THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ANNOUNCES CROSS-BORDER PROJECT TO PROTECT SAN PEDRO RIVER

PHOENIX, AZ…February 7, 2005…A cross-border partnership between The Nature Conservancy in Arizona and in Mexico will help to protect the largest and most ecologically important of the fresh water sources of the fragile San Pedro River—which flows to the north from Mexico into southeastern Arizona—by 2006, representatives of the two programs announced today. The Conservancy has been working in several ways to protect the entire San Pedro River watershed for 30 years.

Toward that goal, the Conservancy and its Mexican partners plan to establish a 10,000-acre preserve at a lush and biologically rich site, known as Rancho Los Fresnos, at the river’s key source south of the international border in northeastern Sonora, Mexico, near Sierra Vista, Arizona. The historic working ranch has been sensitively managed by the same family for generations. The ranch also anchors the largest ciénega, an isolated desert spring or marsh, remaining in the San Pedro River watershed area, and links to one of the largest and highest quality grassland valleys in a region spanning several states and Mexico.

“The significance of the San Pedro River and the natural areas that supply it cannot be overemphasized,” said Pat Graham, State Director of The Nature Conservancy in Arizona. “Not only is the river home to an incredibly diverse group of wildlife, but it is a critical source of water for Arizonans that must be sustained for generations to come.”

The Nature Conservancy is working to assume joint management of Rancho Los Fresnos—with Mexican nonprofits Naturalia A.C. and Biodiversidad y Desarrollo Armónica (BIDA) and possibly other partners—by year-end, Graham explained. He added that funds for the $4.2 million project will be raised by the Conservancy through private and public sources primarily in the U.S.

Susan Anderson, Director of the Conservancy’s Northwest Mexico Program, said that the conservation goals for Rancho Los Fresnos are three-fold: The property will serve as a source for reintroducing endangered species, a demonstration site for sustainable ranching and an example of grassland and riparian, or streamside, restoration.

“This is a remarkable partnership where the Conservancy is joining hands across the border with local groups, federal agencies and private landowners to further conservation for the entire region,” she said. “We expect it to be the first of many collaborative efforts to come.”

Headwaters of the San Pedro River lie in Sonora’s “sky islands”—forested mountain ranges that rise above a sea of grasslands. These mountains capture rainfall that feeds the tributaries and replenishes the watershed of the river basin. Jaguar and black bear stalk the region’s forested mountains, while the Mexican gray wolf and black-tailed prairie dog reside in the grasslands below. This richly diverse river basin also provides an important migratory bird corridor stretching across the hemisphere for approximately 400 bird species—10 times the number of birds using any other north-south flyway in the West.

###