About Us
In 1997, the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl received federal protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). This spurred over 40 conservation and neighborhood groups to come together to form the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection in February of 1998, with the main goal of bringing sound science and planning into the equation as Pima County adopted and began its implementation of the ground-breaking Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan (SDCP). The Coalition has since become a regional leader in virtually every conservation issue in Pima County, including development of Pima County’s Multi-Species Conservation Plan and other jurisdictional Habitat Conservation Plans; the preservation of Sonoran Desert wildlife linkages; water resource planning and policy; riparian habitat protection, restoration, and mitigation; and, recently, smart planning for renewable energy development.
The Coalition’s mission is to achieve the long-term conservation of biological diversity and ecological function of the Sonoran Desert through comprehensive land-use planning, with primary emphasis on Pima County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.
The Coalition is currently comprised of 41 member groups, representing over 30,000 members. The Coalition’s small staff works on a grassroots level, leveraging the expertise, experience, and knowledge-base of our member groups and other environmental partners into long-lasting positive change for Sonoran Desert conservation.
Our wide array of outreach, education, advocacy, grassroots activism, and conservation planning activities are focused on achieving consensus between key stakeholder groups on a variety of issues that have a nexus with the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan. More information on the Coalition’s major achievements can be found here.