NEW THINKING FOR THE NEW ECONOMIC REALITY

Over 20 years ago, we established the Sonoran Institute with the conviction that meaningful change most often happens at the local level, and that conservation is a key component not only of our local quality of life, but also of local prosperity.  

Our collaborative and inclusive approach to conservation has never been more relevant.

The country’s prolonged recession is unlike any we have expe­rienced since World War II. We see growing evidence that our economy has fundamentally shifted to a period of slower growth, lower wages, and uncomfortably high unemployment. An increas­ingly polarized federal government diminishes the opportunity for national leadership at a time when we need it the most.

In the West, many communities continue to suffer from the fallout of the housing bust. There is a growing realization that the housing industry—the prime mover of the region’s economy for the past several decades—is stalled and may not recover anytime soon and, when it does recover, may look very different. Overbuilt, saddled with debt, and facing the prospect of reduced tax revenues for years to come, local governments are facing a new economic reality that calls for a new way of thinking.

The Sonoran Institute is uniquely positioned to help.

One of the qualities distinguishing the Institute is our capacity to provide research and an understanding of fiscal realities and conservation economics—hard numbers that give local leaders insight into the fiscal and economic impacts of their planning, development, and conservation decisions. As you will see in this annual report, the Institute is building the “business case” for conservation and smart growth from Montana to Mexico. We are working to protect our public lands, manage water supplies, conserve working ranches and wildlife habitat, and demonstrate the benefits of downtown development over the long-term liabilities of sprawl.

Efforts to preserve the natural resources and values that define communities can inspire local leaders to make decisions that make their communities great places to live, work, and visit.

Our new economic reality calls for new thinking. Any hope of prog­ress will have to come from leadership at the state and local levels.

Thank you for continuing to support us in this important work.

Sincerely,

Luther Propst

Executive Director

RETURNING WATER—AND LIFE—TO THE COLORADO RIVER DELTA

For the past 14 years, the Sonoran Institute and our conservation partners have been working to restore one of North America’s most valuable ecosystems: the Colorado River Delta. Years of massive upstream water diversions from the Colorado River have reduced what was once two million acres of wetlands to less than 10 percent of its original size. Today, the river no longer reaches the Upper Gulf of California, negatively impacting the once incredibly productive fisheries in the Upper Gulf. Still, the Delta has proven to be surprisingly resilient; with even a small amount of water and meaningful community involvement, the Delta can be revived.

The Institute’s work in the Delta has gathered significant momentum over the past year. Doubling its program staff and moving into larger office space, the Mexicali office is now one of the Institute’s largest. With experience gained over the last several years from small-scale restoration and monitoring projects, the Institute secured funding to scale up restoration efforts and lead a binational study to determine the economic benefits of returning water to the Delta.

Along with our conservation partners, the Institute recently announced a bold vision to change the course of the Delta’s future by protecting and restoring 160,000 acres of habitat and acquiring enough water to ultimately reconnect the Colorado River with the sea. “If you add water to the Delta, the habitat will come back,” says Francisco Zamora, program director for the Institute’s Colorado River Delta Legacy Program.

A Partnership with Patagonia

The Institute’s attempts to secure more water for the Delta received a major boost this year when outdoor clothing and equipment retailer, Patagonia, joined the effort. Respected for the exceptional quality of its products, Patagonia is also renowned for its commitment to the environment, and actively uses its brand and customer base to promote and advance environmental causes. 

Last fall, Patagonia included the Institute’s work in its “Our Common Waters” environmental campaign, which spotlights the need to balance human water consumption with plant and animal life. Through its publications and websites, and by directing visitors to ours, Patagonia urged friends, partners, and customers to join the Delta restoration effort by (1) pushing political leaders in both the U.S. and Mexico to formally dedicate more water to the Delta, and (2) buying water through contributions to the Sonoran Institute and the Colorado River Delta Water Trust.

The collaboration resulted not only in increased visibility but also tangible action. In the first three days following Patagonia’s email blast, visits to the Institute’s website increased by about 12 times the normal 200 hits a day, and resulted in close to 2,000 letters sent to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

WORKING LANDSCAPES: A PIONEERING APPROACH TO CONSERVATION

Conservation comes in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes it means buying and preserving land, acquiring conservation easements, or designating public areas like national parks. At the Sonoran Institute, we also see important conservation opportunities in working landscapes.

“Farms and ranches are integral parts of the history, culture, and landscape of the West,” says Diane Snyder, director of the Institute’s Northern Rockies Program. “But less obvious is the conservation role they play by sustaining resources like clean water, healthy soils, and native plants and wildlife.”

As farmers and ranchers find it increasingly difficult to make a living off the land, these resources are threatened. Every time a farm or ranch is lost, the West also loses a vital piece of its natural and cultural heritage.

To help sustain the ranching way of life and the landscapes that support it, and to connect land stewards throughout the West, the Sonoran Institute is reinvigorating its Working Landscapes Program. “Through this program, the Institute provides ranchers and farmers throughout the West with information, resources, and technical assistance to help them creatively integrate traditional economic goals for working lands with conservation goals for healthy landscapes,” says Katie Meiklejohn, project manager for the Working Landscapes Program.

Through the program’s demonstration project at the Fort Union Ranch in New Mexico, the Institute is hoping to show that working lands can be financially viable while simultaneously sustaining the natural, human, and wild aspects of whole landscapes.

Donor Profiles

A GIFT TO HONOR A FATHER’S LIFE

Rowene Aguirre-Medina’s favorite memory of her father, Pedro Joab Aguirre, was of him scooping up the soil of the Mexicali/Imperial Valley in his hands, holding it, checking on it, connecting with it. “You could just see his love of the land,” she says. “It’s the only place he really wanted to be.”

Pedro “Pete” Aguirre was born in Tucson and was an American citizen. But his home was on both sides of the border, in the Mexicali Valley in Baja, California, Mexico and the Imperial Valley of California. As a successful grower of asparagus, cantaloupe, and onions, Aguirre nurtured the soil to produce not only crops but also jobs. “He wanted to provide work for people,” says Rowene.

Fed by the Colorado River, the valley that Aguirre loved sustained life on many levels. When Rowene heard about the Sonoran Institute’s work to restore the depleted Colorado River Delta, she decided to support the project with a gift in his name. 

“My father had such respect and appreciation for the land,” she says. “To see that beautiful area coming back to life, and to see how the desert can flourish when treated properly—I just felt that this project was the right place to honor his life.”

As a child, Rowene remembers a Delta that thrived both ecologically and economically, with hunting and fishing industries that supported the local population as well as a vibrant tourism industry. While touring the Delta project areas with the Institute, Rowene saw her father’s spirit exemplified everywhere—through the jobs and training that the project is providing, through the cross-border cooperation of its partners, and through the enthusiasm and excitement of the people working on the restoration initiatives.

“By restoring the Delta, this project is also restoring the pride of the people living here, and bringing responsible commercial opportunities that will help them,” Rowene says. “These days, we are so busy building fences and walls along the border. With this project, we are building hope.”

“Beyond his purely human value, he was a major force in the development of the Mexicali Valley.”

COMMENTS ON PEDRO JOAB AGUIRRE, BY GASTON LUKEN   |   Businessman, Baja, California

SONORAN DESERT HERITAGE PROPOSAL: BALANCING GROWTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE

Using conservation to drive economic growth is a basic tenet of the Sonoran Institute. In May, the Institute joined a broad coalition of community and business leaders, developers, environmentalists, and military interests to unveil a proposal asking Congress to permanently protect some of Arizona’s most iconic landscapes just a short drive from Greater Phoenix.

The Sonoran Desert Heritage Proposal encompasses a large crescent-shaped swath of Sonoran Desert managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The spectacular scenery and rugged terrain is home to a wealth of wildlife, including bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, Gila monster, bobcat, and more than 300 species of native birds. Throughout history this part of western Maricopa County has served as a cultural crossroads. Today, it offers open space and recreation opportunities close to the West Valley’s growing urban center. The proposal also protects areas adjacent to Luke Air Force Base and the Barry M. Goldwater Training Range, both major economic drivers of the Arizona economy.

“Communities will be better equipped to develop economic strategies that take advantage of their proximity to scenic beauty, outdoor fun, and cultural education on these public lands,” says Dave Richins, director of the Institute’s Sun Corridor Legacy Program. “Managing the landscape as a coor­dinated whole will help protect wildlife that migrate through many different BLM and military lands, as well as the rich historical and archaeological sites these lands contain.”

“The Sonoran Institute is a place where motivated, passionate people get things done.”

Eric Gorsegner

Associate Director of the Sun Corridor Legacy Program