{"id":102,"date":"2025-09-03T10:46:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T15:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frontierras.com\/?page_id=102"},"modified":"2025-11-14T11:20:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T18:20:27","slug":"ecology-of-the-san-rafael-valley","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/borderwallresistance.com\/?page_id=102","title":{"rendered":"Ecology of the San Rafael Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ecology of the San Rafael Valley<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Early writings of the vast network of North American grasslands speak of a “sea of grass” that “staggered the imagination” (Hadley & Basurto 2006). This is nowhere more clear in the stunning binational grasslands of the San Rafael Valley that span Arizona-Sonora.<\/strong> This valley has been a space of connectivity between humans and wildlife alike, before time itself.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, the stage is set for the grandeur of the Sky Islands, as these isolated mountain ranges rise up out of the vast landscape and come into full effect here in these unique US-Mexico binational grasslands and rolling plains.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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photo courtesy of Russ McSpadden<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The San Rafael Valley is located between the Patagonia Mountains to the west and the Huachuca Mountains to the east. These are the headwaters of the Santa Cruz; water is a way of life here. Humans and wildlife have long depended on this region\u2014and have moved across it. Though the San Rafael is made up of mostly private lands today, this binational valley has been been connected to human existence before time itself\u2014Indigenous Peoples have collected grasses for weaving, ranchers have used these lands for cattle grazing, recreationists find solace and peace in one of the last truly “wild” spaces that remains in North America. To lose it would be devastating\u2014to humans and wildlife alike.<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

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Current Threat: <\/strong>27 miles of border wall, construction through the last unwalled stretch of borderlands in Arizona for 900 days.<\/h1>\n\n\n\n