Wildlands Corridors at Risk on U.S.-Mexico Border
News Release 06/01/07: "Wildlife Corridors at Risk"
Stakeholder Brochure 06/01/07: "Stakeholder Recommendations"
Read Full Report: "Border Ecological Report 10/18/06 "  

Wildlands Project featured in Mother Jones Magazine
Read the article here: "Gone, by Julia Whitty 05/01/07"

 Wildlands Project receives Environmental Excellence Award
The Federal Highway Administration salutes us for our work on the Arizona Wildlife Linkage Assessment project 05/01/07. See the award here: "2007 Environmental Excellence Award"
Full Report: "Arizona Wildlife Linkage Assessment 03/01/07"

The Sky Islands: An Ecoregion Like No Other
The Sky Islands region of southeast Arizona, southwest New Mexico and northern Mexico is uniquely located at the convergence of four great ecoregions: the northern, temperate Rocky Mountains; the southern, subtropical Sierra Madre Occidental; the lower-elevation Sonoran Desert to the west; and the higher elevation Chihuahuan Desert to the East.

Rising from this striking landscape are 40 mountain ranges separated from one another by surrounding seas of desert and grassland. These mountain island ecosystems provide a globally rare range of habitats, from tropical to temperate, that have supported an unusual mix of wildlife, including parrots, black bears, jaguars, and wolves. The region is home to 4,000 plant species, more than half of all the breeding birds in North America, and one of the world's most diverse populations of reptiles and mammals.

Restoring Ecological Health
Over the past century, the rich habitat of this region has experienced loss of species, degradation of watersheds, and fragmentation of landscapes by roads and subdivisions. Wildlands Network and regional partners Sky Island Alliance, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, and Naturalia (Mexico) have created a visionary approach to protecting and restoring the wildlands of this beautiful and ecologically significant region.

The Sky Islands Wildlands Network Conservation Plan is a prescription for restoring degraded ecosystems by connecting important core wildlands areas to one another via wildlife movement linkages. The resulting wildlands network will provide the foundation for the return of key species and ecological health throughout the Sky Islands region.

Networks of People Protecting Networks of Land
The Sky Islands Wildlands Network is now being implemented on the ground through the efforts of a broad-based network of conservationisits, citizens, scientists, land managers, ranchers, hunters, wildlife enthusiasts, and outdoor recreationists. Just as connecting landscapes protects ecosystem health, connecting people to the process protects community values. Working together, networks of people can protect the networks of land needed to restore Nature and sustain human communities.