Articles
This month we launched our Build Your Own Basin (BYOB) kits, starting to deliver kits to families through schools as well as sending home kits with WMG donors. This is the start of our effort to distribute hundreds of BYOB kits, focusing on underserved families through our partnerships with schools, churches, and neighborhoods. With your help, we can expand this effort to do something good for...
The Cienega Creek Natural Preserve was established in 1986 under a resolution passed by the Pima County Board of Supervisors that authorized the Director of the Regional Flood Control District to acquire designated lands along the Cienega Creek corridor to preserve riparian habitat, reduce peak stormwater flows, and facilitate groundwater recharge. The ranch lands along the creek had been...
In this increasingly virtual world, WMG staff and partners are getting creative to get kids outside and hands in the dirt. Everyone has too much screen time these days, which makes it even more important for us to connect with nature, spend time outdoors, and contribute to the good of the community. Will you support WMG’s nature-based education and conservation programs by making a donation to...
While Giving Tuesday might be over, our efforts continue! Please donate to our year-end fundraising campaign to support green streets and conservation efforts.We’re providing the inspiration and tools for a growing movement of people to build water harvesting basins and plant trees in their yards and neighborhoods. In the water-strapped West, water harvesting is an essential way to green our...
We are so grateful for the outpouring of support yesterday on Giving Tuesday—we raised a total of $35,000 towards our $40,000 campaign!If you missed Giving Tuesday, don’t worry, you can make a donation through Friday for your donation to be matched and be eligible to take home one of our BYOB Kits!Our year-end theme is BYOB – and we’re thrilled to expand our Build Your Own Basin effort with K-12...
Today is Giving Tuesday, and we’re thrilled to celebrate a productive year of Stewarding In Place with you.When you donate today, your gift will be doubled thanks to a $20,000 matching fund! We still have $9,300 in matching funds and $9,300 more to raise to reach our $40,000 goal!One of our most popular Steward In Place offerings has been our BYOB virtual workshops. When 80 people tuned in...
Flow365 volunteers monitor the status of flow in our creeks and rivers, check groundwater levels in accessible wells, and observe the plants and animals in local riparian habitats in the Tucson area. This data is vital to supporting our long-term goal of restoring Tucson’s heritage of flowing creeks and rivers through our River Run Network program.Volunteers can submit their data using a...
Although the pandemic has gone on longer than anyone had imagined, we have been heartened by the support shown throughout our Steward In Place initiative. One of the more popular virtual offerings was BYOB – Build Your Own Basin. When 80 people showed up on a Friday night way back in May to learn how to build a basin, we knew we were on to something big. We’ve started planning BYOB workshops as...
What you do in your yard and neighborhood impacts your local creek, river, lake, or ocean. Use that power for good to enhance our watersheds. This was the basis for WMG’s Steward In Place initiative, which we began back in April in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We moved many of our classes and workshops to the digital sphere, a dramatic shift for an organization that specializes in in-...
RegisterFriday, November 20th 7am - 12pm Join Trevor Hare, WMG's Restoration Director and Luis Salgado, Green Infrastructure Coordinator, for an erosion control and riparian restoration project at the Pantano Jungle, along Cienega Creek in Pima County's Cienega Creek Natural Preserve near Vail. We will be constructing a large Zuni Bowl to arrest a large gully head cut. As a wildlife and...
Monday, November 9th 5:30pm - 7:30pmRegisterWMG is enlisting landowners and the interested public in the Tucson area to help monitor flow in our creeks and rivers, groundwater levels in accessible wells, and the plants and animals that depend on them. At this online training, WMG staff will introduce you to our 50-year vision of flowing creeks and rivers supported by our growing River Run...
Saturday, October 31st @ 10am - 11:30amRegister Here Kick off Halloween with some scary stuff! Join Trevor Hare, WMG's Restoration Director and Cindy Hu, Community and Youth Education Manager as we explore the creepy crawlies of the Sonoran Desert and learn about the role that snakes, lizards, spiders and scorpions play in the world. We invite kids and parent to come in costume and have...
***During this time of COVID-19, Project Plans are being offered with new protocol to follow physical distancing guidelines. Our field staff will visit your property wearing a mask and practicing physical distancing. We ask you also wear a mask and keep physical distance.Create a plan to harvest the water on your property.Greywater can be a consistent source of water for your...
Tuesday, October 27, 2020 - 5:30pm to 7:00pmRegister Here for the zoom link to attend The Santa Cruz River plays a central role in Tucson's food culture. In this interactive panel discussion, we'll learn about the connection of local heritage foods and river flows, past and present, with Jesus Garcia from Mission Gardens, Don Guerra from Barrio Bread, and Brian Wong from BKW...
Register HereWe live in an amazing region with some of the wildest plants and critters around! Join Trevor Hare, WMG's Restoration Director and long-time biologist, as we discover the astounding biological diversity of the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona. We'll bring plants and animals into your home through our virtual adventure and give your family resources to get out and explore on your...
We want to give a big shout out to the WMG community for helping us raise over $88,000 during our summer fundraising campaign! Donations were matched thanks to a $40,000 matching fund from several WMG Stewardship Circle donors.Western wildfires, climate change, and restoring dried-up rivers can all feel like insurmountable challenges. But when we work together in community, we can each conserve...
Do you remember when our creeks and rivers used to flow? If so, we'd love to hear your stories!We invite you to tell us about yourself, your memories of our creeks and rivers, and share photos or art related to you and your story. WMG hopes to share these stories through our website, print materials, and a future public exhibit. The submission period for this first round of stories closed on...
We are blown away by the generosity of our donors; you have gotten us so close to our goal! Today is the last day of our summer fundraising campaign, and we have only $3,500 left to raise to reach our $85,000 goal. Please consider donating today, $10, $25, $100, every gift is important to support WMG’s programs.Western wildfires, climate change, and restoring dried-up rivers can all feel like...
In the next three days, we need your help to raise $25,000 and reach our $85,000 summer goal. Will you make a gift today to support WMG’s education and conservation programs? Donations are essential to many WMG programs, including our K-12 student and family programs, and all donations will be doubled through a donor match.Since April, we’ve been focusing our Steward...
Register Join Beto the Beaver & Carmen la Castora to learn all about how they build their dams! These family-friendly bilingual beavers will teach you how beavers are nature’s engineers. Learn how they use trees, rocks, mud and more to build dams in our creeks and rivers that support a greater diversity of plants and animals. Big or small, dams create ponds where beavers eat, live, and...
We want to see you on Thursday night at our virtual Monsoon Film Fest! Join this fun and inspiring community event from the comfort of your own couch. Grab your popcorn, drinks, or home-cooked dinner, and get ready for a night that refreshes your spirit and connects you to conservation actions. Along with the screening of The Beaver Believers documentary and our favorite audience...
Our cohort of 17 University of Arizona interns and new docents learned how to think like a beaver and tested how to slow and spread water along Ciénega Creek as part of our new virtual and physically-distanced training program. They weren’t the only ones! WMG’s Restoration Director, Trevor Hare, has been out along this stretch leading a restoration crew to install one rock check dams to slow and...
Register HereTuesday, September 22, 2020 - 5:30pm to 6:30pmBuild your own basin! In this virtual event, Cultural Ecologist Joaquin Murrieta will show you step by step how to build your own rainwater harvesting basin at home. Through videos, images and first hand experiences, you will see a basin from start to finish with Joaquin's input on the process. This event is designed help...
We could all use a little more happiness in our lives these days. WMG’s Cultural Ecologist, Joaquin Murrieta, has been talking about “bringing back the happiness of our rivers,” through celebrating our connection to rivers while we restore flow and habitat. When we Steward In Place, we are bringing happiness to ourselves and nature. Sara Birtalan, Flow365 monitor and new WMG docent, is a great...