Heritage Fund

Esperanza school to sell commemorative bricks for its garden

by

[Source: Coty Dolores Miranda, AZ Republic] – When Kyrene de la Esperanza fifth-grade teacher Sylvia Rios goes through the elementary school’s 2-year-old Discovery Garden, it’s a walk down memory lane. Lining the meandering pea-gravel path are engraved bricks honoring some of the students she has taught the past 14 years. Her two daughters – Gabriella, who attended Esperanza, and Liliana, a first-grader – share her pride in the garden and the engraved bricks that were first installed last year.

“As a teacher, it’s exciting for me to walk through and see the engraved bricks of former or current Esperanza families and staff members,” she said. “I’ve witnessed students in the garden and the first thing they look at are the bricks.”

In 2006, Esperanza applied to the Arizona Game and Fish Department for a $10,000 Heritage Fund grant, funded by Lottery ticket sales. The school received it in May 2007. The following spring, after construction of three new Esperanza classrooms, the Discovery Garden began taking shape with the help of parents, staff and community volunteers as well as $5,000 in private donations and another $10,000 of in-kind donations for plantings and landscaping.

Though other Ahwatukee elementary schools, such as Kyrene de las Lomas and Kyrene de los Cerritos, also have gardens, Esperanza’s is unusual with its 25-foot pond and pump to recycle water in a free-falling stream over rocks – a feature made possible with the assistance of Paul Holderman, Pond Gnome founder and creator of the Phoenix Zoo koi pond [to read the full article, click here].

Heritage Fund gives head start to Chiricahua leopard frogs

by

[Source: AZ Game & Fish News Media, 2-23-2011] – Celebrating 20 years of conserving Arizona’s wildlife

One of the most beneficial sources of funding for Arizona’s wildlife and outdoor recreationists is the Heritage Fund. Two decades ago, Arizonans overwhelmingly approved the creation of the fund, which, among other things, directs money from lottery ticket sales to the Arizona Game and Fish Department to invest in conservation efforts like educating children about wildlife, acquiring critical wildlife habitats for sensitive species, and protecting and recovering many of the state’s imperiled wildlife.
  
One sensitive species benefiting from the Heritage Fund is the Chiricahua leopard frog.  This medium-sized frog was once abundant throughout the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. It has a green-brown skin color with numerous dark spots on its back, thus its name “leopard frog.”

Reductions in the frogs’ distribution the past few decades prompted their listing as federally threatened in 2002 under the Endangered Species Act. Reasons for declines of wildlife species are not always clear, and several interacting factors are often at play. Biologists generally agree that predation by introduced species, especially crayfish, American bullfrogs and sport fishes, and chytridiomycosis, a fungal skin disease that is killing frogs and toads around the globe, are the leading causes. Other factors have also contributed to their decline, including degradation and loss of wetlands, recent catastrophic wildfires, drought and contaminants [to read the full article, click here].

How to Save a Park

by

[Source: Bestsy Bruner, azdailysun.com]

[…]

Events this year have stood testament to how much our mountain town still loves its history and culture, and the arts that arise from these inspirations.

January began with heartfelt efforts to save Riordan Mansion State Historic Park (RMSHP) from possible closure because of shortfalls in the state budget. Riordan was to be in the first in a phased series of closures mandated Jan. 15 by the Arizona State Parks Board.

The community was united in a desire to save the mansion and park from closure because of its importance as the home of the prominent Riordan family, its unique American Arts and Crafts design, and its place as the only house in the nation where the Gustav Stickley furniture is original to the home.

Above all, the mansion serves as a reminder of Flagstaff’s humble days and future ambition, symbolized by the brothers Tim and Michael Riordan, who arrived here from Chicago in the mid-1800s. They married, and with their wives and children, made their two adjoining homes alive with the spirit and warmth of the arts and culture.

The grassroots Riordan Action network (RAN), began by volunteers at the mansion, stepped in to lead the battle to raise funds and other support to keep the doors open on this special window into history.

It worked.

Today, RAN has collected more than $55,000 in donations and fundraising events to help fund the running of the park, especially in the slower visitation winter months when more money will need to be spent to run the park than is coming in from park fees and gift shop sales.

A March vote by the Arizona State Parks Board delayed the closing of the park and laid the groundwork for an agreement between Arizona State Parks and the Arizona Historical Society to allow AHS to operation the mansion and park for three years, with the ability to continue for two more three-year terms.

In the fall, the Flagstaff Community Foundation awarded a grant to assist with the funding of RMSHP educational programs for local school youth.

With staff reductions and a reduction in hours open, Riordan never really closed and continues to welcome visitors each week Thursday through Monday.

“I would add an observation about the precariousness of local history as we go forward,” commented Leslie Roe, director of Pioneer History Museum, and now, Riordan Mansion. “Both Riordan and Pioneer museum came very close to closing in 2010. It was largely through incredible effort and sacrifice of local volunteers and staff that they both remain open.”

[…]

Betsey Bruner can be reached at bbruner@azdailysun.com or 556-2255.