Borrego Sun - Since 1949

Dear ABDNHA Members and Supporters:

We would like to take a moment to celebrate what your support has enabled ABDNHA to do, and the many ways your support has enriched the lives of those who live in and visit Borrego Springs and the Anza-Borrego Desert.

As an educational non-profit organization, quality educational programs and enjoyable desert activities are a core part of our mission. Our expanded offerings of 150 of these programs, tours, hikes, and webinars include the diverse topics of astronomy and stargazing; history; birding; geology; Native American culture; archaeology; desert flora and fauna; travel; photography; flower walks and moonlight hikes; and science and career programs and internships for the local school system.

Over 25,000 visitors pass through the doors of our Borrego Desert Nature Center in a typical year. AAA Westways, the official magazine for AAA members in southern California, wrote in an article about Anza-Borrego that the ABDNHA Nature Center has “The best selection of books about the local area.” This is a point of pride for ABDNHA because our Nature Center is much more than a great store, it is a place where we help locals and visitors to learn about and enjoy the desert so that they may experience all that it offers, and having the right books and information available is an important part of doing that.

ABDNHA develops and publishes many of the core materials about this desert used at our Nature Center and throughout Borrego Springs, including our popular brochure series of self-guided auto tours and walking tours on topics of local history, agricultural history, regional history, and desert geology. Our membership newsletter, The Sand Paper, is considered one of the premier publications about our region.

As the official sponsor of the Borrego Valley Hawkwatch, ABDNHA coordinates training for volunteers to assist with the count, provides programs about hawk biology and conservation efforts, publishes about the hawks, and assists with funding. Over 16,000 Swainson’s Hawks were counted this past spring!

Another conservation effort is maintaining the dark sky overhead through leadership of the Borrego Dark Sky Coalition.

All of the things that ABDNHA does are made possible by people such as yourself. Your continued support is essential to sustaining and growing these excellent programs and inspiring people of all ages to understand and conserve the natural and cultural features that make this area special.

We hope you will find it possible to make a year-end, tax-deductible donation to support ABDNHA. Your financial support, at whatever level you are able, would be of great assistance.

Thank you for your ongoing support of ABDNHA!

The Board and Staff of ABDNHA join in wishing you a Happy New Year!

– Betsy Knaak, Executive Director

Sanjiv Nanda, Board Chair, Don Barrie, Sandy Huff, Mike McElhatton, Program Director, Joe Migliore, Phil Newbury, and Marcy Yates