Field Notes
Border Wildlife Study: Vegetation and Drought in the Borderlands
May 21, 2021For the last year, the Border Wildlife Study cameras have documented an amazing array of wildlife species across the San Rafael Valley and the Patagonia and Huachuca Mountains that flank…
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Spring Seeker Stories: Bear and Grapevine Spring in the Southern Rincon Mountains
April 28, 2021We’re back this month with another installment in our Spring Seeker Stories! This time, retired wildland firefighter and Spring Seeker volunteer Brit Rosso takes us on a visual journey through…
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Notes from the Field: Van Trap and Chimney Spring in the Southern Rincon Wilderness
March 29, 2021Volunteers lie at the heart of our Spring Seeker program. In 2020, 63 people helped us check over 220 springs in the U.S. and Mexico—a feat that would be impossible…
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We’re Rooting for Native Flora at Aravaipa Canyon Preserve!
March 22, 2021In early March, a team of six volunteers and three Sky Island Alliance staff braved the chilly spring evenings at Aravaipa Canyon Preserve to do two days of hard, earnest work: pull invasive…
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Notes from the Field: Searching for High Spring in the Huachuca Mountains
January 14, 2021Volunteers lie at the heart of our Spring Seeker program. In 2020, 63 people helped us check over 220 springs in the U.S. and Mexico—a feat that would be impossible for staff alone. Retired wildlands firefighter Brit…
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What We Learned from Monitoring Springs in 2020
January 8, 2021Since the launch of Spring Seeker in July 2020, Sky Island Alliance and its volunteers have been able to visit 256 springs throughout the Sky Island region of southern Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. Visitors of these springs completed a quick survey in an app on…
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Notes from the Field: Spring Seeking with Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows
December 7, 2020Since the most memorable years of my life were spent in the Peace Corps, I’m always excited to meet another returned Peace Corps Volunteer (“RPCV”), which happens quite often in…
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Friday Flora Feature: Arizona Walnut
December 4, 2020When searching for water in the Sky Islands, finding a walnut tree can be a great indicator that you’re getting close to a spring, stream, or other water source! These…
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A Quick Guide to Springs in the Sky Islands
November 3, 2020If you’ve ever wondered what springs are, how they form, or why they’re important to the ecosystems and habitats found in the Sky Island region, go no further. In celebration of hitting three months of spring seeking—a community…
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Wall Construction at the San Pedro River
September 2, 2020In July 2020, construction of a 30-foot steel border wall began across the last free-flowing river in Arizona. Despite monsoon floods that push water 140 miles from the San Pedro River’s headwaters in Mexico northwards to its convergence with the…
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