FRIENDS OF CAVE CREEK CANYON
What we are
We are a non-profit 503(c)(3) organization, chartered in 2011. All contributions to the FOCCC are tax deductible. We are an all volunteer organization and all donations and membership fees received are used to advance the mission of FOCCC.
Who we are
We are individuals, families, and businesses. We are mostly from the Rodeo,NM, and Portal, AZ, area, but have members from Lordsburg, San Simon, Douglas and Sierra Vista.
Our mission
To inspire appreciation and understanding of the beauty, biodiversity and legacy of Cave Creek Canyon.
What we do
We work closely with Coronado National Forest to support their work and mission in Southeast Arizona.
We seek to provide educational opportunities for area residents, visitors, school groups, scientific researchers and others who cherish the special qualities of our region.
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Reed Peters - Our First President
OFFICERS
President: Reed Peters Vice President: Sheri Ashley
Secretary/Treasurer: Morgan Jackson Communications Coordinator: Peg Abbott
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Reed Peters Sheri Ashley
Morgan Jackson Peg Abbott
Bruce Thompson Bob Ashley
Wynne Brown John Yerger
Helen Snyder
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Join the FRIENDS OF CAVE CREEK CANYON
We welcome members and volunteers, near and far!
Mountain Kingsnake (student): $10.00
Magnificent Hummingbird (local resident): $15.00
(Portal/Rodeo/Douglas/Animas/San Simon & nearby communities) Coatimundi (supporting member): $35.00
Elegant Trogon (conservator): $50.00
South Fork (benefactor): $100.00
Special Opportunities and thanks to our "SUSTAINERS CIRCLE" members:
Silver: $250.00
Gold: $500.00
Platinum: $1000.00 and higher
Please make checks or money orders payable to Friends of Cave Creek Canyon and mail to: Friends of Cave Creek Canyon P.O. Box 16126 Portal, AZ 85632.
Members will be sent notification of projects, events, and volunteer opportunities.
Track us now on FACEBOOK, Friends of Cave Creek Canyon (FOCCC)
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2012 PROJECT GOALS
USFS Visitor Center Support Project -
We propose fundraising through gifts or grants
to extend the hours that our USFS Visitor
Center is open in Cave Creek Canyon. FOCCC
can help provide volunteer labor to staff it in
addition to the current seasonal position that
makes this possible. We discussed ways to
increase Visitor Contact for our Canyon guests,
and possible ideas included a roving birder for
the months of April and May,
encouraging campground hosts, and producing interpretive materials.
USFS Trails Projects - Assessment and maintenance in coordination with USFS and Portal/Rodeo
Hiking Club to maintain trails, a HUGE job after the recent fires. We can host trail work weekends
encouraging visitors to join with locals to help open up our trails.
Interpretive Road and Trail Descriptions - FOCCC has access to many local experts and we
aim to produce quality interpretive materials for the canyon such as hike descriptions with low-impact guidelines and natural and cultural history interpretation. We can work with print, web, video and
podcast formats.
Invasive Plant Project – Work with the community and volunteers to educate people about
invasives and to eradicate invasives on USFS trails and in campgrounds.
Post fire monitoring: We need to know the effects of recent, wide-ranging fires in the Chiricahua Mountains. FOCCC can help in many ways. At this time we have two projects in mind:
- Songbird Survey - FOCCC is supporting a grant proposal to monitor post-fire songbird populations, providing labor and expertise along existing transects that were run in the 1990’s, a work in progress.
- Photo-monitoring – A member suggestion to host a project where volunteers would pick a place, register their place, and commit to document 4x (or more) a year, the same view. We would particularly like to choose spots where we have historic photos to tie into the effort.
Biota Bibliography Project - An idea of members Terry Morgan and Karen Walz. FOCCC volunteers would compile local research into a working database, and provide on our website a central area for visitors and residents to find key papers published from work done here, many of which contain vegetation descriptions useful to future monitoring. These can be links or actual copies, if the latter then we need to discuss archives, possibly partnering with our local library.
Youth Outreach Projects - School Field Trips to the Chiricahuas, coordinated with FOCCC and
local talented residents. We also discussed a one on one program, sharing of interests of naturalists,
scientists, and birders with the region’s students.
Events Projects: We want to have a FOCCC presence at local events throughout the year. Examples
include:
Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days – Annual event, September. Reed Peters gave a
talk at this year’s event Sept. 9-11, and several members gave time to run an information booth
to welcome and inform new members.
National Public Lands Day – Annual event, September. FOCCC teamed up with
Coronado National Forest this year, September 24th, for our first work project, a big success with twenty persons. We set in several new benches at the South Fork trail head, cleared the fine
view from Vista Point, and did trail work on the Cave Creek Nature Trail. Next year we hope to
do similar projects several times of year in addition expanding our role in Public Lands Day.
NEW! Chiricahua Bioblitz (2012 or 2013) Project - Students and scientists work as
teams accompanying - writers, artists, multi-disciplined Proposed Dates: late July to late-August - can be mid-week as well. Saguaro National Park hosted a huge, well-coordinated Bioblitz in
October of 2011. Ours would be a much smaller event, but we hope this event might bring 300-
400 persons to Portal, a wonderful boost to our community!
Educational Events: This year Black Bears were a real problem in town following damage to forests
with the fire. FOCCC sponsored an educational forum with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to
help landowners know what to do to cope. We hope to run more of these on a variety of topics.
Cooperative Projects - with Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Society, Chiricahua Art Gallery, etc. We
have plans to partner with the gallery for next spring’s show.
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National Public Lands Day - Construction Projects - Sept. 24
