About the Desert Fence Busters
The Desert Fence Busters is a collaborative conservation project in Tucson’s west valley to improve and enhance wildlife movement between natural areas by removing miles of deadly fencing barriers. This collaboration began in 2021 to benefit wildlife connectivity, and they aren’t slowing down anytime soon!
While not its own official non-profit, the Desert Fence Busters is a coalition of several dedicated groups working towards one goal: protecting and supporting wildlife by removing legacy barbed wire fencing.
The Desert Fence Busters continue to refine strategies for prioritizing fence removals with a focus on:
- Linkages/Corridors. Prioritize work within the Coyote-Ironwood-Tucson Linkage, with secondary
focus on the Tucson-Tortolita-Catalina linkages and Rincon-Santa Rita-Whetstone linkages. - Bottlenecks/Chokepoints. Prioritize work that supports use of existing Central Arizona Project
siphons, overchutes, and bridges, along with existing road culverts. - Fence Type. Prioritize fence removals in this order:
- Removal of double fences (leaving a single fence in place)
- Full removal of obsolete fences
- Conversion of fences to wildlife friendly standards
- Obstructions. Prioritize work that reduces impacts from roads and obsolete irrigation ditches.
2025: Milestones reached
Over 8 work events, Desert Fence Buster volunteers removed nearly 30 miles (19,900 lbs!) of legacy fence to improve wildlife connectivity. Additionally, volunteers capped 246 “death pipes“, preventing the entrapment and death of an estimated 5,000+ animals.
Since 2021, volunteers have removed nearly 100 miles of fence!
Conservation Organization of the Year
In 2025, the Desert Fence Busters was recognized by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission as the Conservation Organization of the Year, celebrating the group’s collaborative partnerships and dedicated volunteers who have meaningfully improved wildlife welfare over the past four years. (Shout out to our allies Arizona Wildlife Federation and Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, who both sponsored or supported the event!)
Read the 2025 Annual Report
Fence Busters Unite
On a morning cold as sin with a gray winter grin,
Our fence-busting crew took the field—
Where a century’s wire, all rust, frost, and fire,
Stood guard over pasture and yield.
Those old posts of steel never cared how you feel,
But we met them with cutters in hand;
Snipping barbs in the breeze, rolling coils with ease—
“Make a donut!” was the day’s command.
Each volunteer took a role on the whole,
From the lifters to rollers in line;
And the deer agreed, with a sigh, they were freed,
Since the cattle were long out of mind.When the last strand was down in that cold fenceless ground,
We circled our wagons—okay, our trucks—
Sipping’ coffee like gold, telling’ tales we’d been told,
Warm at last from our breath and our luck.
So here’s cheers to the crew and the work that we do,
In December with frost on our boots—
For there’s nothing grander than to free up the land
With good friends, cold hands… and strong roots.–Phi H. Pham, December 2025