South Sound • Entered by Mary Taylor Goforth on April 5, 2023
San Pedro River CleanUp – AZ
April 1, 2023 – April 1, 2023
Participants and Hours
| Pre Planning hours | 0 |
| Post Admin hours | 0 |
| Activity Hours | 4.5 |
| Participants | 1 |
| Total Hours | 4.5 |
Key Issue: Public Lands Health & Protection
Activity Type: Stewardship (monitoring, sampling, planting, etc.)
Key Partners: Sierra Club, Tucson Borderlands, Erick Mazza
Landscape/area: San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area
Short Description of Activity
Spring cleanup of the river corridor directly north of the US-Mexican border wall. Pulling out trash, clothing, miscellaneous items strewn throughout the riparian area frequented by the border patrol and migrants moving illegally into the U.S.
After carpooling to the collection site, the group of approximately 25 people hiked a half mile or so to the collection point/river. It was a lovely warm day and everyone worked for almost two hours gathering trash, tires, and clothing from the river and its banks. The collected trash filled the back of a pickup truck (see photo).
Reflection/Evaluation
I believe the purpose of the event was to educate and include as many people as possible in the plight of our federal lands bordering the border wall while clearing the area of debris. Erick Mazza, from the Sierra Club, spoke eloquently and passionately about the environmental destruction and impacts to wildlife that the wall was having and would continue to have into the future. He had an equally passionate audience who worked alongside each other in caring for the land and each other. Everyone seemed to appreciate what we were doing and were happy to make a small difference while becoming more informed. It was great to meet Erick and Kate Scott for the first time and arrange to make contact with the Sierra Club Borderlands person in New Mexico. (As I plan on living there later this year!)
Photos/Uploads
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Photo Captions
1. Erick Mazza and Kate Scott walk to the wall with group.
2. Group reaches the wall, near Sierra Vista, AZ.
3. Group enjoys the San Pedro river corridor while picking up trash.
4. Results!! bags of trash to be loaded into the Sky Island Alliance truck and removed