Wild Arizona

A 516-mile gas pipeline is being proposed straight through Arizona's wild country, and most people don't know it's happening.

Energy Transfer's Desert Southwest Pipeline (FERC Docket No. PF26-9-000) would run from West Texas through southern New Mexico into the Phoenix area, cutting across desert rivers, sky-island grasslands, and small Arizona towns like Bowie, Willcox, San Manuel, Oracle, and Coolidge. The gas it carries is meant to power the region's growing AI data centers.

Here's what's at stake.

In the driest state in the country, this project adds more strain to water supplies already stretched thin, from fracking in Texas to cooling data centers here at home.

It threatens habitat for species already fighting to hold on, including the Gila chub, loach minnow, spikedace, yellow-billed cuckoo, and Mexican spotted owl.

Nationwide, a pipeline accident causes a death, injury, or explosion once every five days.

Utility costs have already climbed 13 percent over the past 18 months, and ratepayers, not data center companies, are the ones covering the buildout.

Communities and tribes across southern Arizona say the route threatens land sacred to their people, and companies can use eminent domain to seize private property in its path.

FERC's scoping period is open right now. This is the window when public comments can still shape the outcome. Once it closes, changing the route or holding this project accountable becomes far harder.

Public scoping sessions are happening this our2ndlifecox, AZ on July 28, Deming, NM on July 29, and Chaparral on July 30. Can't make it in person? You can still submit a written comment.

Submit a scoping comment to FERC, reference docket PF26-9-000 (link in bio)
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Back to the Gila: Reroute season on the Redstone Trail

Our Wild Stew Field Crew returned to the Gila National Forest this week to kick off a major reroute on the Redstone Trail. The original alignment climbs steep and unsustainable right out of the gate, so we’re building a new, more sustainable path that’ll be easier on hikers, pack animals, and trailhead access alike.

Log jams, crosscut saws, thousands of aspens, and 325+ downed logs cleared later, this hitch had it all. We even had a front row view of the nearby Sacaton Fire, which our partners at the Gila National Forest helped us navigate safely.

Swipe through for before and after shots of the new trail corridor.

Read the full story of this hitch, fire smoke, raspberry breaks, and all, via the link in our bio.

Red rock carved by a million years of wind and water. Canyons that hold the footprints of ancestors. In a single day, the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments was cut by roughly 90% each, undoing protections put in place by past administrations for land considered sacred by many Native American communities.

These monuments were never just lines on a map. Ancient cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, and canyons sit alongside coal and uranium deposits that some officials have pushed to open for development.

This is the second time these boundaries have been rolled back; the first rollback, in 2017, was later reversed.

These are living cultural landscapes, treasures that belong to all of us, sacred to the Tribal Nations who fought for their protection and continue to steward them today.

We stand with the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and the Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal Coalition. Follow their lead: and , as they defend these places.

Register with the link in our bio!

Join Wild Arizona for Willow Planting & Habitat Restoration in the Dry Blue, a week of hands on stewardship in a beautiful hidden corner of Eastern Arizona.

📍 Dry Blue Creek, Luna, NM
📅 Sun, July 19 Sat, July 25

We’ll remove invasive bull and musk thistle from the creek banks before it seeds, then plant willows along the streambank to reduce erosion. Camp is set up above 7,000 feet, so we’re out of the heat, and we’ll commute to the worksite daily by UTV.

Join for the full week or just a few days, every bit of help counts. Registration is required so we can plan food, tools, and capacity, so let us know your dates when you sign up.

Wild Arizona provides all tools, protective equipment, dinner for three nights, breakfast supplies, and coffee.

What to bring: camping gear, water/hydration, food for your stay, weather appropriate clothing, closed toe trail shoes or boots, and a daypack.

Questions? Contact Volunteer Coordinator Sam Woosley at [email protected]

Our Book of the Month pick is here, and it’s a wild one.

Teaming up with Little Wild Library, we’re featuring American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee, the true story of O Six, a legendary alpha female wolf whose presence in Yellowstone drew wildlife watchers, biologists, hunters, and ranchers into her orbit, and into conflict with one another.

It’s a story that will change the way you think about wilderness, and about what it costs to protect it.

Buy your copy this month and 100% of the profits go directly to Wild Arizona, funding the conservation work that keeps wild places wild.

Link in bio to grab yours!