Heritage Fund

Documentary airs plight of Arizona’s state park system

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Citizens urged to contact legislators and Governor to adequately fund parks. The documentary film, Postcards from the Parks will be shown on the following dates:

Thursday, June 17th at 7:30PM (doors open at 7PM), Orpheum Theater, 15 W Aspen Avenue in Flagstaff (928) 556-1580;

Thursday, July 8th at 7:30PM (doors open at 7pm), Madcap Theaters, 730 S Mill Avenue in Tempe (480) 634-5192; and

Thursday, July 22nd at 7:30PM (doors open at 7pm), Grand Cinemas Crossroads 6, 4811 E Grant ( NE corner of Grant & Swan) in Tucson (520) 327-7067.

After the showing of the film, a community dialogue led by filmmaker Sam Jansen, Arizona Humanities Council Scholar Vincent Murray, and other parks advocates will follow.

Postcards from the Parks was produced by four friends — Susan and Peter Culp, Jocelyn Gibbon and Sam Jansen — to chronicle their experiences visiting Arizona’s 27 state parks.  “In 2009, I was appointed to the Governor’s Sustainable State Parks Task Force,” explains Susan Culp, “and when we began our work, I was surprised to realize how few state parks I had visited.  I wanted to see them all before making any recommendations that could affect their future.” 

What they found — a system in crisis — inspired the four to share the story of Arizona’s state parks with a broader audience.  Over the course of six months, the friends documented the parks’ natural landscapes, recreational amenities, and historical and cultural sites as well as the visible signs of long decades of neglect.  “To be honest, when we started I didn’t know whether each and every state park would strike me as impressive and important,” Jocelyn Gibbon shares. “But each one was really special — and the system as a whole is such a valuable asset for Arizona.”

Through interviews with state leaders, conservation advocates, and parks volunteers as well as relevant research and analysis, Postcards from the Parks highlights the many contributions of the state parks as protectors and preservers of what it means to be an Arizonan. “We hope the movie will be used to generate community action in support of the parks,” says Sam Jansen, adding that the producers have created postcards to accompany the film.  “The hope was that groups could get together, watch the movie, write postcards to state leaders, and then encourage others to do the same.”

After the film’s viewing at these three venues on June 17th in Flagstaff, July 8th in Tempe, and July 22nd in Tucson, a facilitated discussion and question and answer period will be led by Vincent Murray, a historian with Arizona Historical Research, in cooperation with the filmmakers and other parks advocates.  A native Arizonan, Murray spends much of his spare time as a cultural resource advocate, promoting the preservation of the state’s archives, historic buildings, and archaeological sites.

An opportunity for postcard-writing to state leaders will also ensue.

Funding for these events was provided by donations from the Arizona Heritage Alliance, Wells Fargo Bank and the producers of the film. Each film event is free to the public.  Donations to the non-profit, the Arizona Heritage Alliance, as well as to the Postcards from the Parks project for further distribution of the film, will be accepted.

For more information, contact the Arizona Heritage Alliance at mail@azheritage.org, (602) 528-7500 or email postcardsfromtheparks@gmail.com.

Arizona Heritage Alliance Vice-President Wins Grand Prize Recognition as Top Preservation Advocate

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Since 1982, the Arizona Preservation Foundation and Arizona State Historic Preservation Office (a division of Arizona State Parks) have partnered to present the Governor’s Heritage Preservation Awards. These awards recognize people, organizations, and projects that represent outstanding achievements in preserving Arizona’s prehistoric and historic resources.

The Grand Award winner is announced at the annual Arizona Statewide Historic Preservation Conference awards luncheon which took place last Friday, May 14th, in Flagstaff.

Arizona Heritage Alliance’s Vice-President, Jim McPherson, took home the grand prize award as the top Preservation Advocate. McPherson is Assistant Vice-President for Public Affairs for the Flinn Foundation, managing all of the Foundation’s day-to-day public affairs and community relations activities. Also, as a historic preservation advocate, he serves on the Board of the Arizona Preservation Foundation and the Downtown Voices Coalition.

Of California Condors, Pincushion cactus and Churro Sheep

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[Source: Margaret Bohannan, May 2010] – It was a rare privilege to watch as Number 133 was released into the wild above the Vermilion Cliffs, a spectacular valley on the way to the North Rim.  As she soared away effortlessly on the thermals we were awed and thrilled.  She is part of an exciting program aimed at saving and reintroducing California condors into Arizona.

Her story is bittersweet.  She was one of the very first condors returned to the wild in the Grand Canyon area in the ‘sixties.  She was free for years, but then she came down with lead poisoning, the result of eating carrion killed with lead bullets.  She had to be recaptured and treated to save her life.  She recovered, though she was close to death, thanks to expert veterinary care and the oversight of the Peregrine Fund, in particular Chris Parrish and his team.

Number 133’s release was the highpoint of a two-day trip to the Vermilion Cliffs for some seven of us in late April.  The Arizona Heritage Alliance had organized this foray into one of the most magical areas of the state.  We arrived at the Lee’s Ferry Lodge, across the bridge from Lee’s Ferry, to be welcome by our hostess, lodge owner Maggie Sacher.   On our way over the bridge, my husband and I stopped and walked back across the abandoned bridge alongside the new one, to see if there were any condors around, and sure enough two of them were taking advantage of the thermals.

Next morning we were treated to an in-depth briefing on the condors’ history and reintroduction by Chris Parrish, who is in charge of the Peregrine Fund’s Grand Canyon program.  Tremendous effort and money has been deployed and the results are encouraging.  Between California and Arizona, there are now about 180 condors in the wild, with captive breeding programs in three states, for a total of 349 existing birds.  Chicks have been hatched in the wild and are doing well, thanks to the vigilance of Chris and his team.

Chris gave us an in-depth overview of the program, its biggest threat being the lead used in bullets that kill deer and elk.  The Arizona Game & Fish Department has launched a campaign to persuade hunters to use copper bullets, and to remove the gut piles from their kills.  Now there has been about 80% compliance – all voluntary.  However it is the 20% of noncompliance that poses a threat to the condors.  As a result each bird is recaptured about twice a year and tested for lead poisoning.  If found, they are treated either on-site at the Vermilion Cliffs or at treatment centers.

It was after our briefing that we drove to the base of the Vermilion Cliffs to watch Number 133 returned to the wild.  On the way back to the Lodge, Chris took us on a side trip to view the Brady’s pincushion cactus.  There nestled in the chalk shale, just above a chasm by the Colorado, we found them.  One really had to study the ground to spot them.  They are found nowhere else in the world.

Around supper that evening, one of the Condor team turned up, and just happened to mention that there were 12 condors at the bridge.  Suddenly the table was empty and our party had hightailed it to the bridge!

The next morning Maggie Sacher treated us to a tour of her facility, including her own kiva (not made of plastic!).  She has had the foresight to offer a home and a base on her property to the condor team.  In her little museum, she told the story of the churro sheep, which supplied the Indians of the area with a livelihood for centuries.  At one point in the early ‘20’s our benighted government decided that, as churro wool could not be processed by the gins, they should be replaced with merino sheep.  Another suspected reason was that the sheep were eating the cattle’s’ forage.  Government agents slaughtered them in their tens of thousands, leaving the Indians destitute and starving, the carcasses left to rot.   The merino sheep the government eventually gave the Indians didn’t have desert-country savvy and have to be watched all the time, whereas the churro sheep, akin to bighorn sheep, could take care of themselves.  Thus passed away an era and a tradition.  But the story doesn’t end there.

A few years ago some archeologists were exploring a remote area of the reservation when they came upon a small herd of churro in a hidden canyon.  They were gathered up and used for breeding.  There are now about 2,000 of them in existence, and a gin has been found in Texas to process the wool, which when woven into blankets is water-resistant.  (Pendleton markets them.) 

 

Governor Brewer signs budget that eliminates programs, including Heritage Fund

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[Source: Sarah Buduson, KPHO TV] — The Arizona package of budget bills signed by Gov. Jan Brewer on March 18 permanently eliminates more than half a dozen state programs, including a program for uninsured children and a state parks preservation fund.

KidsCare is a program that provides health insurance for children of the working poor.  Under the new budget, the program has been eliminated and the 38,000 children who are currently enrolled will no longer have health insurance, according to Monica Coury, Intergovernmental Relations Assistant Director for AHCCCS.  “Our concern is that would mean more emergency room visits in hospitals and things that might have otherwise been avoided with routine medical care,” she said.  Coury also said eliminating KidsCare means Arizona will be the only state in the country that does not have a program for uninsured children.

The FY10-11 Arizona budget also eliminates the state parks’ share of the Heritage Fund. The voter initiated fund used money from the state lottery to preserve parks, trails and historical sites as well as build ballparks and soccer fields, according to Janice Miano, a member of the Arizona Heritage Alliance, a group that fought to preserve the fund.  “All the things that make Arizona a unique place — where people want to visit and to live — it’s gone,” she said.  [Note: To read he full article and view the video, click here.]