| Fast Facts |
location
between Prescott and Flagstaff, including Sedona
ecoregion
Apache Highlands
project pize
6,600 square miles
preserves
Hartwell Canyon
public lands
Prescott and Coconino national forests, Dead Horse Ranch State Park, Verde River Greenway, Tuzigoot National Monument, Montezuma’s Castle National Monument, Red Rock State Park
partners
U.S. Forest Service, Arizona State Parks, Verde River Citizens Alliance, Verde Water Association, Arizona Game and Fish Department, local landowners, Central Arizona Land Trust
conservancy initiatives
Freshwater, Global Climate Change
natural events
birthing of the pronghorn, May–June; wildflowers and cactus bloom, May–June; bald eagles breed, December | |
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| With more people moving into this area of desert and grassland that once supported only a few, water is the pivotal issue for the Verde watershed. |
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Cottonwoods line the Verde River, with the Black Hills in the distance.
© George H. Huey |
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South of the Grand Canyon, off the edge of the pine-forested Mogollon Rim, the Verde River rises in a valley of tawny grass—seven springs watering an arid land. The clear waters gather and flow southward all year round, through the grasslands, through the red-rock desert, to the Verde’s confluence with the Salt River 140 miles away.
In this dry region of desert and grassland, life follows the tendrils of water, precious and sacred. The banks, canyons and valleys of the Verde and its tributaries are awash in petroglyphs, pueblos and other signs of aboriginal cultures. At Montezuma’s Well, the Sinagua peoples irrigated their crops more than 800 years ago. Some scholars believe that the well-watered Verde watershed was the scene of inter-tribal celebrations. |
Pronghorn antelope.
© George D. Lepp/Corbis |
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People today are still drawn to the balm of the Verde landscape. Near Sedona, where some see only strange rock formations and cliffs, others come to experience energy vortexes and a landscape of spiritual healing. Here New Age meets Old West, the latter in the form of ranchers who, like countless generations before them, gravitated to the watercourses for life and livelihood. | |
Some of the largest individual pronghorn antelope in Arizona live in healthy bands in the upper Verde grasslands, but their wide-open range is becoming increasingly broken by roads and residential sub-divisions as the area’s human population swells. Likewise, new development overtaps the watershed’s groundwater supply, which in turn decreases surface flow in the Verde itself. At stake are several native desert fishes like the spikedace and razorback sucker—species that have been decimated elsewhere in the Southwest. In an effort to engage the community in water resource planning, The Nature Conservancy is working with Yavapai County planners to launch a county purchase of development rights program, which aims to leave grassland habitat unbroken and more water in ground and stream.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Arizona. |
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| Conservation Profile |
targets
Big Chino Valley grasslands, Verde River, tributaries, cottonwood-willow forests, pronghorn antelope, river otter, southwestern willow flycatcher, spikedace, razorback sucker
stresses
habitat loss and fragmentation to rural subdivision and flood-control projects, groundwater pumping, surface water diversions, invasive plants and animals
strategies
encourage conservation management of public and private land, acquire land, secure conservation easements, protect water quantity, engage community, inform policy and management through scientific data
results
1,400 acres protected to date; launched Verde River Citizens Alliance | | | | |
