Protecting Land on the West's Outstanding Rivers

With backing from GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy is permanently protecting land along outstanding rivers across the western United States. Your gift supports the core costs of purchasing and conserving land for the benefit of fish, wildlife and people. Your contribution is dedicated to such efforts as preserving salmon and wildlife habitat, and creating new hiking trails, boating access and recreational opportunities.                                         

Thanks to your support, Western Rivers Conservancy:    

• Preserved a crucial stretch of Arizona’s East Verde River 

• Added 117 acres to Cottonwood Canyon State Park along Oregon’s John Day River

Arizona’s East Verde:     

In March, 2019, Western Rivers Conservancy preserved a crucial stretch of Arizona’s East Verde River and secured a recreational gateway to the Mazatzal Wilderness.

Thanks to Western Rivers Conservancy’s supporters, and to funding from the (recently reauthorized!) Land and Water Conservation Fund, we conserved the strategically located Doll Baby Ranch. It is now officially protected within the Tonto National Forest, and the primary access point for more than 250 square miles of public lands is now permanently open to all. These lands include a vast portion of the Mazatzal Wilderness, the Arizona National Scenic Trail and the Verde Wild and Scenic River corridor.

Just outside of Payson and roughly two hours from Phoenix, the Doll Baby Ranch traces a mile of the East Verde River, a lifeline for the diverse fish and wildlife on the northern edge of the Sonoran Desert. The East Verde is the least disturbed arm of the Verde, an outstanding Arizona river that flows into the Salt. Together, these streams sustain some of the most diverse fish and wildlife in the American Southwest.

With the completion of this project, a critical stretch of the East Verde has been conserved, and access to some of Arizona’s greatest outdoor recreation has been guaranteed for good. 

Oregon’s John Day River:

Also in spring 2019, WRC added 117 acres to Cottonwood Canyon State Park in Oregon. In March, we transferred the former Kirkpatrick Homestead to Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, significantly improving the park’s ability to manage a remote boating access site, roughly 10 miles downstream of the park’s main entrance.

Located at the northern end of the John Day Wild and Scenic River corridor, Cottonwood Canyon is Oregon’s second largest state park. It lies adjacent to vast, public BLM wilderness study areas, making it one of Oregon’s wildest state parks, set in sagebrush country with a dramatic river canyon and impressively diverse wildlife. The heart of the park is the John Day River, which hikers, anglers, hunters, boaters and birders visit year-round.

WRC created the park in partnership with OPRD in 2013, and has long sought to add this second property to enhance management. Now that we have, the stage is set for OPRD to make improvements to a crucial boating access site that anglers, hunters and paddlers rely on for trips down the John Day. The project also provides OPRD an important presence in this remote area of the state park.

Conclusion

The Ease Verde and the John Day projects are just some of our recent successes. WRC currently has over two dozen active projects in six states. With the support of GlobalGiving donors, Western Rivers Conservancy is expanding our efforts to protect riverlands for fish, wildlife and people.

We love to hear from our supporters. Please contact Anne Tattam at 503-241-0151, ext. 219 (or atattam@westernrivers.org) for further information. Thank you.

• Western Rivers Conservancy: Project Photos (PDF)