Audubon Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch

The Research Ranch was established in 1968 by the Appleton family as a large scale enclosure by which various land uses such as livestock grazing could be evaluated.  The Research Ranch is approximately 60 miles SE of Tucson, AZ and is a complicated partnership among land owners and federal land administrative agencies: Coronado National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, Resolution Copper Mining Co., The Research Ranch Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and National Audubon Society.  NAS manages the facility as a sanctuary for native biota and ecological field station via contractual agreements with each entity.  The Research Ranch is a Center/Sanctuary of NAS, administered through the Audubon Arizona state office in Phoenix.   Audubon’s strategic plan is to achieve conservation results on a broad scale by leveraging the NAS network and engaging diverse people; the Research Ranch is evaluated by NAS for its support of the following conservation concerns: Climate Change, Water, Working Lands and Bird Friendly Communities.