In this issue…

_Lifestyle
Is it worth digging a root cellar?
_{Real Estate}
What’s for sale in Cochise County?
_{Water News}
Local Council appointed for Willcox AMA
The water year in review
Colorado River negotiations update
_{Land News}
A new jaguar arrives
“Explosive” border news
_Civics
Cochise County’s draft Comprehensive Plan
_Animals
Dog found in Leslie Canyon

Howdy, from the editor

Welcome to the New Year, everyone. I don’t know about y’all, but I’m looking forward to the next twelve months. It feels like 2026 is going to be a “good one.”

Long-time subscribers know I have an interest in subterranean construction. I’ve done my share of independent research, and I know a few folks with submerged structures that they’re very happy with. But, with a friendly nudge from Arizona Adam, I figured I should start with something small, and then scale up to larger structures.

So we’re beginning where any sensible desert creature would begin:

A root cellar.

As I build my home, I’ll need a place to stash food and gear, and a place to disappear into when the summer sun is trying to cook me into a meal for the local wildlife. So I started digging into root cellars — on paper first, with a shovel later.

One of the best resources I found is a review video of a root cellar that I’ve actually been in, out at Richard Ward’s Terraform Together project, tucked away between Bisbee and Tombstone. I’ll summarize the highlights here, but you can take the full tour in the video below, or watch his full 7-episode “Root Cellar Build” series here.

Some stats on Richard’s root cellar after two years in operation:

• Temperatures naturally range between 75°F and 50°F

• Four vents keep air moving and humidity under control

• Not a single drop of water has made its way inside

• Only one mouse and zero spiders have made their way in

Lessons learned, according to Richard: he excavated ten feet deep, which left only eight feet of headspace after a french drain and roofing went in. That left only two inches of dirt as insulation over the roof. If he could do it again, he’d go two feet deeper, allowing more overhead soil — because dirt is cheap, and insulation is king. (As a post hoc solution, Richard topped off the structure with some straw).

He’s also switched from sandbags to hyperadobe as his main construction method, after finding it faster, easier, and just as cheap.

Here are a few more key tips, organized by the four elements — because a checklist is more fun with a little ancient drama:

1. Water

   • Never site a cellar in a wash, drainage path, or low spot

   • Slope surface water away from the structure

   • Roof and walls should shed water, not absorb it

2. Earth

   • The deeper you dig, the more stable the temperature

   • 1-3 feet of soil on top is great insulation

   • Walls must be designed for lateral soil pressure

3. Air

   • Too little ventilation → mold, rot

   • Too much ventilation → dryness, heat gain

   • Have one low inlet and one high inlet, both screened

4. Fire

   • Not relevant

   • Just wanted to include all four elements

Got thoughts on root cellars and underground structures?

Real Estate

It’s finally here: local real estate listings. This month, we’ve got offerings from local heroic realtors, Sammy Klein, Clay Greathouse, and Penni Parrish.

Maybe you still haven’t found your dream parcel, or maybe you want to lure a friend into the area. Or maybe you just enjoy window shopping. In any case, we’ve got the goods.

And if you reach out to the realtors, make sure to tell ‘em the Ground Party Papers sent ya. (Seriously!)

70 acres — Elfrida — $195,000 — Link
This 70-acre off-grid hideout sits at the end of Last Chance Road with nobody around but the mountains, offering a 300-sq-ft cabin, a private well, and fifty miles of clean desert visibility. The land is a whole world unto itself — ridges, forests, gullies, flats — zoned so loosely you can build, expand, or carve off pieces as you please, with nothing but a composting toilet and your own solar to decide the limits. No HOA, no neighbors, no noise — just a private mountainside where you can live like royalty or slip away seasonally when the world gets loud.

2 acres — Pearce — Fully fenced — $14,900 — Link

18 acres — Dragoon — Grid-power available — $59,000 — Link

21.6 acres — McNeal — Lots at $1200/acre, seller financing — Link

10 acres — Pearce — Power and internet available — $69,500 or make offer — Link

12.9 acres — Bisbee-Hereford — $249,900 — Link
This 12.9-acre opt-out homestead comes loaded with big hardware — massive solar arrays, 68 kWh of server-rack batteries (about five Powerwalls), rain catchment with filtration, new septic, and a steel-frame 1,050-sq-ft home perched in 360° sky. Set on a dead-end road with nothing but quiet, the place also packs a new workshop, a huge garageport, walking trails, and optional adjoining parcels that can bring the spread to 31 acres. With $100k down the seller will carry the note, and nearly everything on-site — from tools to tractor to a tiny home — can ride along for the right deal.

40 acres — Elfrida — $25,973 — Link

36.3 acres — Elfrida — $55,900 — Link

235 acres — Douglas — $175,000 — Link

70 acres — Elfrida — $195,000 — Link

5.97 acres — Portal — $52,500 — Link
Buildable six acres, just off a county-maintained road north of Arizona Sky Village, where the lighting code and deed restrictions keep the night actually dark. Big views, clean horizons, and no HOA — grid power is about 1,600 feet away if you want it, or you can stay off-grid and keep it simple. This is the doorstep of the Chiricahua Sky Islands, where the mountains rise fast, the air cools, and the hiking, birding, and stars all feel a little unreal. Portal is two miles for the basics, with longer supply runs out to Douglas, Willcox, Animas, or San Simon.

10 acres — Portal — $12,500 — Link

8.7 acres — Portal — $21,000 — Link

40.8 acres — Portal — $34,900 — Link

8.5 acres — Portal — $39,900 — Link

It’s pronounced “goo-ahk”: The Willcox Active Management Area now has its own five-member Groundwater Users Advisory Council or “GUAC”, appointed by the governor. I happen to know Caleb Blaschke, Ed Curry, and Mark Spencer personally, and I’m confident they’ll be great representatives for their local communities. Here are the bios for all five new councilors:

If you want to learn more about what happened in 2025 with Arizona’s water supplies and policies, don’t forget to check out my second-favorite newsletter to write, the Water Agenda. Our final edition of the year has short descriptions of all the stories we published last year, from Colorado River Wars to Tribal Water Rights to Rep. Gail Griffin’s antics. Here’s an excerpt:

A quick update on Colorado River negotiations: The seven Basin States blew right past the federal deadline for coming to a new agreement on how to share the River water.

The standoff is really between the Lower Basin States (Arizona, California, Nevada) and the Upper Basin States (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming). The Upper States have been using less than their allotted share while the Lower states have been maxing out their allotments — so, those Upper States believe the Lower states should have to bear more of the cutbacks, but the Lower States believe the “Law of the River” guarantees them a certain amount of water that should be delivered, even if it means less water for the Upper States.

The Trump administration has set a new negotiation deadline for February 14, Valentine’s Day and Arizona’s birthday. After that, the federal government may step in and enforce their own management plan.

The internet exists for cat pictures: In November, researchers captured images of a new jaguar in Cochise County — the first entirely new individual documented in the region in several years. Known temporarily as Jaguar #5, the male big cat was photographed multiple times at a watering hole by remote cameras run by the University of Arizona Wild Cat Research and Conservation Center. Its unique rosette pattern confirmed it wasn’t one of the previously seen animals. The sighting, the fifth jaguar documented in southern Arizona since 2011, is being hailed as a hopeful sign that these endangered predators are still moving through their historic range.

Meanwhile: The Center for Biological Diversity condemned the recent border wall blasting near Coronado National Memorial that commenced just one day after Jaguar #5 was spotted. The explosions, captured on video by the group, occurred within designated critical habitat for endangered jaguars and other wildlife and, in their view, fracture vital migration routes, choke genetic diversity, and sever the natural connections of the Sky Islands that jaguars depend on. The Center argues that this fast-tracked construction — enabled by sweeping waivers of environmental protections — threatens to undo decades of conservation work and could doom any hopes of natural jaguar recovery in the U.S.

Civics

Last year, I let everyone know that the county was working on a Comprehensive Plan which will guide the county government’s decision-making over the next twenty years. Some of you gave feedback via their public survey, and now you’ll find out if they took your comments to heart. The draft Comprehensive Plan has been published — you can review it, and leave comments about it, here.

After reviewing the document, I’ll bring a few items to your attention:

• The county has signaled that water conservation and low-water use economic development are important priorities

• They support solar and wind energy development in the area

  • They mention early-stage planning for a new 175 MW wind farm; location not specified

• They want to develop more mining and mineral processing projects in the area

  • One of their policy goals is to “Consider adding mining and mineral processing to the activities allowed under industrial zoning designations by right.” (p. 53)

• There is planned bicycle route between Douglas and Tombstone, via 191 and Davis Rd.

• Alternative building and the Owner-Builder Opt-Out permit aren’t mentioned anywhere in the document

Lost and Found

This good boy was found in the Leslie Canyon / Davis Road area. If you know the owner, you can get in touch with the finder on their facebook post here.

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And…

Thanks for reading!