"The Tohono O’odham Nation signed a co-stewardship agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for federal lands with deep cultural and religious ties for the tribal nation.

“This agreement will ensure that the Nation has a voice and an active role in protecting these ancestral lands that are so important to our people,” Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Verlon Jose said in a press release.

The Tohono O’odham Nation is a federally recognized tribe in southern Arizona with about 28,000 tribal members. Its reservation is the second largest in the state and extends from the outskirts of southwestern Tucson to the Mexican border.

The co-stewardship is for the Baboquivari and Coyote Mountains, including the Baboquivari Peak Wilderness and Coyote Mountains Wilderness areas. The agreement allows the tribe and the BLM to collaborate on conservation and management efforts for the wilderness area."

Shondiin Silversmith reports for States Newsroom January 22, 2025. [2]