The Research Ranch is one of the largest and best remaining examples of southwestern grasslands, an ecosystem that once covered much of the valleys between southeastern Arizona's Sky Island mountain ranges. Situated between the Huachuca, Santa Rita, and Whetstone mountains, it provides critical corridors for wildlife travelling across the Sonoita Plain. However, unnecessary fences or fences built without wildlife in mind can create barriers that restrict movement and fragment habitat. Whether its a Black Bear working its way between mountain ranges, a Northern Harrier foraging low through the grasslands, or pronghorn moving from pasture to pasture, wildlife mobility depends on wildlife-friendly fences.

On the AWRR, we first removed all of our interior fences (25 miles of fence!). Then, we set to work retrofitting our exterior fence (17 miles of fence!) to be wildlife friendly with the bottom strand unbarbed and 16-20 inches above the ground and the top strand unbarbed and 12 inches above the second strand. This design keeps the AWRR safe from trespassing cattle while allowing wildlife to move freely through the property. This work was made possible through an immense amount of volunteer labor and financial assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the Army Corps of Engineers, USDA-NRCS, and contributions from private individuals.

To learn more about wildlife-friendly fencing, check out this brochure from the Arizona Game and Fish Department.