Thanks to our volunteer cleanup efforts since 2019, there have been 3,105 pounds of trash removed from the watershed. Litter is not only an eye-sore, but it contributes to habitat and water quality degradation.
Over the course of a year, we have educated over 1000 people and recruited over 240 volunteers, totaling 1,080 volunteer hours. We also recruited many volunteers new to our organization and worked with many groups unfamiliar with the issues our watershed and national forest face. We also worked to engage visitors and residents alike by attending Farmers Markets, NAU STEM night, hosting educational hikes, and much more! We also spent the summer regularly monitoring water quality in upper Oak Creek and we analyzed data from previous years.
This work was supported in part from The National Forest Foundation, the City of Sedona, the Arizona Community Foundation of Sedona, and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce. We also partnered with REI Co-Op, Dark Sky Brewery, and the U.S. Forest Service, which allowed our efforts to have a more significant impact on the area that we work. We are so grateful for our supporters and volunteers.