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Southern Arizona residents, activists and organizations are teaming up with federal government officials to designate a portion of the Santa Cruz River as Arizona's first urban national wildlife refuge.

The federal designation would ensure the protection of the critical habitat for years into the future following its revitalization in recent years.

Prominent landowner Andrew Jackson, who possesses thousands of acres of critical habitat, is part of the effort. Following backlash last year in the town of Rio Rico for a rezoning request that residents feared would bring mining to their town, he began working with the Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition to help preserve some of his land that borders the river.

“It was kind of a call to action to put (the land) in the hands of somebody that can manage it and maintain that for a long time,” Jackson said, noting he's invested in regenerative farming practices and water conservation.

In September, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in collaboration with the Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition developed a landscape conservation design to start the process of proposing an "urban partnership" program in Tucson, and the potential for a new national wildlife refuge along the Santa Cruz River.

The agency manages over 100 wildlife refuges across the state, within 25 miles of population centers of 250,000 people or more. Just one urban wildlife refuge currently exists in the Southwest, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Santa Cruz River would be Arizona's first urban national wildlife refuge.

The Santa Cruz River Refuge coalition wants an “archipelago” of protected properties at risk of development along the Santa Cruz River, stretching from the U.S.-Mexico border to the northern edge of Pima County. Coalition members say this designation would offer permanent wildlife habitat, outdoor access, and ecotourism.

The protected area would include areas of upland Sonoran Desert scrub habitat, canyons that provide habitat connectivity, and nearly seven miles of riparian habitat approximately 40 miles south of Tucson.