Carolyn Campbell, Executive Director of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection says much work needs to be done to preserve unique desert ecosystems.

I am very pleased that the AARP has recognized our community as the Number 1 Best Place to Live. I believe the recognition is well-earned. As all of us know that live here, this is the most beautiful place in the world. The article argues that this is THE best place to live in part because of “the beautiful wilderness that rings the city…and for simple pleasures, [such as] hiking and camping.” There are other reasons that we outshone other places in the country, but time after time, the Tucson area is recognized for the beauty of the desert and mountains and the accessibility to outdoor recreational opportunities.

Great communities take a lot of work. And I think we’ve been lucky in the sense that not all of our natural heritage was lost during the decades of reckless growth that failed to value those resources. Fortunately, in the last few years – just in the nick of time, really – leaders realized what many of the citizens had known for a long time. And that is, the raw and natural desert is our biggest asset. Let’s protect it and embrace it! With that said, housing communities are now jammed up to the Parks’ and Forests’ edges. We have lost species like the bighorn sheep from those areas, and we are losing more. Desert tortoise, species of birds and reptiles, and others have no places left to roam. We have to do a better job of keeping places wild, not just in our federal preserves but connective preserves between them.

Additionally, there are immediate threats from mining. Augusta Corporation is aggressively pursuing an open pit copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, with accompanying tailings piles, massive water consumption, and water and air pollution. This will negatively impact Davidson Canyon and Cienega Creek. And there is yet another quarry mine getting ready to start operations IN Davidson Canyon. These are very special places that could soon be destroyed.

Finally, we are losing the war against buffelgrass, which is an invasive species of grass from Africa that is overtaking our Sonoran Desert, and that poses a wildfire threat that literally can wipe out our community overnight. While much effort is going into controlling this scourge, we really do have to “take out all the stops” to eradicate buffelgrass. I am proud of how neighbors, the environmental and business communities, and governments are all working together but we need to do more if we really want to protect our desert home far into the future.

I am proud of our community and hope we can continue to take big steps to protect the environment that makes our community so special.