Desert Fence Busters

NEW DESERT FENCE BUSTERS EVENTS FOR FALL 2022 AND WINTER 2023

Get your work gloves and wire cutters ready! After a summer hiatus, we’ve again joined with a variety of community partners to plan a new slate of Desert Fence Busters events for the fall and winter months. Join us out in the desert to remove legacy fencing and improve wildlife connectivity across the landscape!

Saturday, October 15, 2022 – Avra Valley

EVENT COMPLETED – 21 people removed 2 miles of fencing in 2 hours, totaling 4,000 pounds of material removed from the landscape.

Saturday, November 5, 2022 – Big Wash in Oro Valley

EVENT COMPLETED – 35 people removed 1.5 miles of fencing in 4 hours, totaling 2,000 pounds of material, both barbed wire and t-posts, removed from the landscape. It would have cost Pima County approximately $6/linear foot or ~$47,000 to pay a contractor to remove this fencing.

Check our full blog post about this event.

Friday-Saturday, December 9-10, 2022 – Duval Farm, Avra Valley (National Public Lands Day)

EVENT COMPLETED – Volunteers removed 5.5 miles of fencing, totaling 2.5 tons of material removed from the landscape. There are still 5-8 more miles of outdated fencing that needs to be removed from this area.

Saturday, January 21, 2023 – Avra Valley near West Tucker Road

EVENT COMPLETED. Check back for more details!

Saturday, February 18, 2023 – Avra Valley near West Tucker Toad

EVENT COMPLETED. Check back for more details!

Saturday, March 11, 2023 – Three Points area

Join us for our March Desert Fence Busters event!

WHEN: 7:30am-2pm

WHERE: Three Points area – more detailed directions will be given after you register

NOTES: Organizers will provide coffee and donuts/bagels in the morning and snacks, water, and Gatorade during break. No lunch will be provided. There will also not be a portable outhouse and camping will not be allowed (day-event only).

HOW TO SIGN UP: You will need to create an account with the Arizona Game and Fish volunteer portal (if you don’t have one already) and then sign up for this specific event.

1. After navigating to the event sign-up page, click the “Respond” button in the top right corner.

2. Click “Sign Up” to create an account and follow the required steps.

3. Once your account is created, including signing the volunteer registration form, you will be sent back to the main sign-up page. Scroll down below the photo to the section titled “Shifts.”

4. Click the “Respond Individually” button and sign up for the event (only one shift is available).

There are limited spots available so sign up as soon as you can!

BACKGROUND

A collaborative conservation project has underway 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 seven years ago to share information between agencies on projects centered in Avra Valley west of the Tucson Mountains, it recently 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. 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, Executive Director of the conservation group Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection. “But what they do is block the movement of wildlife throughout the landscape.”

A second volunteer event was held in February 2022 through the National Park Service where a group of volunteers removed a section of fencing within the national park. You can see photos of this event on Facebook.

A third event was held March 10-12, 2022 in southern Avra Valley near Three Points where 4,300 pounds – or almost 2 tons – of barbed wire and fencing materials were removed from the landscape. And more events are happening in Fall 2022 and Winter 2023.

Volunteers are joining up from a suite of agencies and NGOs, including the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Friends of Ironwood Forest, Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection, National Park Service, Arizona Wildlife Federation, Mule Deer Foundation, BKW, Tucson Audubon Society, and Friends of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge.

Interested in joining a future volunteer event? Please submit your contact information through this online form and we will be in touch with details when the next event is scheduled!