Our Mission

Friends of Sabino Canyon works to protect, preserve and enhance Sabino Canyon by funding and supporting projects, inspiring and educating the public, and partnering with the U.S. Forest Service and other key stakeholders.

Accomplishments

Since 1993, FRIENDS OF SABINO CANYON, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, has helped to preserve, protect and enhance Sabino Canyon Recreation Area for future generations. Community support by friends and neighbors makes all the difference to the Coronado National Forest.

FRIENDS OF SABINO CANYON has garnered support for the Aspen Fire Recovery Fund, provided funding for the restoration of the historic Lowell Ranger Station, purchased demo fee day passes for families who may not otherwise afford a visit to Sabino Canyon, and helped to provide drinking water to visitors approximately 3 1/2 miles into the canyon with the opening of the water well at Shuttle Stop #8.

The Arizona Office of Tourism recognized Friends of Sabino Canyon with an Outstanding Volunteer Service Award on August 3, 2001 at a luncheon at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. In July 2002, we received the Volunteer of the Year Award presented by Forest Chief Dale Bosworth in Washington, DC. In 2003, we received a "Windows on the Past" National Award for Excellence for the Rehabilitation of the Lowell Adminstrative Site.

Your support to FRIENDS OF SABINO CANYON helps to make many canyon enhancements by the Santa Catalina Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest a reality. The Gateway Project, the restoration of Lowell Ranger Station, exhibits in the Visitor Center, ramadas at Cactus Picnic Area and the ceramic desert wildlife themed ar decorating the entrance ramadas were all made possible by community support.

Rains and rock slides caused significant damage in Sabino Canyon in the summer of 2006. Private funding will help to fill the gap for watershed protection, landslide and flood clean up projects, and repair of trails and recreational facilities. Can we count on your support?

Watch the Friends' Public Service Announcement
[00:30 1MB Windows Media Player; highspeed connection recommended]

Board Members

Keith Bauman

Keith is an avid hiker who joined the Board in 2003 to “do my part in maintaining the beauty and peace” of Sabino Canyon . An insurance executive in Chicago for over 20 years, Keith relocated to a home near the canyon and is now one of its staunchest defenders.

Sandee Binyon

Sandee wears two important hats in the protection and enjoyment of Sabino Canyon —she is on the board of the Friends and she serves as treasurer of the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN). The SCVN runs environmental educational programs throughout the year involving schoolchildren and the community of visitors interested in a more engaged study of the area's flora and fauna. Sandee is herself a degreed educator who managed social service programs in California , before retiring here in Tucson . Sandee is also active in several other volunteer boards including the American Association of University Women.

Dave Bushell

Dave was raised within walking distance of Sabino Canyon and is dedicated to keeping it the special place it has always been for him. Dave is an avid hiker and photographer and loves to go to the wilderness to bow hunt. Dave, a videographer by profession, has a long list of projects he would like to see completed to protect the canyon. He sees the Friends organization as an effective way to build public support and funding to partner with the Forest Service to protect the area.

Bill Kaufman

Bill was president of the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) from May 2005 until May 2007. SCVN are volunteers of the Forest Service and are
responsible for environmental education in the Canyon. He is also a docent at Tohono Chul Park and a guide for the Southern Arizona Hiking Club. Bill is a
retired Professor Emeritus of the School of Dental Medicine at SUNY Stony Brook where he taught for 26 years.

Tracey Metcalfe Rowley

Tracey is an eighth grade history teacher who has lived here with her family since she graduated from the University of Arizona in 1988. For Tracey, Sabino Canyon is one of those special places that she and her friends and family value highly as a place to hike and picnic, promote physical fitness and learn about the natural world. Tracey believes that anything that can be done to preserve, enhance and protect Sabino Canyon is “well worth the time and effort”.

Howard Weiss

Howard is a hiker and birdwatcher who joined the Friends board over five years ago. Howard has a busy career as communication director for The Seawater Foundation, which promotes integrated seawater farming, yet he finds time for numerous community activities having served on the boards of the Arizona Theatre Company, Country Day School, the Boys and Girls Club and Leadership Tucson. Howard believes that with over one million visitors a year Sabino Canyon needs a stewardship organization to assure we find a balance between preservation and public use of this incredible resource.

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