Episode 176: Protecting and Restoring the Wild Heart of the Sky Islands with Louise Misztal
June 12, 2026
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Cochise Stronghold, photo by Bob Van Deven
Episode Summary
Louise Misztal, executive director of Sky Island Alliance (SIA), sits down with Rewilding Earth podcast host Jack Humphrey to explore the unique, biodiverse, and threatened Sky Island Region of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They discuss how these isolated mountain ranges rise out of the surrounding valleys to create a biological crossroads for species from the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Madre, and the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. Louise shares the critical work her team is doing to protect these delicate ecosystems, from restoring springs and removing invasive species to navigating the intense challenges posed by the U.S.-Mexico border wall and climate change. It is a vital conversation about nature’s resilience and the power of local, hands-on conservation to restore hope and habitat.
Louise Misztal, executive director, Sky Island Alliance
Episode Topics
- Understanding the Sky Islands: Defining the region, its unique geography, and why this “blob of habitat” is one of the world’s great biodiversity hotspots.
- The Power of Springs: Why these keystone ecosystems are the lifeblood for wide-ranging wildlife and how SIA is mapping and protecting them.
- U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Crisis: The devastating impact of border wall construction on habitat connectivity, the loss of legal protections on public lands, and how SIA uses motion-triggered wildlife cameras to document the reality on the ground.
- Climate Adaptation: Navigating “global weirding,” helping ecosystems transition in the face of extreme drought and heat, and the importance of cross-border conservation in Sonora.
- Meaningful Action: How volunteers can engage in “shovel work” that makes a tangible difference and why connecting with the land is the best antidote to environmental despondency.
- Iconic Species: A look at the region’s charismatic wildlife, including the curious coati, elusive ocelot, and the vital role of the jaguar as an umbrella species for conservation.
Extra Credit
- Get involved!
- Subscribe for updates from Sky Island Alliance
- SIA’s virtual coffee break and webinar series
- Annual report and accomplishments
“There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount, a perfect ratio of water to rock, water to sand, insuring that wide free open, generous spacing among plants and animals, homes and towns and cities, which makes the arid West so different from any other part of the nation.” ~Edward Abbey
Director of Digital Outreach (D.O.D.O.) for The Rewilding Institute
Host and Producer of the Rewilding Earth Podcast
Jack started Rewilding work as Executive Director of Sky Island Alliance in the mid-1990’s, organizing the Sky Island Wildlands Network design, ripping up illegal roads on forest service lands, installing wolf acclimatization pens on Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch & conducting howling surveys to help make way for the final stage of the Lobo reintroduction program in the Southwest.
Through the years, Jack has worked with Dave Foreman and the Rewilding Gang to further Rewilding initiatives and education.