Our Five Years with You (Bulletin 9)

Friends of Rio Vista distributes bimonthly bulletins via email and publishes key information from these bulletins here. To start receiving our bulletins, sign up here.

As the year ends, all of us at Friends of Rio Vista are especially conscious of our debt to you: our donors, volunteers, advisors, mentors, private-sector partners, and other supporters. We also feel deep gratitude to our government partners at Tucson Parks and Recreation, as well as to Vice Mayor Kevin Dahl, the Ward 3 staff, and the dedicated members of the Tucson Parks and Recreation Commission.

Whether you’ve responded to a Friends of Rio Vista survey or position statement, watered plants or blocked rogue trails through our Paths to Habitat project, participated in plant inventories or habitat assessments, donated your precious dollars to support our science-based conservation programs, encouraged us when times were tough, spread the word about Rio Vista’s wild treasures, or shared your energy and expertise in other ways — you are our strength.

Here are just a few highlights of what we’ve accomplished together, in the five years of our collaboration with the city:

• Laid scientific and experiential groundwork for creating Tucson Parks and Recreation’s master plan for Rio Vista
• Successfully advocated for removing a proposed dog enclosure from the master plan, with assistance from the RillitoBend Neighborhood Association
• United diverse stakeholders in shaping and endorsing the master plan
• Collected more than a year’s data on plant survivorship and revegetation methods through the Paths to Habitat Area 2 pilot 
• Closed unauthorized trails in two-thirds of the park’s natural area, with knowledgeable volunteers
• Partnered with volunteer and pro bono surveyors from the Arizona Native Plant Society to produce and publicize a Rio Vista plant list
• Partnered with Tucson Audubon Society for a habitat evaluation that will underpin a site conservation plan
• Relayed visitors’ reports of threats — from irrigation leaks and camping to wood theft and aggressive bees — to Tucson Parks and Recreation staff and Tucson Police Department Park Safety officers
• Shared conservation information and connected Rio Vista’s communities through our website, newsletters, bulletins, and alerts

As one Rio Vista supporter so eloquently put it, our goal is to keep the park “wildly authentic.” With your continued involvement, we’ll reach that goal. May your new year be full of deep immersion in the joys of our beloved natural resource park.

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