Riparian Restoration on the Verde River
Jason Fullmer1
1Environmental Protection Department, Yavapai-Apache Nation
The Yavapai and the Apache people have been living in the Verde Valley since the beginning of their time. The lands of the Verde Valley and the water that flows in the Verde River and its tributaries made it possible. The primary purpose of the people is to build, preserve, and protect the Nation’s lands as a permanent homeland and to maintain as separate, distinct, and sovereign people. The native plants that grow on the Verde Valley are used for food, shelter, ceremonies, medicine, baskets, etc., but the non-native invasive species are out-competing and killing our native plants.
This has become an important issue to the Yavapai-Apache Nation (YAN) Environmental Protection Department (EPD), to rid of non-native invasive plants and to re-vegetate with native plants; and to help restore the riparian area back to its natural habitat. Not knowing much about how to remove these non-native invasive species, the restoration crew turned to the “Verde Watershed Restoration Coalition (VWRC)”, a nonprofit organization who also works on riparian restoration, for guidance on how to do the work. The YAN’s EPD technicians continue to partner with VWRC and they both work on Riparian Restoration projects in different areas on the Verde River. These restoration projects are ongoing and are a constant battle. The restoration crews will be sharing their skills and experiences with these ongoing challenges and successes on the YAN lands.