WWP - Arizona

CURRENT ARIZONA PROJECTS

Sonoran Desert Tortoise Listing

News Release
October 9, 2008 - Federal Protection Sought for Rapidly Declining Sonoran Desert Tortoises
Read the Petition

Sonoran Desert National Monumnent

WWP is committed to ending livestock grazing on the Sonoran Desert National Monument. Read more about our efforts here..

Mexican gray wolf Reintroduction

We continually hear about "problem" wolves…There are no "problem" wolves. The problem exists with how we humans define restoration.
- George Wuerthner, Lessons from the West

The reintroduction of the Mexican gray wolf in parts of its historic range in Arizona and New Mexico has been one of the major challenges of the last decade in the region. Like its relatives throughout the West, the wolf faces opposition from many ranchers who fear that this restoration threatens their livelihood and their control over public lands.

We believe that native wildlife species have a right to exist. Public lands should only be managed for multiple uses where those uses don’t conflict with the conservation of native plants and animals. In the case of the Mexican gray wolf, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service needs to step up and manage for the recovery of a rare species. We’re hoping that they will.

Western Watersheds Project Arizona Office

Southern Arizona is no place for cows. The saguaro forests, dry washes, sporadic rainfall, and high temperatures make the environment inhospitable for livestock, but that hasn’t stopped any livestock operators from trying.

Western Watersheds expanded into Arizona in the spring of 2007, in order to ensure that unsustainable grazing in the hot deserts, and on the desert National Monuments, ceases to threaten species, ruin soils, and denude the landscape.

Arizona is not dissimilar from other western states that have been propping up a dying industry with funding. We are looking at ways to protest this mis-use of taxpayer money, especially in site-specific areas where drought-related “hardship” payments are being used to incentive returning cattle to public lands.

Instead of paying ranchers to find ways to put cows back on dry public lands, we’re teaming up with the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign to pursue voluntary relinquishment opportunities, areas so marginal for grazing that many operations consist of paper cows only. We believe the voluntary permit buy-out could be a win-win solution, especially on national monuments.

Because the lands of Arizona are just too fragile to sustain grazing, and because many of the imperiled species in the Sonoran Desert are directly and indirectly harmed by livestock grazing, we have high hopes that a little bit of pressure will bring a lot of change.

Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions.

Greta Anderson
Arizona Director
Western Watersheds Project
PO Box 2264
Tucson, Arizona 85702
(520) 623-1878
Email

Erik Ryberg
Arizona Legal Counsel
Western Watersheds Project
445 W. Simpson Street
Tucson, Arizona 85701
(520) 622-3333
Email