Short Reads & Articles
The Arizona–Sonora borderlands are a place of extraordinary biodiversity, rich cultural histories, and interconnected communities. They are also a region facing complex challenges involving conservation, water, migration, and border infrastructure.
We've gathered a selection of articles and resources to help you better understand the landscapes and communities you'll encounter during Ruta del Jefe.
You don't need to read everything! Choose a few topics that interest you and explore at your own pace.
The Sky Islands: Ecology & Biodiversity
What Are Sky Islands?
Sky Island Alliance | 2021
An accessible introduction to the Madrean Sky Islands, where isolated mountain ranges rise above desert grasslands and valleys. Learn why this region supports such an extraordinary diversity of plants, animals, and ecosystems.
Arizona's Santa Cruz River Chronicled in New Environmental History
U.S. Geological Survey | 2014
Explore the environmental and human history of the Santa Cruz River, including the relationships between Indigenous communities, agriculture, settlement, and water. This resource helps explain how water has shaped life in the region.
Wildlife Corridors & Border Wall Impacts
New Videos: Jaguar Still in Arizona as Border Wall Construction Threatens Critical Corridor
Center for Biological Diversity | August 2026
New footage documents Cinco, a wild jaguar moving through southern Arizona near the San Rafael Valley. Learn why cross-border wildlife corridors matter and why border wall construction seriously threatens jaguar recovery in the United States.
Despair After 200-Year-Old 'Grandmother' Tree Toppled for Trump's Border Wall
The Guardian | October 2026
An account of the removal of a centuries-old cottonwood tree in Lochiel, Arizona, during border wall construction. The article explores community resistance, environmental impacts, and the importance of protecting the San Rafael Valley. This story is especially relevant to the landscapes participants will experience during Ruta del Jefe.
Indigenous History, Culture & Food Sovereignty
History & Culture of the Tohono O'odham Nation
Tohono O'odham Nation
Learn about the history, cultural traditions, and ancestral homelands of the Tohono O'odham people, whose lands extend across southern Arizona and northern Sonora. This resource offers important context on how the international border divided traditional lands and continues to affect Indigenous communities.
Cultivating Tradition, Empowering Indigenous Agriculture
Rural Action, featured by San Xavier Cooperative Farm | 2023
Learn how San Xavier Cooperative Farm is revitalizing traditional Tohono O'odham agriculture, preserving culturally significant crops, and strengthening Indigenous food sovereignty. Discover how farming supports cultural continuity and community resilience.
No Wall: Tohono O'odham Nation
Tohono O'odham Nation
An important Indigenous perspective on border wall construction and its implications for tribal sovereignty, cultural traditions, sacred sites, and the ability of Tohono O'odham people to move across their ancestral homelands.
Migration, Humanitarian Aid & Solidarity
Migrant Stories: Voices from the Border
Kino Border Initiative
A collection of personal stories from people navigating migration, displacement, deportation, and life along the U.S.–Mexico border. These firsthand accounts offer perspectives often missing from broader conversations about immigration policy.
Staying Longer, Growing Stronger: Stories from the Border
Kino Border Initiative | December 2025
Learn how changing immigration policies have affected people living in Nogales, Sonora, and how Kino Border Initiative has adapted its work to provide longer-term humanitarian assistance, education, employment training, and community support.
A collection of firsthand migrant testimonies gathered through Kino Border Initiative. These stories offer a deeper understanding of the human experiences behind immigration statistics and policies, providing important context for the organization's humanitarian work in Nogales.
The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail
Jason De León
Books
An anthropological examination of migration through the Sonoran Desert and the human consequences of U.S. border enforcement policy.
Voices of the Border, Second Edition
Edited by Tobin Hansen and María Engracia Robles Robles
The Devil's Highway: A True Story
Luis Alberto Urrea
A nonfiction account of a group of migrants attempting to cross the Arizona desert, exploring the human dimensions of border policy and migration.
American Scar: The Environmental Tragedy of the Border Wall (2021)
Directed by Daniel Lombroso | 13 minutes
Films and videos
This short documentary examines the environmental destruction caused by border wall construction in southern Arizona, including the fragmentation of wildlife habitat and damage to sensitive desert ecosystems. Through the perspectives of conservationists and environmental advocates, the film reveals how border infrastructure threatens biodiversity and wildlife movement across the U.S.–Mexico border.
An especially relevant introduction to the ecological challenges facing the Sky Islands and the conservation efforts participants will learn about during Ruta del Jefe.
The Desert Speaks | PBS
This documentary series explores desert landscapes, ecology, cultural histories, and the people who call these regions home. Look for episodes focused on the Sonoran Desert and the Arizona–Sonora borderlands.
Borderlands Field Course | Borderlands Restoration Network
Learn how young conservationists from the region are developing restoration skills, building connections, and engaging in collaborative stewardship across the borderlands.
Borderlands Jaguar (2026)
Directed by Ben Masters | 52 minutes
Wildlife filmmakers Austin Alvarado and Ben Masters search for elusive jaguars along the U.S.–Mexico border, documenting their habitat and the importance of protecting wildlife corridors between the two countries.
This film offers particularly relevant context for Ruta del Jefe, whose namesake is El Jefe, a wild jaguar documented in southern Arizona's Santa Rita Mountains. It illustrates why landscape connectivity is essential to the future of jaguars in the region.