Accomplishments

In the eight years since the organization of Verde Valley Land Preservation, the Board of Directors has worked with planning directors, state agencies, federal agencies, special interest organizations and the public who all have an interest in the future of the Verde Valley and its environment. VVLP has held forums and public meetings, partnered with others to inform and gather feedback from all stakeholders. These are some of our accomplishments to date:

Community Outreach Project

The Community Outreach Project, a joint undertaking of Verde Valley Land Preservation and the Friends of the Verde River Greenway has completed its first year. The Project Director, Steve Estes, was hired under a Walton Family Foundation grant and has filed the first major report detailing achievements related to the various expected outcomes(also called "deliverables")with the funding entity.

The intent of this project is to engage private land managers in conservation conversations that will result in activities on some properties that either improve riverside habitat, or enhance the existence of open space in the Verde Valley - or both. In order to achieve these ends, Estes has devised a strategy that uses input from marketing and environmental consultants.

The project envisions open space and habitat improvement activities on private lands that enhance and build upon like actions occurring on public lands. Estes, therefore, engages public and private land managers to seek both separate and collaborative solutions to issues of healthy river systems and open space preservation. Estes has reported notable progress toward achieving the expected deliverables.

The Yavapai County Verde Valley Regional Land Use Plan

VVLP played a major role in the regional planning process in 2006-07 and brought our Open Space Map to be included in the document. Our focus was in the open space section of the plan and VVLP was assigned a leadership role in carrying out the open space recommendations. The plan is to:

• Achieve protection of carefully identified parcels based on certified criteria
• Manage conservation easements and other qualifying parcels
• Maintain an active map of the prioritized open space parcels in the Verde Valley

More on VVRLU Plan.

One of the first tasks VVLP completed was to gather the municipal and county planners, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Arizona Land Department and several private planners and architects to bring all their information to the table for a shared map of current and contemplated open space in the Verde Valley. The map that resulted from this exercise has become the standard map now used for Verde Valley regional land planning.

More on Existing Conditions.

The Overlay Project

With the help of a Yavapai Foundation Grant, VVLP has completed a new format to view the natural resources of the Verde Valley. It was developed by the Arizona State Parks planning department from an outline developed by VVLP. The Overlay project uses Google Earth overlay maps to illustrate current and historical conditions on the ground and through the expert analysis of the federal and state agencies provides existing data encompassed in overlays of, for instance, wildlife corridors, riparian areas, agricultural lands, existing trails, public and private ownership of parcels and cultural and historic areas. The goal is to use this information to prioritize possible acquisitions for open space and to help local government and NGO's plan better as communities grow.

More on Overlay Project.

Community Forums & Public Participation Meetings

VVLP has held the following meetings over the initial 8 years of operation examining similar organizations to study their successes:

• Sierra Business Council - a presentation of successful stories by the Sierra Business Council of California who has preserved many parcels of land along the Sierra Nevada foothills. They also have a great fund raising plan that assesses $1 on each night in a hotel or motel and each meal at local restaurants in Truckee, California.
  
  
• Trust for Public Lands - has a well funded program for Arizona partnerships in land acquisition.
  
  
• The Lincoln Institute's film "Making Sense of Place" was the cornerstone of another forum. It gave food for thought on what has happened to the Phoenix area with its rampant growth and loss of identity. The workshop section of the forum elicited ideas on how the Verde Valley can learn from those mistakes and think more carefully about what we value.
  
  
• Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan - An excellent example of a land use and conservation plan operating in Pima County, Arizona. The officials from Pima County gave a seminar on their emerging plan with a program for acquisition and how it will be paid for. The local support organization Coalition For Sonoran Desert Protection representative gave details on how their group lends constant support for The Plan.

VVLP has co-sponsored the following public forums on similar interests:

• Prescott National Forest Landscape Vision Workshop. It's purpose is to gain understanding of community values so that Prescott National Forest staff and Verde Valley citizens can work together to determine the direction of future Forest planning and find opportunities to contribute the achieving a community vision.
  
  
• National Park Service presentation of the Tavasi Marsh Restoration Management Plan
  
  
• The East Mingus Land Exchange Task Force was facilitated by VVLP in exploring possible land exchanges between the Prescott National Forest and owners of visible land on Mingus Mountain. This was to protect the local viewsheds. This task force represented all jurisdictions and unincorporated areas of the Verde Valley, deliberated for six months, and ended in six recommendations. No exchanges have resulted.