The Rincon Institute assists private landowners with conservation of natural resources, open spaces, wildlife habitat and scenic values. Open space in the Rincon, Vail, and Tanque Verde valleys is what brings many of us to this side of town to live, recreate, visit, and enjoy.

In late November, Rincon Institute Board Member Katie Dusenberry and her husband Bruce hosted a Picnic By the Creek fundraiser for the Institute. The event garnered over $600 in individual contributions. Hydrologist Shel Clark gave a rousing speech about the need to protect the Sonoran Desert in order to ensure continuation of natural processes so essential to our lives here (including recharge of groundwater aquifers).

The effort to reform our State Trust Land system is well underway. The initiative is attempting to change the state constitution regarding State Trust lands. Currently, those lands must be utilized in order to “maximize revenue.”

For the past 2 months or so, the discussion around the Rincon Institute water cooler for has been about the lack of rain and whether or not there really is enough water to sustain both the growing human settlement of Tucson and the biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert. Our partners at Pima County, Tucson Water, and the ranchers and farmers with whom we work are all anxiously scanning the horizon for what one Arizona rancher calls, “pennies from heaven.”