Form 990 for tax year 2023

Totals

Total revenue

$304,268

Total expenses

$339,132

Contributions and grants received

$297,145

Grants paid

$500

Program service revenue

$0

Investment income

$8,344

Other revenue

-$1,221

Total assets, end of year

$483,752

Total liabilities, end of year

$2,412

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$481,340

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$237,440

Management and general expenses

$101,692

Fundraising expenses

$0

Program service expenses (Part III)

$237,440

Program services were 70.0% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2023

• Continued advocating for protected open spaces, both on public and private lands. This included direct consultations with private developers where we made recommendations on their development plans and advocated for connected open spaces and protected wildlife habitat on their properties. We also celebrated and educated our supporters about new open space properties acquired by Pima County along with Pima Countys continued successes implementing their Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan. We conducted this community education through our website, e-newsletters, and print newsletter. Worked to re-connect our threatened open space preserves. This included continued facilitation of the management and monitoring of the Oracle Road wildlife crossings. We continued to work with neighborhoods adjacent to the wildlife underpass and other community partners to work towards a win-win solution for wildlife fencing gaps in this area, with the final fencing gaps finished in April 2023. We also publicized and celebrated the growing data sets compiled by the Arizona Game and Fish Department about wildlife use of the Oracle Road wildlife crossings - we are the only non-profit organization providing this information to the public on our website and in our general communications. In 2023, we started a new project to improve and enhance the native habitat on the Oracle Road wildlife crossings, with funding from the Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area. We held monthly Habitat Restoration Workdays from September-December 2023 where volunteers and staff removed invasive species, planted native plants, monitored wildlife cameras, and produced educational videos to share with the larger community. We also continue to consult on plans for new wildlife crossings such as the siting and design of two new wildlife crossings on State Route 86 on the Tohono Oodham Nation, new wildlife underpasses along Silverbell Road that will connect the Tucson Mountains and the Santa Cruz River, and a future wildlife bridge over Interstate 10 connecting the Tucson and Tortolita Mountains. For this final project, we also continued our partnership with local governments such as the Town of Marana and Pima County to further connect this wildlife linkage by building an accessible wildlife ramp into the Santa Cruz River and supporting the purchase of more connected open space properties. We continued to participate on the Regional Transportation Authoritys Wildlife Linkages Working Group which oversees the many wildlife linkages infrastructure projects funded by the Regional Transportation Authority; in addition, we have been very involved in the development of the next Regional Transportation Plan RTA NEXT and advocating for additional monies for more wildlife linkage infrastructure in this new plan. We continued to analyze and use data collected in the Interstate 10-Davidson Canyon wildlife linkage from 2019-2021 to advocate for improved wildlife fencing and enhanced wildlife underpasses in this linkage. We continued our project in the Sopori Wash between the Santa Rita and Tumacacori Mountains in collaboration with the Arizona Land and Water Trust, first established in 2021. Lastly, we continued our collaboration with the Desert Fence Busters, which seeks to remove outdated, un-used barbed wire fencing that impedes wildlife movement across the landscape. In 2023, the Desert Fence Busters held 12 volunteer-driven events, removing ~11.5 miles of dangerous fencing. Strenuously opposed the proposed Interstate 11 route in Avra Valley west of the Tucson Mountains through ongoing meetings with community partners and community outreach. We joined with three of our member groups in 2022 to file a lawsuit against the Federal Highway Administration and Arizona Department of Transportation and expanded the lawsuit further to address issues related to endangered species in December 2023. This lawsuit challenges the Tier 1 planning process and the flawed evaluation of the environmental impacts of the proposed project. One of our member groups, the Center for Biological Diversity, is providing legal services related to the lawsuit on a pro bono basis. In addition, we have several of our own wildlife cameras near the proposed interstate route to gather data on wildlife presence and diversity in this important wildlife linkage. We also continued to oppose the Copper World Mine and support our member groups and community partners that continue to fight this mine proposal in federal courts - we shared news and information with our supporters about their efforts and ways to get involved through our social media channels, emails, and print newsletter. Improved and refined our Community Science projects to ensure they are collecting the best data possible with clear goals and objectives and continuing to provide an educational, enriching experience for our volunteers, now totaling 65+ active volunteers. In 2023, we hired two Desert Wildlife Interns for semester-long internships from August-December. Our two interns helped clean up and organize our millions of wildlife camera photos to prepare them for further analysis. They also assisted with our Habitat Restoration Days at the Oracle Road wildlife crossings. We also continued to work with partners such as the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Pima County and provided regular reports to our volunteers on how the data from these projects impact our advocacy for restored wildlife linkages. Maintained productive working relationships with local governments, state and federal agencies, community partners, and landowners to ensure we are poised to tackle new projects as they occur. Improved and expanded our communications with our supporters, donors, volunteers, community partners, and member groups, including our expanding our presence on Instagram and producing regular videos for our YouTube channel. The videos aim to educate the larger community about the Sonoran Desert and threats to Sonoran Desert wildlife linkages.

  Expenses $237,440 · Grants $500

As filed on the 2023 return.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2023

Filed

14 May 2024

IRS schema version

2023v5.0

Source object

202441359349312524

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