1/11/15: Service Day 1
We were very excited to start our first service day after spending our free day at the Grand Canyon!
We first met Sara, the Field Supervisor at the Friends of Verde Greenway, at her office on Main St. We discussed the four target invasive plant species that the organization is currently working to eradicate: Tamarisk, Russian Olive, Arundo, and Tree of Heaven. These plants were introduced to the area by people who believed them to be useful for other purposes such as beautification and erosion control. Fast forward 50 years, we find out that they are destroying everything. For example, the Tamarisk, also known as the Salt Cedar, leaks salt into the soil, killing other native plants in the vicinity (so rude).
We set off toward the Verde River to clean up the stretch of land between the Tuzigoot Bridge and the 10th street bridge. We split up into 2 groups, starting at different ends with high hopes to meet in the middle. Everything went wrong. Well, not everything, just the part where we were hoping to meet up in the middle of the wilderness.
Turns out, our group is not only not the best at directions in the wild, but cell phone service isn’t the most reliable. Regardless, we charged forward into the wilderness with trash bags the size of small children on our backs.
Some interesting items we found include: a single croc, a diaper, clothing, toilet paper, a traffic cone, a chair, and many more items. Regardless of initial navigation troubles, both groups were able to meet up and dispose of the collected items properly.
Many of us thought today was especially rewarding as we had an opportunity to explore the outdoors, an opportunity many of us do not have in our day-to-day schedules. We’re looking forward to the rest of the week!
1/12/15: Service Day 2
Our service site, the Friends of Verde River Greenway, has been absolutely amazing in ensuring a well-rounded week of service and education. We started our morning at the Tuzigoot National Monument to learn about the history of the area. Our guide, Mary, was wonderful. She informed us about the early settlers, history of the ruins, environmental importance of the marshes in the area, and more. Back in Missouri, we’re accustomed to the same kinds of ecosystems, we’ve learned that the Verde Valley houses many different kinds in very close proximity.
Since our service spanned the south side of the river the previous day, we completed our trash pick up along the north side. Amazingly, both groups found each other at a previously determined rendezvous point (we learned from yesterday). We found much more trash and amazing environmental sites along the trek. At one moment we would be making our way through a desert environment, the next a lush green forest. We also made extra effort to pay attention to the plants that were passing by thanks to identification cards that Sara gave us.
Throughout the clean up process it was easy to get discouraged by the never-ending trek or the large amounts of trash; however, at the end, being able to see the surprisingly large amounts of trash we were able to collect was amazing.
1/13/15: Service Day 3
Early in the morning we met up with Sara and Laura of the Friends of Verde River Greenway at the Dead Horse Ranch State Park. Here, we met with park rangers Dusty and Justin. Again, we are so grateful for Sara and her work in making sure we had not only a diverse but educational experience this week. They provided insight and education on governmental initiatives pertaining to conservation in the area as well as history of the park itself.
We then travelled to an area along the Verde River to eradicate a particularly ornery patch of Tree of Heaven. We passed this area the previous day while cleaning up trash! These plants are particularly nasty because they suck up all the water from nearby plants and if you try to remove them they will grow back with 5 times the tenacity and multitude. The Tree of Heaven is no angel. They must be treated with herbicide and/or completely uprooted and removed.
Our group, using nothing but our hands, were tasked with pulling the smaller variety of the Tree of Heaven plants in the area. Of course, members of our group were nothing but ambitious. We ended up working together to uproot entire trees. Needless to say, those plants aren’t growing back anytime soon.
Today was especially fun as we were altogether as a group. Having the opportunity to not only learn but execute invasive species removal as a team was memorable. Even though the day was tiring and physically demanding, we were energized by each other’s high spirits and the piles of Tree of Heaven remains we were creating!
1/14/15: Service Day 4
We woke up bright and early in order to meet up Sara and a crew of AmeriCorps Conversation Corps volunteers that camping in the back country, working to remove Tamarisk in the area. After trekking into the wilderness and traversing an ice cold river up to our thighs (only one member fell in completely) we split up into smaller groups to work with different crew members individually.
There is a lot of teamwork involved in removing large Tamarisk infestations from the riparian habitat. First, a group will prepare and clean up the area, exposing the primary trunk and roots of the plant. Second, a group will work with chainsaws (utilized by the crew member, not us) to cut down the plant. Third, an assembly line would form to transport the carcass of the invader up the wall of the canyon. The reason we had to carry the plants to higher elevation is that the Tamarisk plant can reproduce vegetatively. Meaning, even if a single branch got wet, it could form an entire Tamarisk spawn. We learned that from Sara! Fourth and finally, herbicide is sprayed on the exposed roots of the intruder. Keep in mind, these tamarisk colonies were literally the size of a small village.
Today was a rewarding day and a first of many kinds. Not many of us have worked around chainsaws before and nearly none of us have crossed a river before either. One would think an ice cold river would be enough to dampen one’s spirits but thinking of the volunteers who did this day in and out, we could be nothing but humbled and grateful for the opportunity.
Having the chance to speak with and learn from the volunteer’s experience was incredibly insightful. Many of us are in our last year of education and we saw this week and these volunteers as important reminders of chasing our own dreams and goals.
1/15/15: Service Day 5
We were pretty bummed Friday was our last day of service, but it was a great one!
We spent the morning restoring trails in Dead Horse Ranch State Park. The trail we were working on was pretty thin and overgrown with branches, making it pretty difficult for people to walk or bike through. We used a variety of different tools to widen and level the trail to make it safer for everyone, including (at one point) our feet! (Well, maybe that was just Katie and Miranda.)
One of the hardest parts of the morning was removing a long piece of wood from the trail. It was placed there to prevent erosion, but instead of doing its job, it just created an unexpected step in the trail. Rinko and Maddie spent a while trying to dig it out with shovels, but it was longer than they thought it was, so they used the shovels to cut the wood out on the trail and smoothed the area out with dirt.
After a few hours of that, we went to the Friends of Verde River Greenway office for a surprise: a pizza lunch! We really enjoyed hearing the stories of everyone in the office; we'd gotten the chance to talk with Sara a lot throughout the week but not Anna or Laurie. It was pretty interesting how they got to work for the Friends of Verde River Greenway, especially to those of us graduating / still trying to figure out what we want to do after graduation. And we got some free swag to show our love of the nonprofit!
We had such an awesome week working with Sara and the Friends of Verde River Greenway and learned a ton about the environment. We can't wait to bring it home!
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