Dave DeGroot presents:

"Secrets of the Northern Santa Rita Mountains."



Tonight, at Marana's

Wheeler-Taft Sr. Library



Dave DeGroot, retired Sahuarita, AZ, teacher, environmentalist, citizen scientist, and author of the book Each Trail Has Its Own Story, has gathered stories from years of hiking the Northern Santa Rita Mountains.



In tonight's presentation Secrets of the Northern Santa Rita Mountains, he shares insights on the northern part of the mountains west of Sonoita Road (Highway 83), and the mammals who live there including jaguars porcupines, coatis, ringtails, and an ageing ocelot named Ted.

You don’t want to miss this informative hour-long presentation. See you there!

• Today, Thursday, August 15th, 5:30pm at the Wheeler Taft-Abbett Sr. Library, 800 N. Schisler (Silverbell & N. Cortaro)

• Next Thurs., Aug. 22: Dusenberry-River Library, 5605 E. River (River & Craycroft) 5:30 pm.

Now You Can

FoodCycle At Home!

Join the EGSD

Food Waste Collection Program!

The City of Tuscon's Environmental and General Services Department (EGSD) is working with local community gardens and parks in a joint FoodCycle at Home program for east side residents.

This program offers families the opportunity to drop off food scraps for composting at nine convenient locations.



Information Sessions will be held for residents to learn about the program and receive a free kitchen compost pail for collecting food scraps from their homes. 



Collected the food waste from the gardens will be used it at the Los Reales Sustainability Campus composting facility.

Get involved!

Your actions help to improve air quality, create landfill space, and decrease food waste. It makes a difference. 

Living with Desert Wildlife

Have you ever found yourself looking for help or information about desert wildlife, injured animals, rescuing cactus, and other questions or issues that arise from living in the desert?

If so, The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection has developed a list of groups that are experts on these different topics and can provide the assistance you need.

The site provides information on:

• Sick or injured wildlife
• Bees
• Packrats and rodents
• Snakes
• Drought and water for wildlife
• Catus and native plant rescue

Click here to be linked to this valuable resource.

State’s Mining Boom

Effect on our Water

The August 9^th edition of Inside Climate News, reports that “nearly 80 percent of Arizona lacks any form of groundwater regulation, allowing big users like the copper mines, supplying the energy transition, to consume vast amounts of the scarce resource.”

This in-depth report details the state and federal mining laws that encourage mining interests to exploit natural resources under the guise of supplying the national energy transition.

Locals, tribes, and environmentalists are concerned about how these projects could wreak havoc on the state’s already depleted aquifers, which are the only source of water for many communities across Arizona.

Click here or the green link below to read "Inside Climate News" article. 

As outlined in past Living Desert Aliance newsletters, the Copper World/Hudbay Inc. Santa Rita Mountains open pit mine project is a local example of this exploitation.

You Can Help!

Please plan to attend the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's (ADEQ) public meeting on September 12th at the Corona Foothills Middle School to learn more and voice your concerns directly to state leadership. We'll keep you posted!