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Borderlands of Change

Writer's picture: Sofia DeFantiSofia DeFanti

Student Guest Blog

Sofia DeFanti is a second year student at Whitman College, studying Environmental Studies and Sociology. She visited Borderlands Restoration Network in November 2024 with Semester in the West, a field program focusing on public lands conservation and rural life. She observed BRN's utilization of community to promote values of sustainability and restoration, and was inspired to write this piece.

 

The story of a rural town's struggle between the worlds of conservation and extractivism in the face of a new mine


Sun illuminates the ribbed surface of the storage container daubed with orange, blue, and green paint. The jaguar’s drooping eyes and bared teeth are eternally fixed to his face. Trapped in the confines of the medium, he is imprisoned behind bars of steel, a confinement parallel to the US-Mexico border twenty miles to her south. Monarchs and bees relish in their freedom above, soaring in winged companionship. The mural is both a celebration of biodiversity and an elegy to a world that once thrived.


The painted words restore, protect, and reconnect grow like fruit upon the painted vines that blur the distinction between the storage container and the natural world. Borderlands Earth Care Youth interns meticulously painted this mural in the small town of Patagonia, Arizona. For Patagonia area youth, this opportunity in conservation is highly unique in a region of sparse employment options. 


BECY interns painting a mural at the Borderlands Earth Care Center
BECY interns painting a mural at the Borderlands Earth Care Center

Growing up 30 minutes from Patagonia, Jordan Sene spent her youth relishing in this incredible space, intending to return to it after college to be a school teacher. In 2018, Jordan Sene interned with the Borderlands Earth Care Youth program, a unique paid internship designed primarily for Hispanic, Latino, and low-income youth from local rural Santa Cruz and Cochise counties.


Jordan has returned to this program as the Education Program Manager for Borderlands Restoration Network. Borderlands Earth Care Youth completely changed the trajectory of her career, “my first time at Deep Dirt Farm, now the Borderlands Earth Care Center, was the first time learning about environmental action, land protection, permaculture, and sustainability… and that is what drove me to my area of study and career path.”


A butterfly garden full of native plants in the town of Patagonia is maintained by BECY interns
A butterfly garden full of native plants in the town of Patagonia is maintained by BECY interns

Around Jordan’s hometown, the Sky Islands emerge like adorned castles amongst an expanse of lowland desert, stretching drawbridges of the imagination between the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico and the American Rocky Mountains. Within the palaces of these ranges is a dazzling array of biodiversity, nurtured by a unique combination of ecosystems that sustain over 7,000 precious species, including over half of North America’s bird population. Along with these animal populations, this land has provided sustenance for indigenous Sobaipuri, Papago, and Pima people for thousands of years. 


Colonialism and development have majorly harmed the health of already fragile ecosystems. Prior to and during the USA's purchase of Arizona from Mexico in the late 1800s, Patagonia was a railroad town for lead and silver mining. Once these industries departed, their mark was left behind in the form of unemployed locals and untreated toxic waste abandoned on the mountaintops. 


BECC will be the new hub for Borderland Restoration Network's education programs
BECC will be the new hub for Borderland Restoration Network's education programs

Jordan’s eyes sparkle with amazement as she speaks of how this community and its wildlife have inspired her. “A big part of our curriculum is a sense of place.” Her students are deeply involved in place-based learning as they are involved with clearing trails, restoring streams, and identifying then planting native species among other projects. Jordan sees this work as vital for the student’s growth; dually building skills of resilience and developing deep connections to the land and their home. 


Inside the storage container, books teem from eclectic cupboards and weathered shelves. Outside, tired shovels and rakes hang heavily from the storage container. Their rusty heads wobble underneath their weight, loosened from lives of continuous work. Jordan smiles as she reflects upon this tangible reminder of the love and dedication her students have poured into this space and their community. 


 The murals at BECC reflect the culture, community, and wildlife of the region
The murals at BECC reflect the culture, community, and wildlife of the region

Ten miles from Borderlands Earth Care Center, high in the Sky Islands of the Patagonia Mountains, a different storage container rests upon a patch of leveled ground, surrounded by fragments of broken rock. Its harsh gray exterior stands starkly from the artfully reclaimed container at the preserve. Here, layers of incisions have sliced the ground, exposing the pink flesh of raw earth. 


The Hermosa Mine is being developed on the site of previous mining operations from the 1880s. Now, construction has begun for a new operation, one for zinc, lead, silver, and most significantly, the only electric battery-grade manganese in North America. 


The small, 800-person community that lives beneath this mountain fears a multitude of possible implications from the mine. Lingering over their heads is the threat of groundwater pollution, a resource heavily depended on for municipal water use. Further, the increased noise, construction, and traffic pose a threat of disturbance to crucial habitats for beloved wildlife.


A rainbow shines over the Sky Islands
A rainbow shines over the Sky Islands

The birds, bears, mountain lions, jaguars, and deer that historically thrived in these mountains have been reduced to a fraction of their historical numbers. Further, the proximity to the border presents an insurmountable obstacle to the natural migration of many species. For the forty-one endangered species dependent on the Sky Islands, every acre of habitat is imperative.


Despite many locals' fears, the community faces the possibility of economic dependency on mining jobs. With the exception of Border Patrol, ranching, and limited medical and primary education jobs, few employment choices are available. Jordan recognizes the familiarly consequential pattern, “young people leave and they’ll likely never come back.” 


Now, a simple Google search “Jobs in Patagonia, Arizona” presents overwhelming employment options relating to the mine. Rows of mining construction jobs populate, followed by more permanent jobs related to the mining company itself. 


Borderlands Restoration Network envisions a world where economic success can be derived in conjunction with beneficial impacts on the environment. With this hope comes an acknowledgment that people must find ways to survive. To pay the bills, moral compromises must be made. Jordan speaks with acceptance, “I have kids that still want to work for the mine, even graduating from my program… The influences around you and opportunities most accessible have a say in your career pathway.” 


BECC is also home to education programs such as We Grow Food
BECC is also home to education programs such as We Grow Food

Mining is a controversial industry woven deeply into the fabric of the Southwest. The road to change is daunting, and even with the help of Borderlands, the town’s economy will not shift immediately. However, through Borderlands, there are more opportunities for sustainable employment in Patagonia than ever before; working with native plants, watershed rehabilitation work, and for youth, paid restoration internships. 


Spaces like Borderlands are proving that extractivism does not have to be the norm. At the Borderlands Earth Care Center, the land remarkably remembers how to nurse life. Its hoop-houses teem with the vibrancy of leafy greens. Native seeds sit in dusty jars unassumingly nestled under the earth; fragile glass cradles are the key to sustaining healthy ecosystems. This space tenderly fosters the rebirth of values like self-sustenance and the joys of feeding one's community. 


BRN's education programs empower youth with technical training and community-building skills
BRN's education programs empower youth with technical training and community-building skills

Jordan tucks a strand of her light brown hair back into her ponytail. She tilts her head up, proudly gazing upon the expanse of grasses, dotted with the awkward, lanky hands of mesquite trees. The carefully groomed trail is a product of the intentional care of community members and interns. “We're just wanting to showcase another option that there are nature-based solutions, and there are career pathways related to sustainability and taking care of the environment and stewardship.”


Borderlands Restoration Network is faced with a monumental task; to create options from deeply rooted extractivism, and nurture a community that thrives instead on reciprocity. Every day, their work invites more people to these spaces, to bask in the warm sunshine, the quiver of a cottonwood in the wind, and the chatter of birds. Thanks to them, more people can celebrate the achievement of growing their food, or experience sinking into bed after a day of fulfilling stream restoration work. Jordan proudly states, “We run on passion.” Every stroke of color on the murals reflects the vibrancy of the lives that have touched it.



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