Stone by Stone: Process Based Restoration for Upland Watershed Improvement
Eve Fischer¹*, Elaine Nichols²*, and Cynthia Butler³*
1 Friends of the Verde River, Cottonwood, Arizona, USA; evef@verderiver.org
2 Friends of the Verde River, Cottonwood, Arizona, USA; elainen@verderiver.org
3 Friends of the Verde River, Cottonwood, Arizona, USA; cynthiab@verderiver.org
This poster explores various upland watershed restoration projects conducted by Friends of the Verde River from 2020-2025, detailing the methodology used, lessons learned from the field, and importance of partnership collaboration. The Verde Watershed Restoration Coalition (VWRC) is a multi-stakeholder group made up of federal, tribal, and state agencies, private landowners, corporations, and non-profit organizations working together to manage invasive plants and restore habitat across the Verde River Watershed in Arizona. In addition to their riparian habitat restoration efforts, VWRC has in recent years branched out to include upland restoration projects in their work. In particular, Friends of the Verde River in partnership with the rest of the coalition has employed Low-Tech Process Based Restoration (LTPBR) methods to prevent erosion caused by gully systems in flood-prone habitats. In this poster, we examine three primary VWRC projects: Munds Draw, a gully-affected area where VWRC collaborated to install 228 erosion control structures from 2020-2024, Redflat Meadow, where VWRC paired rock structures with a milkweed and native legume planting initiative, and Gully Busters, our volunteer-driven gully monitoring program funded by the Forest Service Participatory Science Fund. Through this poster, we aim to convey the benefits of upland LTPBR as well as the challenges we have faced along the way with the hope of sharing our experience and generating discussion on ways to improve our strategies moving forward.