Jordan Sene, 21, is from Rio Rico, Arizona. She is a student at Arizona State University majoring in sustainable ecosystems at the School of Sustainability. She is also pursuing her Master of Sustainability Solutions (MSUS 4+1) degree at ASU. Jordan participated in the Borderlands Earth Care Youth (BECY) program when she graduated from Rio Rico Highschool, before heading off to university. During the program, she was a youth leader first learning about sustainability and permaculture while doing watershed restoration work. Participating in BECY sparked new interest and passion in Jordan and it changed the trajectory of her study and career path. 

Six months in as a BRN staff member, Jordan learned hands-on how to coordinate the BECY program with the Patagonia and Douglas 2021 cohorts in the summer. By the fall, she designed and implemented an 8-week online course internship for students in Douglas, Arizona, Agua Prieta, and Hermosillo, Sonora. The course, Jaguars 101: Jaguar Habitat Restoration & Community Resilience was multidisciplinary and featured guest speaker practitioners from the U.S. and Sonora. ​

The course started with the basics on jaguar biology, ecology, history, and cultural value. Then, interns learned more about the importance of stakeholder engagement throughout the borderlands, watershed restoration techniques, and cases for conservation. Jordan also moderated a panel discussion focused on environmental justice, representation, and advocacy with three local environmental advocates. The last section of the course emphasizes sustainable management of food systems and current sustainability research that young conservationists are conducting at the University of Arizona and Universidad de Sonora. ​

Youth interns learned about environmental and community restoration, conservation, binational collaboration, environmental justice, and overall sustainability with an emphasis on regenerative management of natural and cultural resources. We also hosted many conservation professionals and experts from both sides of the border from diverse backgrounds and experiences in their expert fields of conservation and jaguar habitat restoration. Interns learned about the causes of jaguars critically endangered status and mitigation efforts aimed to prevent the jaguar's extinction in the Sky Islands region. Those efforts include various methods of water and land restoration. Throughout this online course, interns worked on an applied project centered around jaguar advocacy and community resilience which they successfully presented during the final week of the course. ​

The Story Behind Jaguars 101: The youth interns from Agua Prieta conducted virtual storytelling behind the Jaguars 101 course and shared their internship experience through their presentations. The students gave their perspective on the course including, jaguar history, cultural value, jaguar biology, and their role in the Sky Islands ecosystem. The interns also produced a jaguar video. Their purpose behind this project was to demonstrate that internships can be personal, captivating, and engaging for a younger demographic. ​

Youth Workshop at Douglas Public Library: The Douglas youth interns from Cochise College completed a series of workshops for young children, ages 6-11, at the Douglas Public Library​. They taught the younger children and their families how they can help their environment and why it's so important to do so. Their purpose was to educate the youth, their parents, and the community about the importance of healthy ecosystems, conservation, and wildlife. ​

Biodiversidad de Hermosillo: Hermosillo youth interns from the Universidad de Sonora focused their project on sharing and educating young children about entomology, the study of insects. Their project took place at a local children's home called Todos Somos Hermanos, where they taught young children environmental science-related topics through a series of workshops while making it a fun experience. The purpose was to generate sincere interest in the nature that surrounds them and learn to respect it. The series of workshops focused on mammals and tracks, desert plants, and insect diversity. Youth played games and completed activities such as plant pressing during each short course. The youth interns plan to continue these workshops as they continue practicing environmental education and citizen science.

As the Borderlands Wildlife Preserve Coordinator, one of my many roles is to teach occasionally. The Borderlands education program brings in students from all over the globe, and frequently they are interested in wildlife. I begin my classes by presenting about the preserve and sharing some beautiful pictures and videos of some of the most charismatic animals in the area. As a relatively introverted person, this is always a challenge for me. Still, I am more grateful for each opportunity to teach I get. 

Both of my parents in their younger years were teachers. They were not teachers in the traditional sense of working in public schools or universities. Still, they taught students what they were experts in, art and solar. I still admire their ability to answer just about any question on these topics. I now know how they gained this wisdom, and it was through teaching and being open to answering all those questions! ​

Each time I teach, I strive to have all the answers in my head. I study up on jaguars and bats and try to anticipate what I will be asked. There are so many animals to know about. Each time I am caught off guard with questions like, how many different stink bug species are there? How many jaguars exist worldwide? How high do butterflies fly? And the tough ones like, will humans ever be able to coexist with predators? What animals here will go extinct due to climate change? Are you hopeful for the future? 

I take some time after each class to research the questions I don't have answers to, and frequently I learn so much more than I ever expected. Some of the questions are answered with even more questions. These are the best questions and an invitation to students to research more and find the answers themselves, their curiosity is needed.

​So, am I hopeful for the future? Yes, I am hopeful each time I teach because the students' questions are full of hope, wonder, and care, and that is exactly what we need to save each other and the wildlife we love. Thank you to all the students out there, the ones in school and the ones who refuse to stop learning. Keep the questions coming! ​

Just in case you are wondering. There are around 120 pinacate beetle (stink bug) species found in the western United States. Worldwide jaguar estimates range from 15,000 to 170,000, more conclusive research is needed, but most experts lean towards the lower end of that range. Some butterflies have been known to fly at heights of 11,000 to 20,000 feet! Who knew! 

​The Dirtbags are an all-volunteer trail building group located in Patagonia, AZ. Founded about ten years ago and named after huge canvas bags used to haul dirt, they pride themselves on creating free access to natural areas to the public through creating expertly crafted hiking trails. Friends of Sonoita Creek, another Patagonia-based nonprofit conservation group focused on protecting, restoring, and educating people on the importance of Sonoita Creek (flowing seasonally from Sonoita to Nogales, AZ), provides the materials for the Dirtbags to do their fieldwork. 

The Dirtbags adhere to a social contract of giving back to the communities they love. The gift given is access to beautiful, protected landscapes within the Sonoita Creek Watershed and surrounding areas. One of the areas they have enhanced with their trail building skills is the Borderlands Wildlife Preserve (BWP). The BWP, thanks to the Dirtbags, has a trail system consisting of three excellent and easy-to-access trails. In addition to building trails occasionally, one of the Dirtbags, Joe Watkins, creates and places wooden benches to enjoy the mountain views.
 
I had the pleasure of interviewing Joe about the bench building process and the experience of being a Dirtbag. Joe took a furniture building class back in the early 2000s and has been perfecting his craft of woodworking ever since. The latest creations now located within the BWP are two white oak viewing benches. One placed on the Smith Canyon Loop Trail and one on the Connector Trail. Designed after the famous conservationist Aldo Leopold’s bench designs, they create peaceful resting points along the trails. 

Now that the bountiful monsoon rains are behind us, one of my favorite seasons has arrived. During fall in the arid borderlands, I visit rainwater harvesting and restoration projects completed over the past year. From testing the sturdiness of erosion control structures, to witnessing the growth of plants in rain gardens, to gauging how full a cistern is, this season offers an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to be inspired. 
 
In June of this year, the outdoor patio at the Douglas Public Library was devoid of life, reminiscent of a prison with tall concrete walls and cage-like fence. The main feature was an industrial generator, serving as the backup power for the library and an eyesore to passersby. This patio was a space that felt neither inviting nor comforting, heating up beyond the point of comfort during the summer months. However, with a raised bed running along the northern edge of the patio, remnants of an ancient irrigation system, and fencing that could double as a trellis, the patio had the potential to be a verdant space alluring to humans and nonhumans alike. 

As fall settles in and the high grasses from the monsoon start to fade to brown, we see why so many animals in this region share the same muted tones. One of the animals using color to camouflage into their environment is the Coues deer (Odocoileus virginianus couesi) also known as the White-tailed deer. Coues whitetails are the smallest subspecies of the white-tailed deer, averaging 65 to 100 pounds, with females on the smaller end. As their name implies, they have a broad triangular-shaped tail with a white underside. 

White-tailed deer reside in Arizona in elevations ranging from 4K to 10K feet. These small and shy creatures prefer oak woodlands, grasslands, chaparral, and pine forests using cover from significant vegetation to hide from predators. In drought years, vegetation is low, leading to more predation from animals such as mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, and black bears. This year vegetation is exceptionally high, giving white-tailed deer and particularly fawns a better chance of survival. ​

The deer we see on the wildlife trail cameras could likely spend their entire lives living within or close to the Borderlands Wildlife Preserve boundaries. As the most frequently captured animal on the wildlife trail cameras, I occasionally see a familiar face. I hope these two find a haven in the high grasses and oaks this fall and look forward to documenting their existence and story of life. The best time to catch a glimpse of a white-tailed deer is at dawn or dusk. A set of binoculars is always recommended as these animals will most likely see you before you see them. 

For a more detailed explanation of the white-tailed deer and its subspecies please click here. ​

Our primary partner for our bats and agave work is Bat Conservation International (BCI). Through contracts with BCI we continue to collect agave seed and growout plants for restoration as well as expand our agave education work by connecting us with partners in Nuevo Leon, Mexico and beyond. BCI expanded its reach into Sonora by working with our partners Colectivo Sonora Silvestre (CSS), Cuenca Los Ojos and Naturalia, A.C. to encourage and support more organizations and individuals to propagate agave from seeds on both sides of the border. To date we have planted 3,774 agaves across the borderlands. ​

This year through support from BCI and Mountain Rose Herbs we published  Agaves for Bats: From Seed to Flower Guide booklet available for download as well as free hard copies available for the cost of shipping. This booklet serves as a resource and guide for all things related to growing agaves from seed including seed collection, greenhouse construction, outplanting, agave salvage, and much more. ​

 October 2021 also marks one year since BRN and Colectivo Sonora Silvestre won the Connectivity Challenge, the inaugural competitive grant through Colorado State University’s Salazar Center with the project, Bacanora for Bats: Binational Conservation and Sustainable Agave Spirits. This project was designed to develop a sustainability certification for bacanora production through the Consejo Regulatorio de Bacanora, and establish a baseline survey of Agave palmeri populations throughout southern Arizona and northern Sonora. Organized and administered by BRN staff, this funding will support the Colectivo Sonora Silvestre to continue their policy work with the Bacanora Consejo with the agave map modeling component led by Erin Riordan, Research Associate at Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, University of Arizona, and the on the ground survey work spearheaded by BRN staff and volunteers.

There are many ways you can get involved in our bat and agave work including through financial support,  volunteering for agave plantings throughout the year and at the Borderlands Nursery & Seed nursery where we propagate agaves, or volunteer for agave phenology work through NPN’s Flower For Bats Campaign. Lastly, you can help us with our agave mapping and survey work which you can do on your own time or during our in person mapping events. 

For this year’s Bat Week, we will be holding our first in person agave mapping workshop on Saturday, October 30, 8AM - 1PM at a location in SE Arizona. 

Don’t forget to check out our agaves for bats resource page for all things bats and agaves.

​The Borderlands Wildlife Preserve (BWP) and surrounding areas have been home to many peoples for thousands of years. Acknowledging this past is crucial to understanding and respecting each other. It further concedes that humanity has a place in nature and has not always had an imbalance of give and take with the natural world. At BWP, we strive to make all people feel safe and welcome in this space shared with wildlife and the land. To communicate our intentions, over the past year we have designed and installed a series of signs to explain the environment in and around BWP and the work Borderlands Restoration Network does. The final two signs (for now) are completed. ​

These last signs took the longest to complete because they highlight the human history of the area. The history of the borderlands is complex, disputed, and at times heartbreaking. This chronicle could never be fully explained within the context of trail signs, but we partnered with some people whose expert knowledge delivered insight and guidance for all who visit the preserve. Our deepest gratitude goes out to German Quiroga of the Patagonia Museum, Anthony Francisco Jr., and Amy R. Juan of Kom Wahia Ki:kam/Comobabi Community, Tohono O’odham for their contributions to these signs. And, a special thanks to Chris and Mary Strohm, whose generosity and patience made the signs possible. Later this fall, you will find the Indigenous history sign at the welcome kiosk, and the Patagonia history sign will be found on the Smith Canyon Loop Trail. ​

In addition to these two interpretive signs, the entrance sign to the preserve has gotten a revamp. Previously it said "Wildlife Corridor" and now the newly painted and welded sign says "Borderlands Wildlife Preserve." It also has a beautifully painted agave to accompany the new wording. Thank you to local welder Geroge Diethorn and local painter Rhonda Brew for the masterful work. We hope all of these signs give you one more reason to enjoy and feel welcome in Borderlands Wildlife Preserve!

After a historic year, we had the great opportunity to participate in the inaugural Sonoran Field Course, organized by Borderlands Restoration Network, based at Rancho San Bernardino in Agua Prieta, Sonora. The program covered a wide variety of social, environmental and economic topics from community aid, restorative economics to watershed restoration and native plant propagation.

During the course we learned about the collaborative efforts carried out through different organizations with the aim of integrating sustainable practices into economic growth with the help of community participation. Such is the example of DouglaPrieta Trabaja, a non-profit organization that works to integrate the community in sustainable agricultural practices through workshops and courses throughout the year. On the other hand, our place of stay, Rancho San Bernardino, is a clear example of success that economic activities and sustainable development go hand in hand. ​

Rancho San Bernardino, along with other ranches located on both parts of the border, are part of the Fundación Cuenca de los Ojos A.C. These areas are Voluntarily Declared Conservation Area (ADVC), where for more than 15 years restorative techniques of pasture management have been carried out through prescribed burns, sustainable grazing through the rotation of livestock, restoration of watersheds through construction of gabions, trenches and reforestation with native plants. In addition, we had the experience of getting into the social problems related to the border wall thanks to the work carried out by Frontera de Cristo and the collaboration with Border Arts Corridor (BAC) in the creation of a mural that links art with social perception of the native flora of the region.

Primera Generación de Líderes Ambientalistas en México Inspirados por BRN 
Por: Sophia Vásquez, Graduada del Curso de Campo de Sonora
 
Después de un año histórico, tuvimos la gran oportunidad de participar en el primer Curso de Campo de Sonora, organizado por Borderlands Restoration Network, con sede en Rancho San Bernardino en Agua Prieta, Sonora. El programa cubrió una amplia variedad de temas sociales, ambientales y económicos desde ayuda comunitaria, economía restaurativa hasta restauración de cuencas y propagación de plantas nativas.

Durante el curso conocimos los esfuerzos de colaboración que se realizan a través de diferentes organizaciones con el objetivo de integrar prácticas sostenibles al crecimiento económico con la ayuda de la participación comunitaria. Tal es el ejemplo de Dougla-Prieta Trabaja, organización sin fines de lucro que trata de integrar a la comunidad en prácticas agrícolas sostenibles por medio de talleres y cursos a lo largo del año.  Por otra parte, nuestro lugar de estadía, Rancho San Bernardino, es un claro ejemplo de éxito de que las actividades económicas y el desarrollo sostenible van de la mano. ​

Rancho San Bernardino, junto con otros ranchos ubicados en ambas partes de la frontera, forman parte de la Fundación Cuenca de los Ojos A.C. Estas áreas se encuentran Declaradas Voluntariamente a la Conservación (ADVC, por sus siglas en inglés), donde desde hace más de 15 años se realizan técnicas restaurativas de manejo de pastizales mediante quemas prescritas, pastoreo sustentable por medio de la rotación del ganado, restauración de cuencas a través de la construcción de gaviones y trincheras y reforestación con plantas nativas. Además, tuvimos la experiencia de adentrarnos a los problemas sociales relacionados con el muro fronterizo gracias al trabajo que realiza Frontera de Cristo y a la colaboración con Border Arts Corridor (BAC) en la creación de un mural que vincula el arte con la percepción social de la flora nativa de la región. 

Gracias al contenido del programa obtuve las herramientas necesarias para desarrollar e implementar a futuro un proyecto denominado “Revolución de áreas verdes”, que tiene como objetivo impactar, educar y aumentar las áreas verdes dentro de mi comunidad a través de técnicas restaurativas de construcción de estructuras de control de erosión, así como la colecta de semillas de plantas nativas, limpieza, tratamiento y su propagación con ayuda de la participación ciudadana. ​

It seems that this year's monsoon season keeps giving. For those of you not familiar with the monsoon season in southeastern Arizona, it's from approximately June 15 to September 30, during which moist winds from the ocean are pulled in by low-pressure zones created from the summer heat. This moist air then forms thunderstorms and heavy rain. The monsoon fluctuates yearly, and this year we are having an exceptional abundance of precipitation compared to last year, which was one of the driest years on record.

Forgive me if this explanation is simple and not entirely accurate as climate science is very complex and deserves a more thorough explanation than a blog can accommodate. For a more detailed and fascinating description of the monsoon, please check out the CLIMAS website (Climate Assessment for the Southwest). 

Borderlands Wildlife Preserve is flourishing with all the additional moisture, and as such, we see fewer animals on our wildlife cameras. This may seem counterintuitive, but the preserve's animals now have many water sources and are not as reliant on the wildlife drinkers where we have many of our camera traps set up. 

Another reason for capturing fewer images is the simple fact that the cameras can no longer see the animals through all the plant growth. The difference in plant growth from last July to this July and even from the first week of this July to the end of the month this year is so dramatic we would like to share the images with you. 

​Enjoy these comparison images of all the greenery taken by our wildlife camera traps!​