Borderlands News - Wildlands Network

Achieving Shared Goals: New U.S. Jaguar Recovery Plan Affirms Wildlands Network’s Conservation Strategy

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Gabby Saunders

On April 24, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the final Jaguar Recovery Plan. Many of the recovery actions proposed in the plan reaffirm Wildlands Network’s key strategies for protecting and enhancing jaguar populations in Mexico and the U.S., while also demonstrating the need for continued robust advocacy with government officials to improve and strengthen the official recovery programs. Photo: © milosk50 / Adobe Stock

Lone pronghorn walking through a meadow of yellow flowers

Border Construction Concerns Conservation Groups, Wildlife Experts

Posted on April 1, 2019April 1, 2019 by Katy Schaffer

KVOA, a local news station in Tucson, Arizona, interviewed our borderlands coordinator, Myles Traphagen, about the Pentagon’s recent transfer of $1 billion to build the border wall in Arizona, California, and New Mexico. Photo: Steve Hillebrand, USFWS

We Wall Ourselves Off: Response to Pentagon Allocating $1 billion for Border Fencing

Posted on March 27, 2019 by Myles Traphagen

On Tuesday, the Department of Defense, in response to a directive issued by President Trump, announced that it was transferring $1 billion U.S. dollars to build Trump’s unnecessary and destructive border wall.Wildlands Network strongly opposes the construction of a border wall. The building of such a structure in southern Arizona and New Mexico would be an ecological disaster with far reaching implications. Photo: Tom Koerner, USFWS

Organizaciones de conservación se reúnen para mejorar la protección de la vida silvestre en Estados Unidos y México

Posted on March 22, 2019March 22, 2019 by Juan Carlos Bravo

El mes pasado, unos 40 líderes de conservación de la vida silvestre de Estados Unidos y México formaron la Colaboración para la Conservación de los Estados Fronterizos, un grupo de trabajo informal dedicado a preservar la conectividad y la biodiversidad única de las tierras fronterizas. Foto: Cortesía Colaboración para la Conservación de los Estados Fronterizos

Conservation Organizations Gathered to Discuss Enhanced Wildlife Protections in the U.S.-Mexico Border States

Posted on March 22, 2019March 22, 2019 by Juan Carlos Bravo

Last month, some 40 wildlife conservation leaders from both the United States and Mexico formed the Border States Conservation Collaborative, an informal working group dedicated to preserving the connectivity and unique biodiversity of the borderlands. Photo: Courtesy Border States Conservation Collaborative

Native Grasses of the Apache Highlands: An Interview with Artist Matilda Essig

Posted on March 21, 2019March 21, 2019 by Myles Traphagen

In the world of conservation, grasslands usually take a back seat to mountains and forests. But at the Tucson International Airport, grasses take center stage in larger-than-life prints in artist Matilda Essig’s exhibit. Our borderlands coordinator, Myles Traphagen, sat down with Matilda for an interview on the critical role grasses play in healthy ecosystems. Photo: Myles Traphagen

A small brown pig-like animal grazes on tall yellow grasses under a short green tree.

Join Us for the 2nd Annual Border BioBlitz!

You’re invited to participate in the Border BioBlitz, March 2-3, all along the U.S.-Mexico border. Join us, Next Generation Sonoran Desert Researchers, and other collaborating organizations to document the stunning biological diversity of the borderlands at several key sites. All citizen scientists are encouraged to participate! Photo: Myles Traphagen

Myles Traphagen: Border Barriers Hurt Our Region’s Wildlife

Posted on January 22, 2019January 22, 2019 by Katy Schaffer

The Arizona Daily Star published this op-ed by our Borderlands Program Coordinator, Myles Traphagen, who details the catastrophic effects the president’s proposed border wall would have on regional wildlife, including wolves, Sonoran pronghorn, and jaguars. Photo: Gary M. Stolz

A Five people sit on one side of a table listening to the man sitting on the left talk.

A Ray of Hope for Wildlife and People in the Borderlands

Posted on October 26, 2018December 18, 2018 by Myles Traphagen and Katie Davis

At a roundtable discussion of borderlands issues led by Sen. Bernie Sanders earlier this week, our borderlands program coordinator left with a little more hope about an equitable future for both wildlife and people in the area, as compassionate elected officials work to protect this unique region. Photo: Courtesy of Myles Traphagen

Jaguar walking cautiously on a rocky dirt road

Border Wall Worries Wildlife Biologists

Posted on June 13, 2018March 16, 2019 by Katy Schaffer

The Albuquerque Journal interviewed Mexico Program Director Juan Carlos Bravo and Borderlands Coordinator Myles Traphagen about the border wall’s disastrous effects on wildlife. Photo: Northern Jaguar Project/Naturalia

A wooden sign for the Yaqui Ridge Trail stands in the foreground of the photo. Behind the sign, rolling desert hills approach the horizon under a bright blue sky.

Along the Border, 500 Miles of Desert Species

Posted on April 3, 2018January 27, 2019 by Katy Schaffer

High Country News covered last month’s Border BioBlitz, organized by our own Myles Traphagen and Next Generation of Sonoran Desert Researchers. The BioBlitz identified over 800 species along the U.S.-Mexico border and highlighted the region’s spectacular biodiversity. Photo: Myles Traphagen

A group of people stand around a man in a green uniform, who is leaning against a railing in front of a valley. Rolling peaks surround the group of people.

Border BioBlitz Highlights the Biodiversity and Beauty of the Borderlands

Posted on March 13, 2018August 22, 2018 by Myles Traphagen

With so much negativity surrounding the borderlands region of the U.S. and Mexico, the inaugural Border BioBlitz sought to shine a positive light on this dynamic and diverse place that so many people and wildlife call home. Photo: Myles Traphagen

A man in a khaki bucket hat and orangey-red long-sleeved shirt squats on the ground while exploring a rocky red cleft with his hands. A green, pointy plant is visible just above the area his hands are searching.

Border BioBlitz Documents Santa Ana Wildlife in Binational Science Effort

Posted on March 12, 2018January 27, 2019 by Katy Schaffer

The Monitor, a newspaper in McAllen, Texas, interviewed Borderlands Coordinator Myles Traphagen about the Border BioBlitz, a citizen-science effort to document the stunning biodiversity along the borderlands, which would be devastated by a border wall. Photo: Myles Traphagen

A vast valley is visible, spotted with many small, green shrubs. The sun casts a golden shadow across the valley. In the distance, mountains are visible.

Border BioBlitz Aims to Highlight the Diversity of the U.S.-Mexico Border

Posted on February 28, 2018February 17, 2019 by Myles Traphagen

On Saturday March 3rd, teams of professional and citizen scientists in the U.S. and Mexico will work together to focus their observational abilities on a swath of land at the center of international attention: The U.S.-Mexico border. Photo: Brian Powell

A man wears a large jaguar costume with a big papier-mâché head. Two men stand on either side of him against a background of green trees.

Slicing a Corridor in Two: A Report from Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge

Posted on February 14, 2018February 17, 2019 by Myles Traphagen

Borderlands Coordinator Myles Traphagen visited the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge last month as local activists held a rally to protest the proposed border wall that would slice the refuge in half and devastate the area’s native wildlife. Photo: Myles Traphagen