For action: MCNEAL FEEDLOT PROPOSAL Informational Meeting Saturday, June 14 10 AM—12 Noon Old McNeal School Auditorium 3979 W. McNeal St., McNeal Background from the COCHISE REGIONAL NEWS, MAY 28 2025 Proposed McNeal feedlot raises concerns; Locals fear stench, water consumption A proposed feedlot in McNeal is raising serious concerns among local residents who fear…
Delay in EIS release date This week, Peaceful Chiricahua Skies was informed by the US Air Force (USAF) that the date for the release of the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be moved out a year to the spring of 2026. When the final EIS is released, the USAF does not plan a comment…
Chiricahua Regional Council Statement The Chiricahua Regional Council expresses profound concern over recent federal staffing reductions threatening our vital trail maintenance partnerships. Nationwide 3,400 workers have been abruptly fired. This represents 10% of US Forest Service personnel and the disturbing part is that the firings are disproportionately affecting Recreation staff. A troubling feature of the current…
Last week, the Portal-Rodeo Hiking Group hiked to John Long Canyon, a very special place. The group saw mature Apache, Chihuahuan and some Ponderosa pine trees, as well as Douglas Fir, several oak species, Madrone and Sycamore trees and a golden eagle, ravens, a mountain lion, turkeys, and many deer. This is a very special…
The below report on the 2024 Youth Conservation Corps Program (Wild Arizona) is by the Douglas Ranger District and is from October 28, 2024. (most pictures deleted) Thank you to our partners at the Forest Service for helping to make this year’s YCC the best one yet. A big THANK YOU to the Chiricahua Regional…
Phil Hedrick’s guest blog on the Sky Island Alliance website is optimistic: the “[c]onservation of the Mexican wolf, a unique subspecies of gray wolf, has been a qualified success, with real progress made in the United States and a number of threats looming throughout the species’ range but especially in Mexico”. Phil chronicles the history…
We want to provide an update on the US Air Force proposal to dramatically increase military training in our area. After the extended comment deadline of November 12, 2024, the process is now in a period of low activity while the USAF prepares the final EIS. That is expected to be released in the spring…
Environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Chiricahua Regional Council, Natural Allies, Wild Arizona, and Conservation CATalyst, filed a lawsuit today challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to build new roads and allow increased motorized access through three sensitive canyons in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona. Roads in these remote canyons would put…
Today, conservation groups, including Center for Biological Diversity, Sky Island Alliance, and Chiricahua Regional Council, petitioned the U.S. Forest Service to designate a 5,500-acre swath of the western Chiricahua Mountains as the Izęę’ Bich’ilwozh (Medicine Canyon) Zoological-Botanical Area. The designation, which can be made at the discretion of Regional Forester Michiko Martin, would protect the…
As an environmental group pledged to protect intact habitats and natural resources, CRC acknowledges that groundwater pumping for industrial scale agriculture and mining poses very real threats to underground aquifers and the health of riparian habitats. Wildlife and human communities depend on reliable water resources. Aquifers are being over exploited in many parts of the…
