One of the most significant ways we can support and show reciprocity to our generous Mother Earth is through our relationship with water. If you support and protect Water, you support All of Life.
By becoming familiar with your local watershed and the path that water follows, you come to know all the beings of nature that are connected by the water’s touch.
Right now, through a non-profit organization that we work with, The Mother Earth Restoration Trust, we have the opportunity to help protect our watershed here in Sedona and the greater Verde Valley.
The Verde River and Verde Valley (verde = green in Spanish) get their names from the green ribbons of life sustained by the flowing water in the high desert. These lands and waters have gifted us and so many with their nurturing and life force, and helped us to remember our sacred place in nature. Can you help us protect these sacred waters?
We feel this is extremely important and invite you to contribute a tax-deductible donation if you feel called. Every dollar helps, and there is a deadline approaching, April 30, to raise what is needed for the down payment to steward this land which includes the 7 springs that feed the Verde River.
More info and link to contribute below....
By becoming familiar with your local watershed and the path that water follows, you come to know all the beings of nature that are connected by the water’s touch.
Right now, through a non-profit organization that we work with, The Mother Earth Restoration Trust, we have the opportunity to help protect our watershed here in Sedona and the greater Verde Valley.
The Verde River and Verde Valley (verde = green in Spanish) get their names from the green ribbons of life sustained by the flowing water in the high desert. These lands and waters have gifted us and so many with their nurturing and life force, and helped us to remember our sacred place in nature. Can you help us protect these sacred waters?
We feel this is extremely important and invite you to contribute a tax-deductible donation if you feel called. Every dollar helps, and there is a deadline approaching, April 30, to raise what is needed for the down payment to steward this land which includes the 7 springs that feed the Verde River.
More info and link to contribute below....
The Mother Earth Restoration Trust
100% proceeds donated to The Mother Earth Restoration Trust to Protect the River
PO BOX 1345 Durango, CO 81302 EIN: 47-3799205 The Mother Earth Restoration Trust is tax exempt under Section 501(C)(3) of the IRS code. All contributions are tax deductible per U.S. code using the tax ID number 47-3799205 Contact: The Mother Earth Restoration Trust, PO Box 1345, Durango, CO 81302 |
The MERT (The Mother Earth Restoration Trust) is devoted to raising awareness of our individual and collective sacred responsibility in Nature by bridging a path to Humanity that She (the Mother) is giving to all Her Children.
Simply put, this is a path of remembrances, so little by little all Her Children can walk upon this path in their own ways of understanding, embracing all that feels correct for each individual, while incorporating this new awareness into the context of what and how they are living. It is the Mother's prayer that this reawakening consecrates All of Life once again. She says, "consciousness is Humanity's only salvation." |
Rescuing the Life of the Verde River
In February 2021, a tract of land which holds great historical significance was presented to The Mother Earth Restoration Trust (The MERT) for consideration in preserving an invaluable source of water. In March 2021, through consultations with The Mother Earth carried out in the Heart of the World by Elders of the Four Peoples of the Earth, it was immediately seen that the life of the river is under threat and her life in danger. As all matters pertaining to Mother Earth Restoration, consultations further showed that She, The Mother Herself, is who is sending this “opportunity” as a request to act on Her behalf.
Introduction to Land Recovery Process: Protecting the Headwaters of the Verde River is crucial in restoring and protecting an area in the Southwestern United States of critical Bio-Cultural value for all the Americas, beginning with the life of the river. The tract of land in mention is home to the 7 springs that constitute the Verde River’s birth.
The MERT is currently in the process of securing the 42.74 acres land tract and has entered into a purchase agreement that in its initial phase has until April 30th to procure 50% ($475,000) of the total purchase price of $950,000. We have raised $241,733.83 for the Hidden Verde Headwaters Land Recovery. Therefore, we still have $247,967.17 remaining to continue to raise by May 4th.
Once the land recovery is achieved, MERT will bring to full consultation the long-term healing and restoring process, that under the guidance of the Mother, is to unfold henceforth with many others in common unity and purpose.
Introduction to Land Recovery Process: Protecting the Headwaters of the Verde River is crucial in restoring and protecting an area in the Southwestern United States of critical Bio-Cultural value for all the Americas, beginning with the life of the river. The tract of land in mention is home to the 7 springs that constitute the Verde River’s birth.
The MERT is currently in the process of securing the 42.74 acres land tract and has entered into a purchase agreement that in its initial phase has until April 30th to procure 50% ($475,000) of the total purchase price of $950,000. We have raised $241,733.83 for the Hidden Verde Headwaters Land Recovery. Therefore, we still have $247,967.17 remaining to continue to raise by May 4th.
Once the land recovery is achieved, MERT will bring to full consultation the long-term healing and restoring process, that under the guidance of the Mother, is to unfold henceforth with many others in common unity and purpose.
About the Verde River
ANIMALS
A major component of the Colorado River Basin, the Verde River is a critical flyway for migratory birds. The Verde supports the largest number of bald eagle breeding areas of any river in the state and is one of only three rivers in Arizona with populations of river otter. Species such as the federally endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and the yellow-billed cuckoo depend on the river’s woody riparian forests of cottonwood, willow and ash for their tenuous survival.
The Verde River supports a high density of breeding birds; over 200 resident and neo-tropical migratory bird species have been recorded. Rare species of reptiles and amphibians, and many species of native fish.
The Verde is also home to bobcat, grey fox, coyote, jackrabbit, javelina and mountain lion. One animal in particular – the beaver – is busy transforming the middle Verde into a healthy river home for river otter, native fish and other creatures.
PLANTS
Sections of the Verde River are contiguous with Prescott and Coconino national forests, Tuzigoot National Monument and the U.S. Forest Service’s Verde Valley Botanical Area. Among rare plants found here are Verde Valley sage, Ripley wild buckwheat and Arizona cliff rose. More common plants along the river are cottonwoods, willows, mesquite, crucifix thorn and grey thorn.
VERDE RIVER FACTS
The Verde River nourishes one of the last Fremont cottonwood/Goodding willow gallery forests in Arizona. There are only 20 in the entire world. While most Southwestern rivers begin in mountainous regions with more precipitation than the lowlands below, the Verde begins in a broad alluvial basin in the Big Chino Valley.
Competing water rights and rapid population growth in the Prescott metropolitan area and other nearby parts of Yavapai County is a large concern as the increased pumping in Big and Little Chino valleys has greatly reduced the base flow in the Verde River. The river runs 185 miles from central Arizona to the Phoenix metropolitan area, supplying water for drinking, and agriculture for more than 4 million people.
The Verde supports extensive woody riparian and wetland vegetation and provides critical habitat for a diversity of native aquatic and riparian-dependent species.
Historically the Verde River supported 16 native fish species; only 10 remain. These include the federally endangered razorback sucker and Colorado pikeminnow, as well as the threatened spikedace.
Three sensitive riparian herpetofauna species survive in the watershed: the northern Mexican gartersnake, the narrow headed gartersnake, and the lowland leopard frog.
Human History
The Verde River is significant for its history, cultural and biological values, recreational opportunities, and scenery. In the Verde Valley, cliff ruins and pueblos at Tuzigoot and Montezuma Castle National
Monuments provide evidence of the Sinagua culture dating from A.D. 1000. Earlier cultures may have lived in the valley as much as 10,000 years ago. As in other parts of the Southwest, an extensive drought in the late 1200s probably contributed to abandonment of these sites. Spanish missionaries visited the area in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, but did not attempt to settle there. European settlement began in the 1860s when gold was discovered near Prescott in 1863.
A major component of the Colorado River Basin, the Verde River is a critical flyway for migratory birds. The Verde supports the largest number of bald eagle breeding areas of any river in the state and is one of only three rivers in Arizona with populations of river otter. Species such as the federally endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and the yellow-billed cuckoo depend on the river’s woody riparian forests of cottonwood, willow and ash for their tenuous survival.
The Verde River supports a high density of breeding birds; over 200 resident and neo-tropical migratory bird species have been recorded. Rare species of reptiles and amphibians, and many species of native fish.
The Verde is also home to bobcat, grey fox, coyote, jackrabbit, javelina and mountain lion. One animal in particular – the beaver – is busy transforming the middle Verde into a healthy river home for river otter, native fish and other creatures.
PLANTS
Sections of the Verde River are contiguous with Prescott and Coconino national forests, Tuzigoot National Monument and the U.S. Forest Service’s Verde Valley Botanical Area. Among rare plants found here are Verde Valley sage, Ripley wild buckwheat and Arizona cliff rose. More common plants along the river are cottonwoods, willows, mesquite, crucifix thorn and grey thorn.
VERDE RIVER FACTS
The Verde River nourishes one of the last Fremont cottonwood/Goodding willow gallery forests in Arizona. There are only 20 in the entire world. While most Southwestern rivers begin in mountainous regions with more precipitation than the lowlands below, the Verde begins in a broad alluvial basin in the Big Chino Valley.
Competing water rights and rapid population growth in the Prescott metropolitan area and other nearby parts of Yavapai County is a large concern as the increased pumping in Big and Little Chino valleys has greatly reduced the base flow in the Verde River. The river runs 185 miles from central Arizona to the Phoenix metropolitan area, supplying water for drinking, and agriculture for more than 4 million people.
The Verde supports extensive woody riparian and wetland vegetation and provides critical habitat for a diversity of native aquatic and riparian-dependent species.
Historically the Verde River supported 16 native fish species; only 10 remain. These include the federally endangered razorback sucker and Colorado pikeminnow, as well as the threatened spikedace.
Three sensitive riparian herpetofauna species survive in the watershed: the northern Mexican gartersnake, the narrow headed gartersnake, and the lowland leopard frog.
Human History
The Verde River is significant for its history, cultural and biological values, recreational opportunities, and scenery. In the Verde Valley, cliff ruins and pueblos at Tuzigoot and Montezuma Castle National
Monuments provide evidence of the Sinagua culture dating from A.D. 1000. Earlier cultures may have lived in the valley as much as 10,000 years ago. As in other parts of the Southwest, an extensive drought in the late 1200s probably contributed to abandonment of these sites. Spanish missionaries visited the area in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, but did not attempt to settle there. European settlement began in the 1860s when gold was discovered near Prescott in 1863.