Great Bend of the Gila National Monument Proposal
Date: 09/22/2024
State: AZ
Issues: Urban Planning, Watersheds, Wild Lands
Partners: Archaeology Southwest, Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Tohono O'odham Nation, Vet Voice Foundation
Airport Origin : Gila Bend, AZ
Mission
View the amazing Gila Bend from above with the Quechan Indian Tribal council and conservationists, vets, and the Tohono O'odham Nation to educate and advocate for a national monument designation.
We flew over the Great Bend of the Gila, a unique landscape, shaped over millions of years by volcanic activity. The Great Bend of the Gila is in the Sonoran Desert, which has been identified as the most important desert for biodiversity in North America. The Gila River valley, saddled between Phoenix and Yuma, is a fragile desert landscape that supports threatened wildlife like bighorn sheep, Sonoran desert tortoise, mule deer, and javelina. The land has been home to Indigenous Peoples for millenia. Members of the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Cocopah Indian Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, Fort Yuma-Quechan Indian Tribe, Gila River Indian Community, Hopi Tribe, Pueblo of Zuni, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, Tohono O’odham Nation, Yavapai-Apache Nation, and Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe have cultural, historical, and ancestral ties to the Great Bend of the Gila, that live on through oral and written history, story, song, ceremony, pilgrimage, and other traditions.
The Gila was once one of the most productive river ecosystems in the Southwest with abundant wetlands and lush riparian habitats; now water resources are incredibly limited - the Gila River even dries up halfway through its journey. Restoring the Gila Bend and preserving its critical water resources is of utmost important for the human communities and the birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals that reside here.
Proper management is also needed to address increased recreational use, as well as threats from mining, invasive species (like tamarisk), vandalism, and desertification.
EcoFlight and our partners are calling on President Biden to designate the 370,000-acre proposed Great Bend of the Gila National Monument to provide immediate and everlasting protection to this beloved, ecologically vibrant, and sacred landscape. Monument designation ensures the preservation of critical wildlife habitat, watershed health, and recreational opportunities for generations to come.
Click for photos from the flights, geo-referenced photos from the flight, aerial footage, and EcoFlight’s collection of Gila Bend photos.
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