The Stewardship Program at the Chiricahua Regional Council rests on the principle that people and non-profits collaborating together can have a positive impact on the land. Stewards are created when individuals assemble to work toward tangible goals like trail restoration and erosion control. The CRC has the expertise and experience to develop and manage efforts in conservation stewardship.
Natural habitats benefit from well designed projects that adhere to a core set of values that considers the health of the biological resources first.
We will always advocate for sound management practices by the governmental agencies charged with protecting public land in our region. Using established science as the basis for our work, we seek to engage volunteers interested in having a direct positive involvement with the land.
The goal of stewardship at the CRC is twofold. 1) increase volunteer participation by the local community on public land projects and 2) accomplish real results on both ranchlands and the forest through funded projects.
Currently the CRC is planning to restore the entire South Fork Trail #243. We will facilitate the organizing and financing to partner with organized paid crews of young adults.
Examples of stewardship projects either currently active or under development at the CRC:
Recruiting and training local volunteers for trail maintenance, spring restoration, boundary monitoring, and recreation management.
In an era of climate change that has brought us mega-fires and the severe effects of drought it has become more important than ever that we all become land stewards.
“…that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts. The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, animals, or collectively: the land.” —Aldo Leopold
A lot of effort has been poured into restoring the trails in the Chiricahuas over the past quarter century. But the assaults of weather and fire, coupled with funding limitations imposed by a federal government that has de-prioritized trail maintenance nationally, have resulted in a trail system that struggles to remain safe and accessible. Every…
