In response to a lawsuit by environmental groups, a federal court has overturned a U.S. Forest Service plan to build new roads and allow increased motorized access through three sensitive canyons in southeastern Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains.

The remote canyons, located in the Coronado National Forest, are known to be used by federally protected jaguars. New roads could put endangered wildlife at risk from noise and other disturbances, increase the threat of wildfires and pollute clean water.

“This ruling is a well-deserved victory for the jaguars that roam southern Arizona and for the species’ recovery,” said Taylor McKinnon, Southwest director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Jaguar recovery requires protecting the places they live, and this plan would have brought new roads and motorized use in the heart of those remote canyons. With jaguars making headlines week after week, Arizonans are rooting for jaguars to recover but the Forest Service is standing in their way. It’s time for the agency to get with the program and ditch this illegal plan for good.”

In a decision issued late Wednesday, the court ruled that the biological opinion for the Chiricahua Access Project violated the Endangered Species Act’s “best available science” standard by failing to consider research cited in the Jaguar Recovery Plan on the effects of roads on the cats. The court also found the opinion failed to include required measures to minimize harm or sufficient triggers for additional analysis.

The court further ruled that the project violated the National Forest Management Act by failing to account for northern goshawk habitat requirements in the Coronado National Forest’s management plan.

For many years the Chiricahuas has been used by Sombra, a male jaguar whose name means “shadow” in Spanish. Students at the Paulo Freire Freedom School in Tucson gave him the name.

New roads through the Chiricahua Mountains’ remote canyons would make it easier for hunters — including hound hunters — to reach these areas, while also increasing access for destructive off-road vehicles, woodcutting and other noisy activities that could drive jaguars away.

“We commend the court for supporting the protection of jaguar habitat in the Chiricahuas,” said Dirk Sigler of the Chiricahua Regional Council. “Allowing the construction of roads for motorized travel within these uniquely sensitive wild areas is not only unnecessary but irreversibly destructive. The Chiricahua Regional Council celebrates this decision.”

The New York Times recently reported detections of one, or possibly two, female jaguars in Cuenca los Ojos, a Mexican preserve on the U.S.-Mexico border, about 35 miles south of the Chiricahua Mountains. Those detections, now a few years old, raise the possibility that jaguars are breeding in the preserve and that a female could roam into the U.S. in search of a mate. Jaguars once bred in the U.S., with their historic range extending as far north as the Grand Canyon.

In June 2024 the Center for Biological Diversity, Sky Island Alliance and the Chiricahua Regional Council petitioned the Forest Service to designate 5,500 acres in one of these canyons as the Izęę’ Bich’ilwozh (Medicine Canyon) Zoological-Botanical Area. The White Mountain Apache Tribe’s cultural preservation office also urged the Forest Service to protect the proposed zoological-botanical area and to avoid building roads that would increase motorized traffic.

“The legacy of these precious canyons, evolving from an ancestral homeland into a revered icon of conservation and natural wonder, is finally, for now, secure,” said Dr. Aletris Neils, executive director of Conservation CATalyst.

“This was a bad idea from the start — a road project packaged as public access that really serves only the forest users who already have the most access, advanced over the objections of the public, and built on an analysis the Forest Service never actually did,” said David Hodges with Natural Allies. “We’re thrilled the courts saw it for what it was and acted to protect rare and imperiled wildlife.”

The area’s exceptional biodiversity includes bears, coatimundis, bobcats, Mexican spotted owls, golden eagles, jaguars and elegant trogons. This part of the Chiricahuas supports more than 100 species identified as species of concern by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, as well as numerous rare and culturally significant plant species.

The Chiricahua Regional Council, Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation CATalyst, Natural Allies and Wild Arizona were represented in the litigation by Lisa Belenky and Tala DiBenedetto of the Center for Biological Diversity, and Adriane Hofmeyr of Hofmeyr Wang.

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The landscape of the Peloncillo mountain range is essentially undeveloped and an open pit mine would alter it forever.

An exploration permit is often the first step toward much larger mining operations, and we’re watching this closely. Read a letter from the mining company and scoping comments by EMNRD here

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New Mexico Wild and the Chiricahua Regional Council began a dialogue with the Bureau of Land Management early in the process. We wanted the Antelope Pass area to remain protected as a Research Natural Area and for the BLM, and Almadex, to be aware of the long list of community and ecological values at stake.

Almadex learned of the special status of Antelope Pass as a result of this action, and no doubt were they also aware of the tremendous community organizing and opposition that packed the house at community and County Commission meetings.

There are dozens more mining claims that have been registered in our area in the last 4 years. In fact there have been more in that period of time than in the past several decades. This is a moment to remain vigilant. Through its coalition partners and grassroots organizing CRC continues to defend against this threat and to defend the communities that make their home here.

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(map by Curt Bradley)

This was designated by the Bureau of Land Management because of the extraordinary biodiversity of that location. The highest number of lizard species for any comparably sized area in North America are found there. Working with New Mexico Wild we’ve submitted a letter of concern to the Las Cruces office of BLM to put them on notice that we expect:  

• the agency to uphold their RNA protections and to keep the extraordinary biological values of Antelope Pass a priority under their own Resource Management Plan  
• full disclosure of documents moving forward should Almadex apply for further hard rock exploration or file a Plan of Operations  
• BLM to facilitate a robust and comprehensive public involvement process, bringing all stakeholders to the table, if and when the NEPA process begins

Read our letter to the BLM

CRC also supports and recommends New Mexico Wild’s petition to keep mining out of antelope pass (offsite link)

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CRC has formally requested that the Arizona Game and Fish Department fulfill its legal obligation to protect this unique 560-acre enclave just a few miles from Portal. The May family had the foresight to create a wildlife sanctuary in the middle of Round Valley just off of Foothills Rd in 1941! Renowned game rangers Ralph Morrow and Kimrod Murphy were responsible for caretaking this property, but in recent times the department has shown little interest in maintaining the fences. As a result, cattle are damaging both the range and water source there.

Read our letter to the Director of AZGFD and State Attorney General     

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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 period.

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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 Washington administration’s assault on the Forest Service is an instruction to staff that they may not even communicate with their partners. In other words a gag order.

A similar reduction of National Parks Service personnel (see attached article) has already led to access problems for the public. But that pales in comparison to what’s happening at the US Forest Service. It is our position that the manner in which this has been implemented is illicit and we are advocating for a reversal of these cuts.

The force reductions at the USFS are having a direct impact already. The Douglas District which administers the Coronado National Forests within the Chiricahua and Peloncillo mountains is down to a skeleton crew. Several planned projects representing years of collaborative work between our organization, the communities in the region, other nonprofits, and federal agencies have been postponed. These partnerships have been the most effective tool for maintaining access to the public land in our region. In fact all of Southeast Arizona is being affected. Our trail system will continue to degrade if this situation doesn’t improve.

We urge members to contact their representatives expressing support for the dedicated public servants who administer our public lands. These professionals are stewards of America’s natural heritage and deserve our advocacy during this challenging time. We urge immediate reconsideration of these cuts to preserve both our natural heritage and the community relationships that sustain it. Protect our public lands!

**Contact Information:**

Senator Ruben Gallego
Russell Senate Office Building
2 Constitution Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4521

Senator Mark Kelly
Russell Senate Office Building
2 Constitution Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2235

https://www.npca.org/articles/7076-parks-group-warns-of-dismantling-of-the-national-park-service

The post Forest Service Update appeared first on Chiricahua Regional Council.

This is a very special place and the Center for Biological Diversity is taking the lead on a lawsuit to prevent an access road into John Long. The CRC is a co-plaintiff in this lawsuit together with some other organizations. Another aspect to John Long is the petition to the regional forester in Albuquerque to create a Zoological Botanical Area in the John Long Canyon drainage and to call it Izęę’ Bich’ilwozh `Medicine Canyon’. See more here: https://biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/pdfs/ZBA-Petition-Final-PDF.pdf

Let’s hope for the best on both initiatives!

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