: National Park Service

Dear Friend of WildAZ,

Our very own Dr. Larry Stevens is putting the stewardship spotlight on borderlands springs—Quitobaquito Springs, to be exact.

Quitobaquito Springs can be found in Organ Pipe National Monument in southern Arizona. People, plants, and animals have inhabited Quitobaquito and the surrounding area for generations. The spring is still home to the Tohono O’odham, who have a reservation about 30 miles away. Species such as the Quitobaquito spring snail, the Sonoyta mud turtle, and the desert caper plant do not occur naturally anywhere else in the country but here.

Despite being an invaluable piece of the southwestern landscape, rich with cultural history and ecological significance, Quitobaquito has been imperiled by border wall construction. So far we’ve seen a loss of nearly a quarter of the bird species that used to live and thrive in the spring’s wilderness. Stevens has joined with esteemed southwestern ecologists Roy Johnson, Gary Nabhan, and Karen Reichhardt to further describe the impacts of wall construction on the avifauna of the springs in a forthcoming publication.

For the protection and preservation of springs,
Phoebe, Larry, Kelly, and the Wild Arizona crew

☞ We’re hiring! We are looking to fill multiple positions on our Wild Stew Field Crew for work beginning September 15. Interested in performing trail maintenance, trail condition assessments, and riparian restoration in the beautiful Chiricahua Wilderness? See our job listing for more information.

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