As of November 27, 2020, Santa Cruz County, Arizona has an infection rate of 1.36 which means cases are rapidly increasing. Due to the severe outbreak occurring in this region and the lack of local and state restrictions to limit the spread, Ruta del Jefe will be postponed until 2022. While I would love to create a bright light at the end of dark winter, I feel strongly that it is counterproductive to the mission of the event to to host the event during this time. Instead of hosting the RDJ this year, I am using the time to work on the structure of the event to bring you a more meaningful version of Ruta del Jefe in the future. In the meantime, I encourage you to learn more about the issues affecting the Southern Arizona borderlands by digging into some of the resources below. Please, also consider donating to one of the following organizations for the necessary work they do this holiday season; Indivisible Tohono, No More Deaths, Center of Biological Diversity, Save The Scenic Santa Ritas, The Arizona Trail Association, and the Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch.
I would like to host some small, informal, and safe ride meet-ups in the region if and when the cases go down to safer levels. So, if you are local or will already be in the region this winter, subscribe to my newsletter to get notified if/when that happens.
RUTA DEL JEFE RESOURCES
I am attaching this list of resources for those interested in learning more about Ruta Del Jefe, the Sky Islands Region, the environmental threats at play, and the humanitarian crisis.
Ruta Del Jefe Event
Ruta del Jefe Film - Gus Morton and Samantha Sauri
Madness and Mud: Ruta del Jefe 2020 - Tenzin Namdol
Racing the Ruta Del Jefe in the San Raphael Valley - John Watson
Raw Cycling Magazine: Interview with Sarah Swallow on Ruta Del Jefe
Sky Islands Odyssey Route Project
El Jefe
Grant, Richards. [2016, October]. The Return of the Great American Jaguar. Smithsonian Magazine.
Border Wall
Jordahl, Laiken. [2020, November]. A Year of Devastation in Arizona’s Wild Lands. The New York Times.
Moteil, Anya. [2017, Summer]. The Tohono O’odham and The Border Wall. American Indian Magazine.
Greenwald, Noah. Segee, Brian. Curry, Tierra. Bradley, Curt. [2017, May]. A Wall in the Wild: Disastrous Impacts of Trump’s Border Wall on Wildlife. Center for Biological Diversity.
Executive Order 13767: Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements - The White House
Humanitarian Crisis
Border Patrol Strategic Plan 1994 and Beyond: National Strategy
Rubio-Goldsmith, Raquel. McCormick, Melissa. Martinez, Daniel. Duarte, Inez Magdalena [2007, February]. A Humanitarian Crisis at the Border: New Estimates of Deaths Among Unauthorized Immigrants Immigration Policy Center.
Rosemont Mine