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No less than 11 nominees populated the field for the largest category at Saturday’s Environmental Excellence Awards, hosted and sponsored by Arizona Forward, a community services organization that advocates for the sustainability of Arizona’s environment.
In its first-ever nomination, the Yuma East Wetlands emerged from the pool of finalists representing the entire state to take home the Arizona Forward Environmental Excellence Award for Natural Environmental Preservation.
“We were really excited to win,” said Cathy Douglas, Executive Director of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area (YCNHA), who journeyed to Scottsdale for the awards ceremony with Jesus Melendrez, the Wetlands and Facilities Manager. “We love to have that kind of recognition for Yuma and for what we’ve done to help create the Wetlands and the whole riverfront. We were nominated as a community collaborative restoration project.”
No less than 11 nominees populated the field for the largest category at Saturday’s Environmental Excellence Awards, hosted and sponsored by Arizona Forward, a community services organization that advocates for the sustainability of Arizona’s environment.
In its first-ever nomination, the Yuma East Wetlands emerged from the pool of finalists representing the entire state to take home the Arizona Forward Environmental Excellence Award for Natural Environmental Preservation.
“We were really excited to win,” said Cathy Douglas, Executive Director of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area (YCNHA), who journeyed to Scottsdale for the awards ceremony with Jesus Melendrez, the Wetlands and Facilities Manager. “We love to have that kind of recognition for Yuma and for what we’ve done to help create the Wetlands and the whole riverfront. We were nominated as a community collaborative restoration project.”
Part of what makes the East Wetlands special is how many different entities hold stake in the area. The land is split by the Quechan Tribe, the City of Yuma and the Arizona Game and Fish Department, while YCNHA is the managing entity that takes care of the land, the plants, the wildlife and the general upkeep of the Colorado’s shores.
Douglas said she believes the collaborative factor – having so many different entities involved and working together – is what gave them the edge for the award.
“We’re really proud of our contributions toward the success of the site and what it’s meant for the community and for wildlife. It’s a beautiful place. It’s our desert oasis right here in Yuma,” Douglas said.
Due to the collaboration between these different groups, Douglas said the East Wetlands was a complicated project ever since its conception in the early 2000s. The restoration of 380 acres between then and now and the creation of a suitable habitat for hundreds of different bird species, rodents, snakes and reptiles, some of them endangered, points to the ongoing success of the project.
“It’s a success, for sure, as far as wildlife,” Douglas said, and she continued to explain how the expansion of wildlife species in the area has helped with tourism.
“Twenty years ago, before we started building up the riverfront, there wasn’t a lot of interest in coming to Yuma,” she said, “but since the riverfront’s been done, it’s added so much to the community as a whole for our winter visitors, for our residents that are here, and it could help with tourism, ecotourism, birding and wildlife enthusiasts.”
Anyone who wants to see the Arizona Forward award can visit the YCNHA offices on First Street, where you’ll meet the people who work to maintain the Wetlands as a home for endangered animals along the lower Colorado River.
