Cuenca De Los Ojos Newsletter #1
Cuenca De Los Ojos Newsletter
Thu, November 23rd, 2017
Cuenca Los Ojos Foundation Trust has become a 501c3. This is our first newsletter. It is being written about El Coronado Ranch - a US property part of a migratory corridor that makes the flyway connection between the US and Mexico and is consequently of importance to CLO.
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This morning as I watched, turkeys like silent shadows floated by my windows and landed next to the pond. The deer browsing nearby timidly made their way toward my porch. Coffee cup in hand, I decided to walk to the forest, thinking as I went. On the path, I saw the tracks of three bears who had walked in tandem the night before. Going home, I came face to face with a mountain lion. Rarely seen at this time of the day, the mountain lion was stretched out, contentedly sunning himself by my kitchen window.
These animal signs made me keenly aware of a problem that I had been wrestling with for some time: how do I protect this place in the future?
'The mountain lion was stretched out, contentedly sunning himself by my kitchen window.'
Thirty years ago, when I came to El Coronado Ranch the hills were barren and rocky. During the course of those years, we built over 20,000 rock dams on the slopes to control erosion and capture water. As a result, the hills, have become sponges that literally weep water after the rainy season. Native grasses have taken hold on the steepest slopes. This place has become an oasis, a refuge for birds and animals. Some are residents but the majority use the mountains as a migratory corridor. The Chiricahuas are part of a chain of mountains that connect the Rockys in the U.S. to the Sierra Madres in Mexico. This area of Southern Arizona is of high biodiversity value. It is recognized as an Important Bird Area (IBA). According to E.O. Wilson, this Chihuahuan Pine Oak forest is one of four most endangered ecosystems in Northern America.
Going forward, I would like to leave El Coronado in the hands of a person or organization that will protect the land and its amazing wildlife. I am thinking of retiring from El Coronado and spending more time on the foundation work in Mexico. I would like to get feedback from those of you who have been following Cuenca Los Ojos' work over the years and may have suggestions as how best to preserve this place. If you have contacts with organizations that would be interested in helping to protect this unique ecosystem, please answer this email. For those of you who would like to learn more about us, this is an introduction.
