Fence removal by Sierra Club on Buenos Aires NWR, 2007. Photo by Robert Farrell.

In February and March 2007, two different groups of Sierra Club members convened from across the U.S. to provide a week of labor for landscape improvement at Buenos Aires NWR.  These groups stayed at the Environmental Education Center in the refuge's Brown Canyon section in the foothills of the Baboquivari Mountains.  These people donated their time and money to travel to the refuge and to supply a tremendous amount of work to beautify the landscape and repair refuge facilities. 

In the grasslands the February group removed 3.6 miles of barbed wire fence and 100 steel fence posts, which were left over from ranching days.  In Brown Canyon they collected and transported down dead mesquite wood to be used as indoor firewood, repaired valves, pipes, and the water tank at the Education Center, and repaired water structures at the La Casita cottage in the canyon.

The March group took down 1.6 miles of barbed wire fence in the grassland section of the refuge and removed 100 steel fence posts.  They also performed trail maintenance through brush trimming and removal on 200 feet of trails in Brown Canyon.

Fence removal improves the esthetics of the landscape in the canyon and in the grasslands and also facilitates the movement of deer and pronghorns.   Visitors to the canyon will use the firewood in the living quarters on cold days and will benefit from trail maintenance, which makes the trails more usable and easier to follow.