TBOSC Values Statement

Versión en Español Aquí

Coalition members believe:
 

1. 1. This land at the base of the hill should remain open space, continuing to be a wildlife corridor connecting the living Santa Cruz River to the Tucson Mountains and beyond, as well as providing connectivity for pedestrians and equestrians. 
       
   2. This land holds a unique archeological, aesthetic, and bio-cultural heritage with a continuous human presence of more than 4,000 years. Globally recognized and deeply associated with Tucson’s identity, it should be celebrated and protected as a living historical and bio-diverse inheritance for the health, beauty, and wisdom of visitors and future generations. As well as the wellbeing of the non-human beings that walk, fly, and swim here, and all of the plants that should be protected and cherished.
       
   3. This land is a crucial area for positive urban climate action and desert resilience, lessening urban heat, air and sound pollution, as well as preserving an irreplaceable area of dark skies in the downtown area.
       
   4. This land has a history of transgression and loss. It has been turned from fertile land – historically and prehistorically Tucson’s food basket – into deadly gravel pits, a city dump, and damaged property ignored for years. Now is the time to break this destructive legacy with a new story, one of reconciliation and cooperation.
       
   5. This is a place of sacred life, a place for cultures to come together in a positive way, a place for healing our shared land and ourselves, a place of cultural practice. The Santa Cruz river connects us to each other, and to our generations past and future. We, all peoples in Tucson, Pima County, and the Sonoran Desert are called here, together, for a reason.
       
   6. Decision making processes related to this land should center those most impacted by decades of environmental racism, gentrification and colonialism, namely:
       
      • Tohono O’odham community members, whose ancestors lived in the village of Chukshon and are buried here, and who continue to live here
      • Neighbors in Barrios Sin Nombre, South Menlo Park, Kroger Lane, Santa Cruz, and the Westside community

TBOSC seeks to act as a broad-based coalition, a gathering of regional organizations and individuals providing gatherings, quorums, shared strategies, and united action to protect this land and provide research and means for alternatives to destructive exploitative development.  

We are tierra y alma (earth and soul), agua y amor (water and love), present in O’odham jeweḍ (O’odham land), celebrating ṣu:dagĭ and apedag (water and wellness).
 

We celebrate this land not only as Tucson’s historical birthplace, but as the birthplace of a future that we and all creatures are safe and happy to live in. We look forward to many celebrations together along the banks of the Santa Cruz River!

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