Rio Vista Natural Resource Park
The Heart of a Neighborhood in Midtown Tucson
by Max Wingert, Communications & Outreach Manager of WMG
WMG’s River Run Network helps people connect to and steward their local rivers, especially in urban areas of Tucson where our rivers and floodplains have been neglected. That’s why we’re thrilled to help guide a restoration initiative along the floodplain of the Rillito River, in the Rio Vista Natural Resource Park, working alongside passionate...
Volunteers hike through flowing rivers and dry riverbeds alike during the 2024 Beaver Survey.
Reviving a Keystone Species: Results from the 2024 Bi-National Beaver Survey
Read the full 2024 Bi-National Beaver Survey report here
Introduction
Beavers, once a keystone species in the rivers of southeastern Arizona, play a crucial role in maintaining watershed health. However, due to over-trapping in the 1800s, they were extirpated from the region. In an effort to revive the species and...
Building Rain Gardens with Barrio Restoration
I helped plant a tree for the first time in my life the other day.
I know, I know. But I’m a city-slicker. Spent a lot of time outdoors in my youth as a Boy Scout. I’m always down to go camping and hiking and backpacking and bushwhacking. But I’ve spent most of my life living in small apartments in big cities. It’s not easy to cultivate plants of any kind when you’re living in a six-story walk-up with three roommates, let alone a tree.
I...
Pedaling For Progress: The PFAS Problem
By: Max Wingert, Communication & Outreach Manager
“Before we begin, I need some volunteers. Three volunteers. Ok, you… you, and you. Now. I have a little test for you. We’ll start with you. Can you pronounce this?”
This question came from Joaquin Murrieta, the Cultural Ecologist Director of Watershed Management Group. He stood, smiling, surrounded by a semicircle of a dozen or so bicyclists, in a small parking lot adjacent to the Santa Cruz...
Beavers and Watershed Management Group: The Mission to Preserve Local Beaver Populations
Beavers are (coming) back, babyyy!
Introduction
In a recent news story from the Herald Times, our dedicated volunteers at Watershed Management Group were highlighted for their exciting mission: to track down evidence of beavers along the San Pedro River. Armed with keen eyes and a passion for conservation, they scoured the tree line for telltale signs of these industrious rodents.
The Importance of...
A volunteer examines the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area for signs of beaver.
The 3rd Annual Binational Beaver Survey[March 2nd & 3rd 2024]
“Beavers are cool.” - Paul Strong, MS Student, WMG Intern, and Lead Organizer of the 2024 Beaver Survey
“Beavers weigh 60lbs? Are you serious? That’s more than my dog!” - Max Wingert, WMG Communications & Outreach Manager, and Amateur Beaver Enthusiast
Do you know how big a beaver is? Just, you know, off the top of...
The piece is an abstract representation of the past, present, and future. There's a lot I depicted within this timeline to showcase all the beautiful minds we have living amongst ourselves and our mother earth. This opportunity gave me the chance to experiment with a concept that the Water has always been here while finding ways to collect, preserve, and share it in a non and native way, so with that in mind I used it as a portal to balance out the elements to create an understanding...
Tucson sits on the edge of the Sky Island Region and the Sonoran Desert, which hosts some of the greatest diversity of plants and animals in world. One of the most unique wildlife phenomenons in our region is the explosive breeding congregations of toads brought on by the monsoon rains. Herpetologists fondly call these congregations of desert amphibians Cluster Amplexus (amplexus is the act of grasping your mate from behind and fertilizing eggs as they are laid). I have witnessed...
For the past several months, WMG's River Restoration Biologist Trevor Hare has been working hard to implement a restoration project in the Cañada del Oro floodplain. The property at the corner of La Cholla Blvd and Overton Road was a chicken farm at one point but was bought by Pima County using Floodprone Land Acquisition Program funding, and WMG was contracted to develop and implement a water harvesting and native plant restoration plan. We’ve excavated over 88,000 square feet of...
Pollinators have swiftly moved in to the Living Lab on our seventh day of Spring. Buzzing around our resident Rio Grande Butterfly Bush, Buddleja sessiliflora, the bees are busy collecting pollen from the clusters of tiny green flowers that have recently come back into bloom. Lisa Shipek, our Executive Director, bought the plant from Desert Survivors several years ago after learning there were only five wild bushes counted for in the Tucson region. What’s more, this species only...
