Cooperate, collaborate, communicate – the big Cs of 21st century conservation. Ecosystem and watershed dynamics, land ownership patterns, and legal and regulatory affairs draw individuals and organizations together in ever more complex webs of relationship. Doing business in land and resource management today is all about partnerships. The big Cs are the grease that make partnerships happen.
Encouraging, facilitating, and celebrating partnership is the heart of the Altar Valley Conservation Alliance’s work. How do we do this work? We pull people together to talk and work around the watershed. Community Meetings are held to give people the chance to know each other and exchange information. Project work is designed to bring representatives from different agricultural operations and agencies together, often accompanied by scientists. Project grants combine resources from different partners.
This long list of partners represents the cast of characters at work here in the Altar Valley watershed. Partners don’t always agree, nor do they necessarily fully support each other’s point of view. The key is to find the common ground, the win-win zone, and work there. With this strategy, opportunity and action can emerge from complexity and gridlock.
Altar Valley Agricultural Operations
Arivaca Ranch
Arivaca Boys Ranch
Baboquivari Peak Ranch and Palo Alto Ranch
Buckelew Farm (Pima County)
Chilton Ranch – Arivaca
Diamond Bell Ranch (Pima County)
Elkhorn Ranch
Jarillas Ranch
King’s Anvil Ranch
Kings 98 and Old Hayhook Ranch (Pima County)
Marley Ranch (including some Pima County lands)
McGee Ranch and Sierrita Mining and Ranching
Noon Ranch
Old Hayhook Ranch (Pima County)
Rancho de la Osa
Rancho El Mirador
Rancho Seco (Pima County)
Santa Lucia Ranch (Pima County)
Santa Margarita Ranch
Southern Arizona Rangeland Honey
Stockwell Honey Company
(Ranches denoted as Pima County are now owned by the County through the Conservation Lands System, and managed by operators. Learn more here.)
Partner Organizations
Altar Valley School District (AVSD)
Arivaca Fire District (AFD)
Arivaca Watershed Education Task Force (AWET)
Arizona Antelope Foundation, Inc. (AAF)
Arizona Association of Conservation Districts (AACD)
Arizona Cattle Growers Association (ACGA)
Arizona Department of Agriculture
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Arizona Department of Forestry & Fire Management
Arizona Farm Bureau (AZFB)
Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD)
Arizona Game and Fish Department, Tucson Habitat Partnership Committee
Arizona Land and Water Trust (ALWT)
Arizona Revegetation & Monitoring Co.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM)
Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife Conservation (AZSFWC)
Arizona State Land Department (ASLD)
BKW Farm
Brad Lancaster
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (BANWR)
Bureau of Reclamation WaterSmart: Cooperative Watershed Management Program
City of Tucson Water Department
Commotion Studios
Coronado National Forest
Cross Watershed Network
Friends of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
Global Rangelands
JE Fuller Hydrology & Geomorphology, Inc.
Larry Humphrey
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation
Pima County Office of Sustainability and Conservation
Pima County Regional Flood Control District
Pima Natural Resource Conservation District (Pima NRCD)
Quiet Creek Corporation
Rangeland Hands, Inc.
Robert Schmalzel
Robinett Rangeland Resources, LLC
Safari Club International, Arizona Chapter
San Fernando School District
Sky Island Alliance
Southern Arizona Cattlemen’s Protective Association (SACPA)
Southwest Decision Resources
The Loft Cinema
The Nature Conservancy, Arizona (TNC)
Three Points Fire District
Tohono O’odham Nation Fire Department
Tucson Interagency Dispatch Center
University of Arizona CALS Communications and Cyber Technologies
University of Arizona CALS Cooperative Extension
University of Arizona Little Chapel of All Nations
University of Arizona – School of Anthropology
University of Arizona – School of Natural Resources and the Environment (SNRE)
University of Arizona – Southwest Center (SWC)
University of Arizona – Tierra Seca Club
University of Arizona – Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center
U.S. Border Patrol
U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
U.S.D.A. Agricultural Research Service – Southwest Watershed Research Center
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) – Arizona Ecological Services Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) – Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Volunteers for Outdoor Arizona
Western Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education
WestLand Resources, Inc.
Wildvisions Arizona
Zeedyk Ecological Consulting, LLC
Sister Collaborative Conservation Organizations