impacts and the wildlife community. And, of course, we’ll still have
I know that you are with us in your dedication to preserve and protect the entire Sky Island region and to keeping the Border Wildlife study going strong as wildlife face this terrible barrier.
We are here and we will continue to lead in envisioning, protecting, and creating the type of world we want to live in. We are deeply committed to continuing to be a voice for the amazing animals, plants, springs, creeks, and mountains that aren’t able to speak for themselves and to treating our fellow humans and neighbors with respect and dignity.
In addition to its scientific value and insights, our Border Wildlife Study is capturing the diverse beauty of the Santa Cruz River and an entire way of life in the San Rafael Valley. We must hold on to that knowledge and vision as we navigate through this current destruction. We want more for this place, and we know you do too.
We need you with us to keep the Border Wildlife Study and border community strong. You can make a difference and stand with us in several ways:
- Become a monthly supporter — monthly gifts provide steady income and allow us to respond to emerging threats and opportunities.
- Learn and share — read our recent San Rafael Valley report, and check out our virtual coffee break from yesterday for more details on wall construction and how to keep fighting for wildlife.
- Speak out — educate your elected officials about what’s at stake with this border policy and talk to your friends and family to keep hope alive.
In the coming weeks, we’ll do our best to keep you informed on what’s happening along the border, and we’ll continue to tell the story of the vibrant wildlife, plant, and human communities that live here.
In solidarity,
P.S. A big thank you to our supporters who submitted 1,087 comments during the U.S. Customs and Border Protection comment period in June. We’re also grateful to our volunteers this summer who surveyed 20 springs and other water sources in the area to set a baseline for flows before border wall construction began.