Volunteers identifying tracks
At Sky Island Alliance, we strive to protect the wilderness surrounding our homes by preserving the habitat of our wildlife neighbors. We achieve this through a variety of programs aimed at rebuilding our wilderness areas and preventing the destruction of them by humans. We also work in education, outreach and policy-making to keep the public informed and enlist them to help enact change.
OUR PROGRAMS
> Policy and public lands planning program Natural Resources Policy - whether on a regional, state, or federal level - provides the framework for the management and conservation of our region's lands and resources. Our Policy and Planning Program works within established policy to promote the strongest conservation decisions possible.
> Wilderness and special designations Our Wilderness & Special Designations Program is working to secure the designation of additional Wilderness Areas and other legislative-based protections throughout the Sky Island region to serve as a foundation for preserving native species and habitats.
Restoring habitat
> Landscape restoration The Landscape Restoration Program is an on-the-ground, results-orientated program engaging hundreds of volunteers in restoring the ecology of our region through road closures and riparian habitat restoration.
> Wildlife linkages The Wildlife Linkages Program identifies at-risk wildlife corridors within the Sky Island region and conducts long-term wildlife monitoring and data collection that will be used to guide local and international management decisions related to the preservation and restoration of bio-regional connectivity.
> Northern Mexico Conservation Program Sky Island Alliance is implemented outreach efforts to landowners in northern Sonora and started collecting data using remote camera traps integrated with track counts within the Sonoran Sky Islands. This project’s long-term goal is to build cooperative relationships with landowners in northern Sonora in order to encourage jaguar conservation and facilitate ongoing scientific research. As a key component of this project, we work on the establishment of partnerships with landowners and Mexican conservation organizations to promote research, education, changes in cattle management practices and the protection of jaguar and ocelot habitat and their corridors to the United States.