NEWSLETTER OF THE ARIZONA WILDERNESS COALITION ARIZONA WILDWILD An Immeasurable Legacy Rep. GiffordsGiffords on the Udalls Tassel Eared SquirrelsSquirrels Backpack or Pack Animal? Discover Cochise County Wild Lands! SUMMER 2010 Arizona Wilderness Coalition Main Office FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 520-326-4300 P.O. Box 40340, Tucson, AZ 85717 With New Leadership, Opportunity Phoenix Office 602-252-5530 Knocks P.O. Box 13524 Phoenix, AZ 85002 by Matt Skroch Central Arizona Field Office 928-717-6076 P.O. Box 2741 t is with great excitement and dedication that I opportunity knocks. Allow me to emphasize that Prescott, AZ 86302 step into the executive director position at the you—our dedicated members—are an integral part of Arizona Wilderness Coalition (AWC). My role AWC’s present and future. Our membership is the Ihere, like that of everyone involved with pro- lifeblood of our collective actions, giving voice and fAWC Staf tecting Arizona’s wild places under the banner of power to the places and wildlife we pledge to conserve. Matt Skroch, Executive Director, AWC, is wholly made pos- We look forward to culti- [email protected] sible through the out- vating and growing our Katurah Mackay, Deputy Director, growth of support from the relationship with you in [email protected] community of wilderness coming months. Sam Frank, Central Arizona Director, advocates to which you Finally, I’d like to [email protected] belong. Thank you for acknowledge the contribu- Paula Toffolo, Membership Coordinator, being an integral part of tions and hard work of [email protected] this great organization. Kevin Gaither-Banchoff Liana MacNeill, Sonoran Desert Outreach and The Arizona over the last several years Volunteer Coordinator, Wilderness Coalition has a as our executive director [email protected] bold and ever-important (see p.9). He has made a vision that today echoes positive mark on AWC . loud and clear across our during his tenure here, AWC Board of Directors state’s unmatched canyon ushering in a new para- President: Don Hoffman, Alpine country, forests, and digm of the possible and V ice President: Michael Quinlan, Tempe deserts we call home. The growing the organization’s Secretary: Joel Barnes, Prescott goal: to cherish and conservation capacity. I Treasurer: Kelly Burke, Flagstaff enhance our wilderness wish him the best in his Curt Bradley, Tucson legacy that supports almost future endeavors of con- Kim Crumbo, Flagstaff every aspect of our lives, as servation advocacy else- Douglas Hulmes, Prescott well as the spectacular where and look forward to Bart Koehler, Juneau, AK wildlife heritage that also his continued contribu- Nancy Mangone, Phoenix calls Arizona home. From tions to AWC as a dedicat- Trica Oshant Hawkins, Tucson the top of any prominent ed member and advocate. peak across our state, you Thank you Kevin. may either be standing in a In coming months, I Mission Statement wilderness area or able to hope you’ll look forward to The Arizona Wilderness Coalition’s mission is to see one from where you seeing new opportunities permanently protect and restore Wilderness and are. Almost 5 million acres of wild places – that’s the for engagement and action with AWC as we continue other wild lands and waters in Arizona for the enjoy- legacy we’ve built together thus far – currently protect to build upon our wilderness legacy across Arizona. I ment of all citizens and to ensure that Arizona’s native the source of much of our drinking water, provide also look forward to the potential opportunity to meet plants and animals have a lasting home in wild unmatched educational and personal growth experi- you at an AWC event in the near future so we can talk nature. We do this by coordinating and conducting ences, and contribute millions of sustainable dollars to more about moving forward with our shared vision for inventories, educating citizens about these lands, our economy. conserving Arizona’s last best places. Thank you for enlisting community support, and advocating for In this issue, you’ll enjoy a feature story that touch- being a part of AWC! their lasting protection. es on one man’s conservation legacy that has lit the path for generations that have come after him (p. 3). The Arizona Wilderness Coalition owes much to Mo Udall, and we work every day to carry on the consen- sus-building and grassroots outreach that make new wilderness possible in Arizona. There is much to do in the near future. With twice the population we had in the 1990s, old and new pres- sures alike bear upon our wild places. What’s impor- tant is that we, together, are responding to these chal- lenges with growing momentum for real change. I’m confident that recent highlights such as the Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River designation represent the beginnings of new citizen movements for wild lands and waters across the state. Our success will largely be judged, as well, by the strength and breadth of the alliances we form with those who have a stake in pub- lic lands management. Having the pleasure and opportunity to volunteer Cover Photo: Backcountry Horsemen of Central Arizona for AWC over the last ten years as a board member, and their crew were indispensable for a fencing project field volunteer, event host, and campaign partner, I’ve AWC completed in Warm Springs Wilderness. Photo: Sherry experienced the breadth and capacity of this organiza- Pitrat, BCHCAZ tion. It is my full intention to help expand this breadth Design by Mary Williams/marywilliamsdesign.com and capacity into the future. Across the Sonoran, Verde, Sky Island, Grand Canyon, and Blue regions, 2 ARIZONAWILD www.azwild.org 15 inches + 30 years = An Immeasurable Legacy by Katurah Mackay of Land Management lands, and four new wildlife refuges on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Every day, somewhere in the United States, someone is lands. Many of these special rafting, canoeing, hiking or camping on land that was, wild places are just a stone’s in one way or another, touched by Mo Udall. throw from millions of peo- —-Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) ple in metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson. The Arizona Wilderness Coalition, by assembling the “My father’s patience, inventories, organizing the grassroots, and engaging composure, and leadership the politics, is doing the increasingly hard work neces- were even more remarkable sary to honor Mo’s powerful legacy. They carry the because during this extended torch that lit Mo’s path and hopefully will light the effort, he was suffering from future. Their success in protecting the wild lands Mo the debilitating impact of couldn’t protect would be his greatest memorial. late-term Parkinson’s dis- — -Mark Tratuwein, who served Rep. Morris K. ease,” says his son, Senator Udall as his lead staffer for the 1984 Arizona Mark Udall. “Yet he fought Wilderness Act and the 1990 Arizona Desert through it to give fellow Wilderness Act. Arizonans this one final gift.” Mark Trautwein was * * * Udall’s lead staffer for the 1984 Arizona Wilderness Act ifteen inches. That’s a lot of shoe. and the 1990 Arizona Desert Morris “Mo” Udall wore a size 15 basket- Wilderness Act. Building on ball sneaker when he played for the confer- the momentum of the 1984 Fence-winning University of Arizona men’s bill, Trautwein followed a team in 1947. He went on to play professionally for very simple recipe of consen- the NBA Denver Nuggets. Mo’s sneakers now sit in his sus-building—Mo’s signature son’s United States Senate office. Mark Udall (D-CO) style—amongst all the stake- glances at them periodically, as a visual reminder of holders who had an interest the tremendous public service legacy his father left to in wilderness protection on him. BLM lands in Arizona. “My father had many historic achievements, but Helping him piece together none meant more to him than striking the compro- the different areas that quali- mise leading to the preservation of some of his home fied as wilderness were vol- state’s greatest treasures,” says Sen. Mark Udall. unteer “adopters” with the To conservationists working to protect America’s Arizona Wilderness wild lands, Mo Udall and his brother Stewart crafted a Coalition, newly formed in A portrait of Mo Udall taken in 1976. MS325/B737/F8, Courtesy University of Arizona vast, visionary blueprint for 20th century preservation 1979 to respond to the U.S. Libraries, Special Collections. and beyond. Stewart, the older of the two men, served Forest Service’s RARE II as an Arizona congressman from 1954 until 1960, requirement to inventory and classify wilderness qual- Adopters were responsible for a BLM wilderness when he was appointed by President John F. Kennedy ity lands on national forests in the late 1970s. The study area of their choosing and effectively become to serve as Secretary of the Interior. In the election to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) went through a experts and advocates for those key areas. All of the fill Stewart’s vacant congressional seat, his brother Mo similar process in the mid-1980s, to which AWC ral- information was then written up in official reports and won easily in 1961, thus beginning more than 30 lied its volunteers to begin the process all over again. submitted to Udall’s office and the BLM. There were years of civil service and the birth of a conservation legacy that has yet to be matched. “They really completed each other,” says Mark Trautwein, who served Rep. Mo Udall on the staff of the U.S. House Interior/Natural Resources Committee from 1979 to 1992. “Stewart was instrumental in get- ting the foundation of conservation laws enacted through the 1960s—the Wilderness Act, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Clean Water Act—but it took Mo through the 1970s and 80s to fulfill the promise of these laws.” From Maine to California and Alaska to Florida, Mo effectively doubled the size of the National Park System and tripled the size of the National Wilderness Preservation System through a variety of parks and wilderness bills built from the grassroots ground up.