from left to right: julia bernal, ariel elliott, corrie parrish, jessica allen, teresa skiba.


T


hose who do visit the infant refuge are welcomed with the full attention of Owen-White and her team. At the open house, 11-year-old Sarah spent hours running through the bosque forest and playing under the cottonwoods with Skiba, Elliott, and the


rest of the staff. Now, she’s back inside the stucco house with a fistful of crayons, focused intently on drawing a tree.


It’s a scene to make Jennifer Owen-White proud: one more South Valley girl who won’t have to wait until she grows up to discover a passion for the outdoors, or to meet other young women who’ve turned that passion into a rewarding career. Valle de Oro still has a long way to go to fulfill its potential. There are old gas lines to de- commission, trails and facilities to build, and years of habitat restoration ahead. But Owen-White is confident they’ll get there. “Every day I step back and see little things that have made a difference,” she says. “We are growing this refuge together.”


48 · LAND&PEOPLE · SPRING/SUMMER 2016


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