Sky Island Alliance

Next weekend, Sept. 14-15, Friends of Cave Creek Canyon will host its annual Heritage Days festival full of food, music, and fun in the heart of the Sky Islands. We'll have a table at the event — so stop by and visit! All festivities will be at the Geronimo Event Center in Rodeo, New Mexico. Highlights from the weekend include presentations, live music, crafts fair, and field trips — plus, a chance to see some of the area's wildlife. For more details: https://ow.ly/kfYT50T81wT Photo of lazuli bunting in Cave Creek Canyon by Gregory "Slobirdr" Smith/Flickr. #SkyIslands FRIENDS OF CAVE CREEK CANYON

We recently caught up with our Springs Fellow Ángel Garcia, now that he’s back at school studying folkloric dance in Mexicali, Baja California. Originally from Esqueda, Sonora, Ángel says it felt good to be back in the Sky Islands this summer, collaborating with us once again on various springs projects, learning new things, and seeing wildlife along the way. Check out his blog for a really wonderful set of photos and some background on the projects he worked with us on: https://ow.ly/i2XL50TaZIx. And wishing him the best this fall, as he continues his studies, renewed and full of energy. #SkyIslands #Sonora

Hey friends — our 2023 Annual Report is hot off the press, so take a look and see all the amazing things you and our staff and volunteers have made possible: https://ow.ly/KXYO50T9j18. Inside you'll find a letter from our Executive Director Louise Misztal, plus a range of accomplishments, media highlights, photos, and financials. Many thanks for all your support! It takes an alliance to protect these Sky Islands we call home. Illustration of rainbow hedgehog cactus and carpenter bee by Mary Mitchell/Belmont University - Watkins College of Art.

This Oct. 11-12, we will be hosting the 3rd annual Festival of the Sky Islands in Moctezuma, Sonora. Come join us and help celebrate our region’s incredible biodiversity and culture! The event was an amazing success last year, and we’re looking forward to more fun and learning. It’s been a great collaborative effort between environmental organizations, local groups, and the community of Moctezuma. There will be tables from the organizing nonprofits, conservation talks, drawing contests, workshops, music, dance, and local food. The festivities will begin on Friday, Oct. 11, focusing on educational activities for the Moctezuma community, Universidad de la Sierra, and local school district. Camp will be set up in the evening with some fun activities. Then on Saturday, Oct. 12, the day will kick off with some local field excursions, followed up by a session of diverse presentations held on UniSierra’s campus. Later that evening, the festival will wrap up with the main event in Moctezuma’s Plaza Principal. Expect to see many environmental organizations with educational stands and activities, food, drink, live music, cultural dances, and to finish it off a dance party Moctezuma-style! Get the full details here and sign up so we can keep you in the loop on any updates: https://ow.ly/gbIp50T73ac. If you have questions, feel free to contact our Sonora Conservation Coordinator Sergio Müller at smuller@skyislandalliance.org. #SkyIslands #Sonora

Cool podcast from Lost Women of Science Initiative on women’s roles in ecological restoration, plus lots of other episodes exploring other fields: https://ow.ly/kInr50SUVbE. Produced in partnership with PRX and Scientific American.

Join SIA staff on Sept. 12 at 9:30 a.m. MST for our next virtual Coffee Break as we host Dr. Sybil Francis and Ian Dowdy, AICP, MBA from Center for the Future of Arizona: https://ow.ly/G0Ah50SYKUM. Our guest speakers will review the results of their groundbreaking Gallup Arizona Project. And they’ll share more on what they learned about what an overwhelming majority of Arizonans agree on related to shared appreciation, concern, and aspirations for our air, land, water, and wildlife — plus how Arizonans’ shared public values can shape the decade ahead. Don't miss this informational talk as we head into election season! #SkyIslands #Arizona

For the past 16 years, Carmina Gutiérrez has been working at the Northern Jaguar Project in Sonora, including in her current role as the group’s research coordinator. In that time, she’s come to know and love many of these big cats. And today, she shared with us some of her story and work, from the first cat she observed on remote camera to her role in the identification of such high-profile cross-border cats as El Jefe and Yo’oko. Learn more and see some great photos in Carmina’s blog: https://ow.ly/LQqE50SWnpu. And stay tuned for more insights, as Carmina’s now part of SIA’s board of directors. Clockwise from top left: Luisa, Corazón, Doña Eduarda, and Perrito. Photos courtesy Northern Jaguar Project. #SkyIslands #Sonora, NORTHERN JAGUAR PROJECT INC

Thanks to all our volunteers, another project is nearly complete! In 2021, the Coronado National Forest approached SIA with an idea to improve water sources for wildlife in the southern Huachucas. The goal? To create better habitat for Chiricahua leopard frogs and other wildlife by excluding cattle from three earthen stock ponds: Mesa Tank, Joaquin Tank, and Lone Mountain Tank. Now, three years later, new wildlife-friendly fencing is up, and separate troughs have been installed outside the ponds so cows can access water. The ponds are recovering, and wildlife are returning. So far, our trail cameras have shown 17 different mammals and 22 kinds of birds visiting the oases. Check out this blog from our Stewardship Specialist Bryon Lichtenhan to see photos and a step-by-step description: https://ow.ly/KCi450T1spF. And stay tuned for an event where we’ll be putting the final touches on ramps outside the cattle troughs, so smaller wildlife have these as water sources too. Finally, many thanks to our partners at the U.S. Forest Service and for support from the Water for Wildlife Foundation and USDA’s Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. Their contributions helped make this success possible. Photos of San Rafael Valley, black bear at Joaquin Tank, SIA volunteers installing wildlife-friendly fencing, and new cattle troughs courtesy SIA. #SkyIslands #WaterForWildlife

FotoFauna highlights from July are in — and this month it's all about water. Laying in it, jumping for joy because of it, and even catching prey unaware as they drink from it. Check out this video from our Wildlife Specialist Miguel Enríquez — and a reminder to volunteers, if you haven’t yet submitted checklists for last month, now’s the time. A little background for those who are new: FotoFauna is a growing network of 293 individuals and organizations in the Sky Islands, with wildlife cameras set up in the U.S. or Mexico. It’s easy to get started. Just set up a wildlife camera in your backyard and submit an online monthly checklist of species you observe. In addition to being fun and another way to form community, the data will help us study when and where wildlife is present so we can better protect their habitats. Learn more about how to join us: https://ow.ly/41IC50SJnYF #SkyIslands #FotoFauna

We’ve got another favorite Sky Island hike to share with you all, and this one comes from Sofía Vargas, a clinical psychologist in Hermosillo, Sonora, who’s also a cofounder of Caminantes del Desierto A.C.: https://ow.ly/5OUg50SXes7. Last January, to celebrate a friend’s birthday, she and some of her friends came up from Sonora to the Santa Ritas to hike Mt. Wrightson in the snow. Check out her blog for the full route description and some fun backstory and pics, and enjoy the snowballs and icy slopes. We’re on the downhill of summer now, and cooler temps will be here before too long. #SkyIslands #ArizonaHikes