A Message from Friends of the Santa Cruz River President, Ben Lomeli
Friends of the Santa Cruz River (FOSCR) was founded in 1991 to monitor the river’s condition, educate the community about the river’s value, and to advocate for its protection. As a small non-profit, all our work is done by volunteers. We have an amazing board of directors that has been evolving and voluntarily working tirelessly. FOSCR has accomplished much by partnering with other organizations, but we are looking to grow and strengthen our organization.
FOSCR has received two awards from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) for our RiverWatch monitoring, which periodically observes and reports cross boundary sewage contaminated flows at Oso Wash and other tributaries. Our President also advocates for a healthy environment and serves on the United States International Boundary and Water Commission Southeast Arizona Citizens Forum (IBWC SEACF), and on steering committees of the Santa Cruz Urban National Wildlife Refuge Coalition, the U of AZ’s Emerging Leaders Program, Water Leadership Institute, Sonoran Institute’s annual Santa Cruz River Researcher’s Days, and ASU’s Rural Groundwater Resilience workshop.
FOSCR also provided review comments to the US Forest Service on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the South 32 Hermosa Project, Tubac Nature Center’s Wetland and Riparian Restoration Plan, and Dr. Charles Cole’s 20-year water harvesting report. FOSCR attends workshops of Santa Cruz County’s River Coalition, Sonoran Institute’s Water Smart program, Anthropocene Alliance, Patagonia Area Resources Alliance, and the Calabasas Alliance. We partner with Santa Cruz County Shining Arizona to organize river clean-ups.
The Upper Santa Cruz River international watershed faces many challenges. We need more volunteers to help us fulfill our mission. We would also like to increase outreach to members of the community who may not know that we have a beautiful, flowing river and riparian corridor full of birds, walking trails and wildlife and may not be aware of the threats and challenges. We are looking for volunteers that genuinely care about the future of our river, our natural resources and amenities, and who want to conserve a healthy environment that will protect public health and safety and sustain a viable economy.
We are especially interested in recruiting volunteers with the following interests and skills: accounting, business and tax expertise, membership management, Spanish language translation, social media, grant writing, and individuals who will continue to help us engage with our vibrant community in Santa Cruz County, Arizona and beyond, including upstream communities in Mexico.
Thanks for caring! Get involved!
Please volunteer. Here is how: Contact us by email riverfriends@foscraz.org, and/or visit our website: foscraz.org, or call 1-520-403-2823, or simply send correspondence to:
FOSCR
P.O Box 4275
Tubac, AZ 85646