Arizona is a step closer to its 1st urban national wildlife refuge. Here's what's next
Southern Arizona residents, activists and organizations are teaming up with federal government officials to designate a portion of the Santa Cruz River as Arizona's first urban national wildlife refuge.
The federal designation would ensure the protection of the critical habitat for years into the future following its revitalization in recent years.
Prominent landowner Andrew Jackson, who possesses thousands of acres of critical habitat, is part of the effort. Following backlash last year in the town of Rio Rico for a rezoning request that residents feared would bring mining to their town, he began working with the Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition to help preserve some of his land that borders the river.
"It was kind of a call to action to put (the land) in the hands of somebody that can manage it and maintain that for a long time," Jackson said, noting he's invested in regenerative farming practices and water conservation.
In September, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in collaboration with the Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition developed a landscape conservation design to start the process of proposing an "urban partnership" program in Tucson, and the potential for a new national wildlife refuge along the Santa Cruz River.
The agency manages over 100 wildlife refuges across the state, within 25 miles of population centers of 250,000 people or more. Just one urban wildlife refuge currently exists in the Southwest, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Santa Cruz River would be Arizona's first urban national wildlife refuge.
The Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition wants an "archipelago" of protected properties at risk of development along the Santa Cruz River, stretching from the U.S.-Mexico border to the northern edge of Pima County. Coalition members say this designation would offer permanent wildlife habitat, outdoor access, and ecotourism.
The protected area would include areas of upland Sonoran Desert scrub habitat, canyons that provide habitat connectivity, and nearly seven miles of riparian habitat approximately 40 miles south of Tucson.
"We are excited about how the National Wildlife Refuge System can continue to work with partners, elected officials, Tribes, and other stakeholders to identify conservation opportunities in the Tucson and Santa Cruz River area," said Amanda McAdams, regional chief of refuges for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southwest Region.
Arizona's environmental legislation:
Why landowners support this project
Logan Phillips, a volunteer organizer, said the urban wildlife refuge would give landowners with properties on either side of the Santa Cruz River channel another option if they wanted to sell their property but not see it developed.
"We know that there are landholders all up and down the river channel who would like to see permanent protection for their land," Phillips said.
Jackson is one of those landowners. He owns a historic property known as Baca Float #3 — a remnant of a Spanish land grant given to Luis Maria Cabeza de Baca in 1818 in recognition of his service to the king of Spain. The property became a part of Mexico after Mexico obtained independence from Spain, and then it became part of the U.S. in the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.
Located in the heart of one of the most sensitive and biologically rich areas of the U.S., the historic property includes 12 miles of the Santa Cruz River, 9 miles of Josephine Canyon Wildlife Corridor, and over 4,700 acres of San Cayetano Mountain.
Following community meetings earlier this year about his unpopular rezoning request of a different property, Jackson said he realized how much the community wanted to preserve Santa Cruz County's natural landscape at a time when mining pressures in the region are increasing.
"We need in our lifetime to put this in the hands of somebody that can preserve it for longer than they will be here," Jackson said about his property.
The coalition says it hopes establishing the designation will help protect the progress already made to improve the river's conditions. The designation would also protect crucial green space, maintain wildlife connectivity, and continue to ensure equitable access to the river for local communities, said the Sonoran Institute, a coalition member.
The coalition has received support from local officials who are part of the founding members of the group, including Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva, and Tucson City Councilmembers Kevin Dahl and Lane Santa Cruz.
What happened to the river?
The Santa Cruz River was once a flowing desert oasis, watering meadows and miles of trees, according to accounts from the mid-1800s . The river's floodplain also contains the earliest recorded instances of irrigation in the Southwest. As Tucson and other southern Arizona communities grew, diversion and groundwater pumping lowered the water table and dried up the river, according to the Central Arizona Project .
In recent years, it's been revitalized by wastewater facilities releasing reclaimed water into the river. These facilities provide 35 miles of perennial flows, improving water quality, vegetation and wildlife populations, according to American Rivers, a national organization working to protect river habitats. In April, the organization named the Santa Cruz River as one of the most endangered rivers in the U.S. in 2024 .
Upstream in Santa Cruz County, the Baca Float #3 property reflects what the river used to be. The coalition in its landscape design report wrote the property features "running water, maturing gallery forest, dappled sunlight in a shady understory." Other examples of a prolific river can be seen downstream in Pima County, at the Sweetwater Wetlands Park and property near Roger Road where reclaimed water is released.
Areas of the river currently flowing with reclaimed water include 15 miles near Nogales, from Rio Rico to Amado; one mile in downtown Tucson; 23 miles northwest Tucson to Marana; and one mile south of Tucson, where highly treated water is released from the Tucson Remediation Project.
The importance of bringing back the Santa Cruz River
Phillips called the Santa Cruz River and other riparian corridors "super-highways of wildlife." Riparian areas are the lands adjacent to rivers and streams. In the Southwest, they make up just 2% of the land area but support the highest density and abundance of plants and animals of any habitat type, according to the U.S. National Park Service.
The Santa Cruz River provides habitat for several federally listed species, including the southwestern willow flycatcher, western yellow-billed cuckoo and Mexican garter snake. The area also connects critical habitat for jaguar and the Chiricahua leopard frog, and birds of "conservation concern" who use the riparian corridor for breeding and migration, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Santa Cruz River is also an important part of indigenous history in the area.
"The Ali Ak (Santa Cruz River) has brought human, plant, and animal life into this part of our Mother Earth. It is the reason our ancestors thrived in this area for thousands of years," wrote Austin Nunez, Chairman of the San Xavier District in the project's design document submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We have utilized water from our river and the aquifer for the last several decades, and now it is time to restore the river to some semblance of what it was before the advent of an increased population for our benefit and for the benefit of those yet to come," he wrote.
The San Xavier District's Wa:k Hikdan Riparian Restoration Project on Tohono O'odham land was a model for the coalition.
The Wa:k Hikdan project restored riparian habitat to the San Xavier District just south of downtown Tucson by using Colorado River water granted through the Central Arizona Project . The coalition said the Wa:k Hikdan project resulted in trees regrowing, plant life becoming abundant again, and animals returning. The project brought the community together in the process, making it a model for the Santa Cruz River refuge proposal.
Phillips reiterated the importance of having a wilderness refuge is not only for the plants and animals, but also for communities historically excluded from wild places.
"What I like about the urban wildlife refuge designation, is people are part of the solution and that communities of color who have been excluded from access to wild spaces, this wildlife refuge is geared to invite them to these spaces," Phillips said, citing issues of environmental racism in south Tucson's groundwater and urban renewal in the 1960s.
Following the approval of the urban wildlife refuge's landscape conservation design, the U.S. Forest and Wildlife Service and its partners are hosting interactive workshops on conservation efforts and land protection in the Tucson and Santa Cruz River Corridor region on Sep. 24 and Sep. 25
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