Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection

08/20/2026

Ready to make a tangible difference for wildlife? 🦌 Join the Desert Fence Busters!

The Desert Fence Busters is a collaborative conservation project to improve wildlife movement by removing miles of deadly (and outdated!) fencing barriers. Since 2021, this group has removed 100+ miles of fence.

Here are the dates for the 2026-2027 work season:

🌵 Friday, October 23, 2026
🌵 Saturday, November 14, 2026
🌵 Saturday, December 12, 2026
🌵 Saturday, January 23, 2027
🌵 Friday, February 12, 2027
🌵 Friday, March 12, 2027

What we love about this work is the immediate impact for wildlife. 🦌 It is so satisfying to open up the landscape by hand with this charismatic group! We hope you can join us.

RSVP today! We'll post the link in the comments. 🌵

📸 Photo credits: Desert Fence Busters, CSDP

08/19/2026

Spread the word! We are seeking an Executive Director. Applications will be accepted through September 1.🌵Read the full job description here: https://www.sonorandesert.org/.../now-hiring-executive.../

We are hiring! 🌵

The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection is seeking an Executive Director.

The Executive Director provides strategic leadership and day-to-day management, ensuring CSDP advances its mission, remains financially sustainable, and operates effectively. As the leader of a small, collaborative team, the Executive Director is both a strategic leader and a working manager, setting organizational direction while remaining actively engaged in programs, advocacy, fundraising, communications, and operations.

Applications will be accepted until August 16, 2026. Read the full description and learn how to apply on our website!
🌵 We'll post the link in the comments.

08/14/2026

The latest on I-11. 🌵

The Federal Highway Administration and the Arizona Department of Transportation's reevaluation of the Environmental Impact Statement for Interstate 11 (I-11) is still moving forward. However, CSDP has learned that the next public comment period is now expected in spring 2027, rather than fall 2026 as we had previously anticipated.

We will continue to provide updates as we learn more, including when the public comment period is announced and how you can participate!

Thank you to our trusted partners in this work:
Friends of Ironwood Forest , Tucson Bird Alliance and Center for Biological Diversity

📸: A unique saguaro south of Sinagua Road and west of the Tucson Mountains that could be lost if I-11 is built along ADOT's proposed west option. Photo credit Frank Staub.

08/13/2026

Don’t let invasive species hitch a ride!

When we visit the backcountry and public lands, we can accidentally carry unwelcome seeds, especially from buffelgrass and stinknet. Seeds hitchhike on tires, boots, camping gear, and other equipment. In fact, an OHV or ATV can pick up hundreds to thousands of seeds in a single mile!

Here's some quick tips for how to help:

🌵 Between journeys, wipe or brush off all tires and wheel areas, shoes, tents, coolers, and other gear.

🌵 Avoid driving, parking, or camping in weeds or muddy areas where seeds can easily stick.

What makes buffelgrass and stinknet so dangerous?

🔥 They fuel fast-moving wildfires that threaten the Sonoran Desert, wildlife corridors, homes, and infrastructure.

🔥 Both outcompete native plants for space, water, and pollinators, sometimes covering entire washes and hillsides.

Over the last year, we got to partner with Friends of Ironwood Forest on an invasive species education program at Ironwood Forest National Monument — thanks to a grant from Tucson Electric Power (TEP).

Together, we've created educational handouts, updated online resources, and hosted invasive plant species scouting and volunteer workdays in the monument. Learn more in our latest blogpost! Link in the comments. 🌵

📸 Photo credits: Friends of Ironwood Forest (1&3), Frank Staub (2)

08/12/2026

These landscapes could soon be lost to the La Osa Data Center.

Open Sonoran Desert; wildlife habitat and connectivity; dark skies; and an undeveloped landscape directly adjacent to Ironwood Forest National Monument - this is where the La Osa Data Center is proposed to be built.

This project would bring a large-scale data center to the Monument’s northern boundary and within the Ironwood–Picacho wildlife linkage, an important corridor that helps wildlife move between large areas of habitat across this increasingly developed region.

Once landscapes like this are developed, we simply can’t get them back.

You can help‼️✉️ In just two weeks, on August 26, the Pinal County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the La Osa project. We encourage you to submit a comment letter or attend and speak up in person. Email your comment letter to the Clerk of the Board: [email protected]

Want to learn more? Read more about the La Osa project, this landscape, and our concerns on our website. 🌵 Link in the comments.

📸 Images 1-3: The Sonoran Desert landscape where the La Osa Data Center is proposed and what could be lost. Photo credit: Frank Staub.

📸 Image 4: A historic map - the proposed La Osa Data Center would be located in the former town of Sasco, right on the site of the historic Hotel Rockland. From the Journal of Arizona History, Winter 1965, pg. 193, no credit. Published by the State Historical Society of Arizona.

08/11/2026

Reminder that we are seeking an Executive Director! We are accepting applications through September 1.🌵Spread the word: https://www.sonorandesert.org/.../now-hiring-executive.../

We are hiring! 🌵

The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection is seeking an Executive Director.

The Executive Director provides strategic leadership and day-to-day management, ensuring CSDP advances its mission, remains financially sustainable, and operates effectively. As the leader of a small, collaborative team, the Executive Director is both a strategic leader and a working manager, setting organizational direction while remaining actively engaged in programs, advocacy, fundraising, communications, and operations.

Applications will be accepted until August 16, 2026. Read the full description and learn how to apply on our website!
🌵 We'll post the link in the comments.

08/07/2026

On Wednesday evening, Tucson’s Mayor and Council approved the city’s first regulations for large-scale data centers. We worked for the last several months to ensure open space and riparian areas were considered in the ordinance.

These new regulations are a start, but stronger state and national regulations are urgently needed to protect the Sonoran Desert, its resources, and its communities.

We heard some concerns that our support of the ordinance means that CSDP supports data center development. CSDP does not advocate for data centers, but we will keep advocating for safeguards.

Read more at the link in the comments. 🌵

Have questions or a different perspective on this? We’d love to hear from you.

📸: Photo from the Project Blue data center site. The plants pictured here may already be lost to development. Photo credit: Frank Staub.

08/06/2026

Reminder that we are seeking an Executive Director! The application deadline is September 1.🌵Spread the word: https://www.sonorandesert.org/.../now-hiring-executive.../

We are hiring! 🌵

The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection is seeking an Executive Director.

The Executive Director provides strategic leadership and day-to-day management, ensuring CSDP advances its mission, remains financially sustainable, and operates effectively. As the leader of a small, collaborative team, the Executive Director is both a strategic leader and a working manager, setting organizational direction while remaining actively engaged in programs, advocacy, fundraising, communications, and operations.

Applications will be accepted until August 16, 2026. Read the full description and learn how to apply on our website!
🌵 We'll post the link in the comments.

08/05/2026

Reminder! We need volunteers to help us on a roadkill survey in an important wildlife corridor next week. Click here to RSVP and for more information: https://volunteer.bloomerang.co:443/JE/saspuu66bbeoil

Thank you! 🌵