Glossary

Altar Valley: Semi-arid grassland that runs from the border, framed by the Baboquivari and Cerro Colorado mountain ranges. The southern end is roughly 50 miles south and east of Tucson.

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge: A 118,000-acre national wildlife refuge located about 50 miles southwest of Tucson, right against the border with Sonora, Mexico. The refuge is home to the endangered masked bobwhite, a bird, and eight other threatened or endangered species.

Ecosystem: An ecological community that functions as a unit. The Arizona-Sonora border—a political division—encompasses at least four different ecosystems: arid desert, semi-desert grassland, riparian, and higher altitude mountain systems.

High-center (verb): When a car or truck's drive train gets stuck on a raised piece of soil.

Mojados: Loosely translated from Spanish, this term means "the dunked." The etymology is Texan, referring to "wetbacks" who crossed the Rio Grande. This pejorative is now used all along the border.

Nogales Ranger District, Coronado National Forest: A rugged, scenic forested area 60 miles south of Tucson. Includes Sycamore Canyon, one of the most biologically diverse areas in North America.

Perennial stream: A stream that runs all year.

San Pedro National Conservation Area: Located about an hour south and east of Tucson, it's an extensive preserve encompassing 40 miles of the upper San Pedro River, one of the last remnants of a once-extensive riparian system in the Southwest.

Ranch: Traditionally, a business that raises cows, now, however, the term increasingly refers to rural or semi-rural homes with acreage.

Sonoran Desert National Monument: A 496,000-acre expanse of Bureau of Land Management land 60 miles south and west of Phoenix encompassing some of the premier parts of the Sonoran Desert. Created in 2000.

Wash: A dry creek bed.