Sandy Bahr and Bobbie Holaday celebrating her 90th birthday.
Arizona Says Goodbye to Bobbie Holaday–A Good Friend to Wolves and Wilderness
Bobbie Holaday passed away earlier this year at the age of 102 and after decades of service to the wild places and wildlife of Arizona. She was key to the establishment of wilderness in Arizona, having adopted both the Hells Gate and Eagletail Mountains wilderness areas and leading the way in making sure they were part of the 1990 Arizona Desert Wilderness Act, sponsored by Representative Morris K. Udall. Bobbie helped gather the information, met with both advocates and opponents, and worked hard to keep these as part of this important wilderness package.
Bobbie also became a fierce advocate for the reintroduction and recovery of Mexican gray wolves and in 1988 founded an organization called Preserve Arizona Wolves (PAWs), which was laser-focused on getting Mexican gray wolves reintroduced. That goal was achieved in 1998 when wolves were reintroduced to eastern Arizona. Bobbie then dissolved PAWs, having achieved this important goal, and then wrote about the effort to bring back the wolves in a book called “Back to the Blue,” which references the Blue Range Mountains, the area the wolves were returned to. For years, Bobbie was a faithful action taker relative to phoning and emailing her legislators and continued to take actions in response to our legislative updates.
Bobbie was the recipient of numerous awards, including a Volunteer Service Award from the Arizona Heritage Alliance, Conservation Award for Excellence from Defenders of Wildlife, Environmentalist of the Year from the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, and Sierra Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award. This last award said, “Bobbie Holaday–A lifetime of protecting Arizona's special places and wildlife. Thank you for the wolves and the wilderness!” And thank you again, Bobbie. We miss you.