In December of 2021, the Arizona Land and Water Trust closed a conservation easement on the Vera Earl Ranch in Sonoita, protecting 5,000 acres and decades of intertwining social and ecological heritage in perpetuity through this collaborative partnership with the ranch landowners.
Animals have always moved through the area, from pronghorn antelope to cattle herds, across its vast expanses of native desert grasslands. The complexity of the relationships sustained here demanded a unique, collaborative approach from the Trust and its landowner partners. With funding support from the Department of Defense, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through Walmart’s Acres for America program, the preservation of this historic ranch is preventing detrimental development and expanding wildlife connectivity between the Santa Rita Mountains, Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, and two existing conservation easements on additional portions of the ranch.
The Vera Earl Ranch itself has a long history of both agricultural production and rangeland conservation which the Tomlinson family continues to uphold as they manage the ranch through an NRCS conservation plan. With large properties in the Sonoita area continuing to be purchased for single-family homes or “ranchettes,” the threat of development increases for locations like Vera Earl Ranch, making its preservation critical. The ranch’s role as a vital piece of a larger wildlife corridor amplifies the restorative impact of management efforts implemented here such as cooperative rangeland monitoring initiatives and wildlife habitat improvement projects.
The Trust’s establishment of a conservation easement on the Vera Earl Ranch further ensures permanent connectivity and maintains the electromagnetically quiet airspace that the ranch shares with U.S. Army Fort Huachuca. The ranch is in both an ecologically complex and a strategically significant region of southeastern Arizona, as it is situated within the Fort Huachuca Sentinel Landscape.
When asked about this conservation easement, Mr. Jeff Jennings, Deputy to the Commanding General at Fort Huachuca, stated “The Fort is extremely proud of its Sentinel Landscape designation and even more proud of the partnership and its accomplishments. With a collaborative approach and great partners like NRCS and ALWT, we are working at the intersection of our common goals to conserve natural resources, increase climate change resilience, and protect working ranches like the Vera Earl which strengthens military readiness.”
The lives that have unfolded and the stories that have been written across the rolling hills and desert grasslands of Vera Earl Ranch now remain protected in perpetuity thanks to supporters, landowners, and funding partners. The Arizona Land and Water Trust continues steadfast in our commitment to supporting the farmers and ranchers who steward these lands and the waters that sustain them.
Acres: 5,000
Type: Easement