We are excited to share our updated Strategic Plan, a roadmap for CSDP’s next chapter of protecting and connecting the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona.

This plan builds on our nearly 30 years of conservation wins, including many achievements since our last Strategic Plan.

A few key highlights of our progress since 2020 include:

• Wildlife linkages: After the success of the Oracle Road crossings, we shifted our focus to the Tucson-Tortolita and Rincon-Santa Rita-Whetstone wildlife linkages. We also worked on the Santa Cruz River Wildlife Ramp, completed in 2025 as a tangible step towards connectivity over Interstate 10 between the Tucson and Tortolita Mountains.
• Desert Fence Busters: In 2021, we helped to found the Desert Fence Busters. This collaborative has now removed almost 100 miles of redundant barbed wire fencing from critical wildlife linkages in Pima County.
• Habitat improvement: Starting in 2023, we worked with volunteers to re-establish native plants and build anti-erosion structures at the Oracle Road wildlife crossings.
• Open space protection: We continued efforts to reroute the proposed Interstate 11 away from Avra Valley, including with an ongoing lawsuit that led to a re-evaluation of the project’s environmental review. A new public comment period is expected at the end of 2026.
• Land acquisitions: After many years of working to protect Kelly Ranch, Pima County acquired the property in 2025 — helping to further protect the Catalina-Tortolita mountains wildlife linkage and fulfilling a long-term conservation goal.
• Conservation planning: We continued to input on land use and development plans. Some wins since 2020 include working on significant landscape mitigations for the extensive H2K development and getting the City of Tucson to adopt Pima County’s Conservation Lands System.
• Organizational development: With more work came more expenses, mostly on CSDP staff — our team grew from 3.5-ish to 5, and our expenses increased from around $240,000 to around $400,000 since 2020.

Our work will continue to be guided by our Theory of Change, outlined below:

Our work continues to focus on two core programs:

• Land use planning: Defending the desert from short-sighted development by advancing conservation policies and protecting habitats — work that continues to build on the award-winning Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.
• Landscape connectivity: Reconnecting habitats and ensuring safe passage with tools such as wildlife crossings, fence removal, and community science projects.

Our two programs focus on six key project areas in the Tucson basin, the highest priority being the Tucson-Tortolita Mountains wildlife linkage. Others include Avra Valley, Catalina Mountains, Las Cienegas, Sopori Creek, and Ajo Highway.

This is long-term work that requires continuity, collaboration, and vision across generations. Through this work, we move towards a collective vision of a community where the Sonoran Desert’s ecosystems are healthy, valued, and protected, for current and future generations.

This Strategic Plan is our commitment to making this vision a reality.

We invite you to read the Strategic Plan and, as always, to join us in this work as a volunteer, advocate, or donor.