Ranchers Dennis and Deborah Moroney Partner with Arizona Open Land Trust and Arizona Game and Fish Department to Protect Cochise County Ranch

Today the Arizona Open Land Trust announces the permanent protection of 960 acres of the 47 Ranch, a working ranch in the Hay Mountain Watershed in Cochise County. Bordering both Mexico and New Mexico, Cochise County has long and rich history, and, despite the proliferation of ranchettes, has remained largely rural, keeping much of its historic appeal and western character. 

The 47 Ranch is part of the Hay Mountain Watershed which drains into the Whitewater Draw in the Sulphur Springs Valley, eventually joining the Rio Yaqui just south of the U.S.-Mexico border.  The Whitewater Draw is southern Arizona’s most important waterway east of the San Pedro River, and is a winter stopover for more than 100 species of migratory waterfowl, including Sandhill Cranes. The Natural Resources Conservation Service has mapped no less than 14 different ecological site types within the boundaries of the ranch itself, making it a potential habitat for several species quickly disappearing from Southern Arizona, including the Chiricahua leopard frog, lowland leopard frog, Cochise pincushion cactus, jaguar, lesser long-nosed bat, Northern aplomado falcon, ocelot, black-tailed prairie dog and Gould’s turkey. 

This project is anticipated to be the first phase of an ongoing partnership between the Moroneys and the Arizona Open Land Trust.