Audubon Southwest was recently named one of the 2025 Migratory Bird Joint Venture Conservation Champions. Executive Director and SJV Management Board member Jon Hayes accepted this prestigious and richly-deserved recognition on February 25, 2026 at a reception on Capitol Hill celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Migratory Bird Joint Ventures.

Audubon Arizona, now Audubon Southwest, has been a core partner of the Sonoran Joint Venture since the JV’s inception. Through their participation on our management board they have helped develop the strategic direction of the SJV, supporting our partnership’s work to advance collaborative efforts for bird and habitat conservation in the SJV geography. Audubon Southwest is a leader in conserving the birds and habitats of the southwestern United States, as well as supporting the people who depend on them. At their Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch (AWRR), a 7,734-acre grassland sanctuary, Audubon Southwest’s long-term research has made substantial contributions to improving our understanding of grassland ecosystems, developing beneficial practices for land stewardship, and connecting rural and urban communities with southwestern grasslands. In the past year alone AWRR supported over 20 grassland research projects from 15 different institutions, reached over 1,000 area residents through conservation outreach programs, launched a new 5-year Yellow-billed Cuckoo research effort, and held numerous partnership meetings and retreats for the conservation community.

In collaboration with the SJV, Audubon Southwest hosts a Motus station to undertake long-term studies of sparrow use of grasslands to improve management and conservation efforts. Audubon Southwest’s work to conserve grasslands is not limited to AWRR, though. This year Audubon Southwest launched a new Working Lands program focused on restoring Chihuahuan and Sonoran grasslands in Arizona and New Mexico, something that directly contributes to the SJV’s Conservation Implementation Plan goals and objectives, as well as addresses priorities in the JV8 Central Grasslands Conservation Initiative Business Plan. With plans to invest over $1.5 million in this program over the next 3 years, Audubon will provide technical guidance to land stewards to enroll in conservation programs such as Audubon Conservation Ranching, Farm Bill programs, and landowner incentive programs. Additionally, through their advocacy at the state capital and in Washington, D.C., and through programs including the AZ Important Bird Area program and offerings at their Rio Salado Nature Center in urban Phoenix, Audubon Southwest staff work tirelessly to spread the message of conservation and to communicate the importance of the work of the Migratory Bird Joint Ventures in ensuring the continued survival of our most imperiled ecosystems and the birds that depend on them.