The Coronado Planning Campaign

The Coronado National Forest of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico is a global treasure. The Forest sits at the heart of region the Sky Island region, and is a bridge between wild realms, where the temperate Rocky Mountains and Colorado Plateau meet the subtropics of the Sierra Madre Occidental. These landscapes harbor a huge slice of our nation's natural heritage, including many native species found nowhere else. The region is also rich in human culture—contemporary, historic, and prehistoric.

But the Coronado is in peril. Signs are everywhere on the landscape: habitat fragmentation, the legacy of fire suppression, invasive and exotic species, water withdrawals, disturbance of cultural sites, and encroachment from Arizona's population explosion, among others. The Coronado is home to more threatened and endangered species than any other National Forest in the United States. Without stewardship that challenges these threats, more will join their ranks.

In 2006 the U.S. Forest Service initiated a planning processes that will guide forest and grassland management for the next twenty years or more. In response to this rare opportunity, Sky Island Alliance launched the Coronado Planning Campaign to work for conservation-based stewardship of the Forest. The Campaign seeks to unite the voices of diverse stakeholders with a shared vision for the future of the Coronado. The campaign is a collaboration that puts scientific information to work for the Forest, and informs the protection of National Forests throughout our state.

The Coronado will be one of the first National Forests in the Forest Service's Region 3 (Arizona and New Mexico) to undergo management planning under new regulations. This process not only can strengthen the protection of this extraordinary landscape but can create a model for the other National Forests in Arizona, and beyond.

The Forest Service is concurrently involved in Travel Management Planning, then end result of which will be a “motor vehicle use map” that limits motorized travel to designated roads, trails, and areas. This planning process is an important way to protect quiet recreation opportunities on the Coronado.

Now is the time for citizens, scientists, and other Coronado advocates to pool their experience and work together on behalf of the Forest's future.

Explore the Coronado Planning Campaign...

•  The Coronado Planning Partnership

•  State of the Coronado National Forest: An Assessment and Recommendations for the 21st Century

•  Extension of Campaign Success to the Arizona Forest Plan Revision Coalition

• Outreach to Other Coronado Stakeholders

•  Forest Neighbor Network