2021 Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

The Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was established in 1985 to preserve and restore the natural desert landscape and wildlife of over 115,000 acres in southern Arizona. The rolling hills of grasslands, river banks lined with Cottonwood and willow, and seasonal marshlands are home to a multitude of wildlife including pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, javelina, gray hawks, black-bellied whistling ducks, jackrabbits, skunk, rattlesnakes, desert tortoises, quail and Gila monsters. Brown Canyon is located on the west side of the refuge at the foothills of the Baboquivari mountains; its sycamore lined stream meanders through 200 million year-old volcanic rocks and is home to coatimundi, mountain lions and maybe even an occasional jaguar visiting from Mexico.

The 2017 Wilderness Volunteers service project removed nearly eight miles of old interior ranch fences left over from ranching days in cooperation with volunteers from the Friends of the Buenos Aires NWR. The fence removal is part of an ongoing 15-year project by the Refuge to remove interior fences; only 39 miles of fence remain, down from more than 150 miles of fences that originally existed. We camped in a volunteer campground in Brown Canyon, which we explored on our off day.

For more information: http://www.WildernessVolunteers.org