Desert Fence Busters - Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection

Since the project’s beginning, CSDP has supported the Desert Fence Busters by providing funding, advocacy, project and volunteer coordination, and event day workers for legacy fence removal.

We are still part of the Desert Fence Busters leadership team and you’ll see us at DFB events!

Visit the DFB website!

History of the 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.

After a unique partnership began to share information between agencies on projects centered in Avra Valley west of the Tucson Mountains, it emerged that multiple land management agencies had outdated fencing that are impeding wildlife, with animal carcasses found hung up on barbed wire while attempting to jump or crawl through the fence.

In response to this problem, in December 2021, over 65 volunteers came together one morning to remove three miles of old fencing, including three tons of fence posts and wire fencing, from an area in northern Avra Valley.

Desert Fence Busters gathered before a fence removal, photo by Marisa Rice.

Removing this fencing is important to improve the critical wildlife linkage areas between Tucson Mountain Park, Saguaro National Park, Ironwood Forest National Monument, and the Tohono O’odham Nation.

According to Don Swann, a biologist at Saguaro National Park, “Many studies have shown that barbed wire fences can stop large animals, change their movement patterns, and keep them away from water and food sources they need to survive. Animals can also be killed trying to jump over a barbed wire fence if they become entangled and are not able to free themselves.”

“Some of these fences have been around for a hundred years and have no current purpose,” said Carolyn Campbell, founding Executive Director and board member of the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection. “But what they do is block the movement of wildlife throughout the landscape.”

The Desert Fence Busters is supported by significant efforts from groups such as the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Friends of Ironwood Forest, National Park Service team at Saguaro National Park, the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, Arizona Wildlife Federation, Tucson Audubon Society, Friends of Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge, Tortolita Alliance, The Mule Deer Foundation, BKW Farms, City of Tucson, and Pima County Flood Control. Many dedicated volunteers attend each fence removal event – these folks aren’t afraid of hard work!

Desert Fence Busters volunteers displaying their recently removed, hand-rolled, barbed wire. Photo courtesy of the Desert Fence Busters.

What we’ve been up to

Since 2021, the Desert Fence Busters have removed 95 miles of obsolete barbed wire fencing. If placed end to end, this length could encircle the City of Tucson!

Since 2021, the Desert Fence Busters has removed 95 miles of obsolete barbed wire fencing. Placed end to end, this length would encircle the City of Tucson. Map credit: Desert Fence Busters, January 2026.

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.

Read the highlights from each year!

Since January 2026, the Desert Fence Busters have removed 2+ miles of legacy fences. We’re off to a great start!

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!

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.

Over 11 work events, a whopping 339 Desert Fence Buster volunteers spent nearly 2,000 hours removing 28.8 miles of obsolete and dangerous barbed wire fence!

Additionally, the Desert Fence Busters work prioritized reducing roadkill hotspots and impacts from obsolete irrigation ditches. The group prioritized the removal of the following fence types in order: Double fences, full removal of obsolete fences (leaving a single fence in place) and conversion of fences to wildlife friendly standards.

Volunteers capped a total of 364 “death-pipes” of various diameters, preventing the death and suffering of more than 8,000 animals that could have become entrapped.

In 2023, the Desert Fence Busters continued to refine strategies for prioritizing fence removals. The group continued working with willing landowners in the Tucson area to identify and remove obsolete fences with volunteer labor. The group continued to target “double fences” as the highest priority for removal, along with properties with a high density of obsolete fences. Fencing was removed from two jurisdictions in 2023: City of Tucson (Tucson Water) and the National Park Service.

This year, Desert Fence Busters began collaborating with Tucson Bird Alliance (Previously Tucson Audubon Society) to cap open “death pipes” that can trap and kill animals after falling in, unable to escape. Volunteers capped a 34 death pipes this year!

In 2022, the Desert Fence Busters continued to get organized by identifying the extent of obsolete fences in the Avra Valley, Altar Valley, and the Tucson Mountains-Catalina Mountains Corridor. The group continued to expand its network of partnerships with agencies and landowners to identify and remove obsolete fences with volunteer labor. The group began to identify “double fences” as particularly difficult for deer and other species to cross and target these fences as the highest priority for removal. Fencing was removed from three jurisdictions in 2022: City of Tucson (Tucson Water), Pima County, and the National Park Service.

The Desert Fence Busters spent much of 2021 exploring the extent of obsolete fences in the Avra Valley, raising awareness amongst stakeholders, obtaining permissions from land managers, and recruiting volunteers.

Desert Fence Busters Annual Reports:

Below you can find the Desert Fence Buster Annual Reports that wrap up the group’s priorities, accomplishments and future goals and how these have evolved since 2021.