July 7, 2020 | COTTONWOOD – The Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition was recently awarded a $102,000 trail building grant from the Catena Foundation for Phase 2 of the Blowout Wash Trail System.

The Blowout Wash Trail System is a three-year construction project within the Verde Ranger District of the Prescott National Forest. It’s a 27-mile stacked, loop system to facilitate recreational opportunities, both close-in and farther-out, located on the east slope of Mingus Mountain adjacent to the communities of Cottonwood, Clarkdale and Jerome.

According to VVCC President Marty Glinsky, the project’s second-phase construction will build nine miles of loop trails utilizing Arizona Conservation Corps youth crews, volunteers and Forest Service personnel.

June 29, 2020 | This will be updated regularly by Conservation Legacy staff with changes or further announcements. Last updated 6/29/20.

The safety of our participants, staff, and partners is our utmost priority. We have activated an Incident Response Team dedicated to addressing the impact of COVID-19 on our organization.

Below you will find updates regarding Conservation Legacy’s response to the emerging concerns related to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

April 13, 2020 | Throughout 2019 and continuing into 2020, the Conservation Legacy Communications Team has been analyzing our brand, visual identity, messaging and communication strategies. It has taken the effort of our entire staff to pull together a comprehensive body of research, culminating with our 2020-2022 Strategic Plan. With that, we have refreshed our Conservation Legacy logo and program visual identities.

October 18, 2019 | Earlier this summer, the Woodbury Fire consumed 123,000 acres of National Forest land and 30 miles of the Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZT) in the Superstition Mountains. A crew of Arizona Trail Association staff and stewards recently completed a trail conditions assessment between Rogers Trough Trailhead and Roosevelt Lake. They found the trail to be passable but very hard to follow, numerous blowouts from erosion events, downed trees, and new growth in the middle of the trail tread.

October 10, 2019 | On Sunday, July 21, the Museum Fire broke out in the Dry Lake Hills area above Flagstaff. The fire ultimately charred 1,961 acres, including a significant portion of the Spruce Avenue Watershed, much of it severely or moderately burned, which means that the soil is now “fried” and will act like glass and shed water rapidly, a condition known as “hydrophobic soils” like we saw after the Schultz Fire. (Read more on page 10 of report)

October 8, 2019 | For the fifth consecutive year, Arizona Conservation Corps (AZCC) members spent the summer months at the Flagstaff Area National Monuments helping Flagstaff Area National Monuments staff with ongoing projects, and learning valuable skills. For about three months this past summer, five AZCC members consisting of indigenous young adults, assisted NPS Archeologists with stabilizing and preserving important archeological sites. The Flagstaff Area National Monuments are the ancestral lands of the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, and 10 additional tribes, so it is important to engage and educate indigenous youth, as well as the public, about the importance of these places.

January 31, 2018 | AZ Conservation Corps (AZCC) members have been thinning trees at The Aboretum at Flagstaff over the winter. In a synergistic collaboration with Southwest Experimental Garden Array (SEGA), AZCC felling teams have been getting valuable training experience—and helping make space for more SEGA research.

October 13th 2017 | There are some new residents living near Sonoita, thanks to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Crews released 94 black-tailed prairie dogs at Pima County's Sands Ranch on Friday, Oct. 13. This is the first time this has been done since 2010 and the first ever done outside of the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, which has a population of more than 200 prairie dogs.