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More Arizona Pima County Environment Stories

Part of the Contreras Fire burning near the Kitt Peak Nationla Observatory on June 16, 2022.

Contreras Fire listed as 100% contained

Local management team will hand over control Saturday.
Part of the Contreras Fire burning near the Kitt Peak Nationla Observatory on June 16, 2022.

Officials expect wet weather as Contreras Fire passes 20,000 acres

Fire continues to spread toward the northeast
The sun shines harshly behind a saguaro cactus.

Low saguaro reproduction numbers at national park in Tucson

Drought cycle that dates to the mid-1990s thought to be responsible
Indigenous-led protesters walk along a construction line in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Sept. 2020.

Border wall scars: 'It feels like if someone got a knife and dragged it across my heart.'

Tribal leaders and Borderlands communities reflect on their fruitless struggle to stop the wall.
Too often, extra screen time before sleeping is incompatible with quality rest. "See Me Serene" is designed to be used as a relaxation tool.

Measuring Loneliness

Also on Arizona Spotlight: "See Me Serene" can add free positivity to your phone; The Cooper Center expands both online and in the desert; plus a song from Stories That Soar!
Lorraine Eiler's great grandfather was one of several Hia C-ed O'odham who used to live at Quitobaquito Springs.

After the wall, border residents take stock of what's next

The Trump administration is expected to finish 450 miles of wall by the end of the year.
Hikers on Mount Lemmon practicing social distancing.

More Santa Catalina trails and campsites reopen

The Coronado National Forest continues to evaluate safety conditions at trials and campgrounds in the wake of the Bighorn Fire.
Arizona Department of Safety officers surround and handcuff an Indigenous demonstrator during an O'odham-led blockade at a Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 85 on October 12, 2020.

Indigenous Peoples' Day border demonstration ends with tear gas, arrests

11 demonstrators taken into DPS custody during a Border Patrol checkpoint blockade in Pima County.
Tribal members and supporters gather in front of the construction line to wave down O'odham runners coming from Sonora ahead of a cross-border ceremony at Quitobaquito Springs on Sept. 27, 2020.

NPS closes route to Quitobaquito Springs

Closure comes a day after O'odham leaders held a cross-border ceremony at the spring.
Water in the Rillito River following a monsoon storm. July 23, 2020

After Clean Water Act change, uncertainty reigns over water protections

The Trump administration's revision of which waterways are protected creates regulatory uncertainty, especially in arid places.
Downtown Tucson, Oct, 23, 2019.

Daily news roundup: No new coronavirus deaths reported by state, impact of census strong in AZ

Recent coverage impacting Southern Arizona, July 25.
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge encompasses nearly 118,000 acres southwest of Tucson and includes a stretch of the border with Mexico.

Work starts on new section of border wall in national wildlife refuge

North-Dakota-based Fisher Sand and Gravel has broken ground on a $1.3 billion project in southeast Arizona.
The Bighorn Fire burns in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness near Oro Valley on Saturday, June 6, 2020. The fire was caused by lightning on the evening of June 5, 2020.

Pusch Ridge burns near Oro Valley

The lightning-caused fire began Friday night.
Looking west toward the San Rafael Valley and the Patagonia Mountains.

Groups say border wall construction threatens biodiversity of Arizona sky islands

Conservation groups say the animals rely on the ranges to travel between habitats in the U.S. and Mexico.
An image provided by the Center for Biological Diversity shows a group of construction workers at a site in the San Bernadino National Wildlife Refuge on April 8.

Continued wall construction puts border residents on edge amid COVID-19 pandemic

Residents of small border communities say construction workers don't practice safe social distancing on or off the job
Pima County's El Corazon project links the Santa Cruz and Rillito River parks.

Project links river parks on Pima County Loop

Pedestrian bridges were just one part of the project to reinforce riverbanks to protect a gravel pit and I-10.

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