Day: November 22, 2021

by Biani, Civic Semester Participant

From Tuesday the 9th till Friday the 12th we did an organization visit with Borderlands Restoration Network (BRN) in Patagonia, Arizona. BRN is a non-profit made up of smaller organizations, like the Deep Dirt Institute and the Native Plant Nursery, that we had the privilege of working with and learning from this week. During our stay in Patagonia, we camped at the Deep Dirt Institute campus. Deep Dirt Institute was founded by Kate Tirion, an all-round inspiring human being that is dedicated to understanding how best we can utilize native materials and believes in the enthusiastic energy of youths, like ourselves, to make these ideas come to life. I will be writing about the day that we spent at the Native Plant Nursery and Borderland Wildlife Reserve (BWR).

It was a sleepless night for the group followed by a chilly morning that made the mood a little somber. But, our spirits were quickly lifted by the cheery aura of Francesca, the director of the Nursery. Francesca took us on a tour of the property, showing us all the greenhouses and pointing out her favorite plants. She shared with us some of her germination recipes, such as chilling the seeds, pouring boiling water on them and squeezing lime on their outsides. We also got to learn a lot about agaves like how they take decades to grow, are mostly pollinated by bats and used to make tequila. Her love for the native plants was infectious and got us excited for the work that we would be doing with agaves later in the day. We got to transfer agaves into larger pots so they had more space to grow, while dancing to Ariana Grande in the background. By the end of the visit, Francesca got us appreciating how sexy plants are and the importance of staying motivated when trying to garden.

After taking a break for class, we got to meet with Cholla who is the Lead Technician and Safety Coordinator for the Borderland Wildlife Reserve. She shared with us the history of the reserve and what it means for land to be a wildlife sanctuary: no hunting takes place as the land is protected and can only be used for light recreational use. We got to learn that the topography of the land (specifically the Sky Islands) is what makes it so special and a biodiversity hotspot. Over 7000 species of plants and animals can be found in the reserve (which I think is pretty cool)! Later Cholla taught us what equipment is necessary to identify the animals that can be found on the reserve, which are wildlife trail cameras and sound scaling equipment. Cholla talked more about the wildlife cameras and showed us pictures of bobcats, bears, barn owls, and silver foxes that had been caught on camera. We ended our meeting by driving down to see one of the camera traps that had been set up by Cholla in the reserve.

The visits that we did on our second day were truly eye-opening and I learnt so much from Francesca and Cholla. I am just so grateful that they were able to take the time to speak to us so that we could learn from them and expand our understanding of wildlife in the borderlands. Will be updating you soon on the other fun visits that we have!

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Originally posted here.

by Loey, Civic Semester Participant

This past week we visited Borderlands Restoration Network (BRN) which is an organization based in Patagonia, Arizona. From November 9th to 12th, we worked with various programs and branches of BRN which all focused around preserving and restoring close to 1800 acres of land across the U.S.-Mexico border with a strong foundation of permaculture and sustainability. Throughout our time in the Patagonia region, we camped within land owned by the organization called Deep Dirt Institute.

When we arrived at our campsite in the afternoon, we were greeted by a woman named Juliette who is the education director at Borderlands Restoration Network. We began our time at the organization with an informal tour, where we learned about the history of the Deep Dirt Institute and what BRN does. Where we had the privilege of camping was a project 25 years in the making by a woman named Kate and her husband. While there was no electricity, there was a make-shift kitchen where we could cook, tables where we ate and played cards, and a composting toilet. This system was a great learning opportunity for a lot of us. From traditional urbanite flooring sourced from local projects to plants growing within scattered bathtubs within the boundaries, this place was a beautiful and magical culmination of what Juliette explained to be permaculture. In short, permaculture is a method of cultivating and managing land using whole systems thinking that tries to intertwine all aspects of nature’s being. Examples that Juliette talked about were the way that they source their water from a well, the use of solar energy, regenerative agriculture, and water shed restoration. A water shed is a geographical place where water is collected from different areas to a common outlet, and their protection helps save endangered native species and natural habitats. Continuing, the emphasis on permaculture also had to do with the unbelievable diversity of the land. BRN is home to 350 different species of bees alone, and there is even more population diversity that is just as astonishing. Juliette explained to us that geologically there are at least five different ecosystems converging in this one area. The Borderlands are a migratory pathway in many ways, not only for humans. This land was historically a crossroads for a plethora of different species, human or otherwise, and the impact of the border has been felt negatively by the entire ecosystem. Staying on the land that we were learning from made us feel all the more connected to the people and this experience.

After speaking with Juliette and receiving a wealth of background and information, we met with a woman named Tess who manages the water restoration branch of BRN. She taught us about just a fraction of some of the harm that humans have done to this planet, including mining and the overgrazing of land due to cattle. What I enjoyed most from Tess was that she approached nature and conservancy through ideas of reciprocity and mutual respect. For the rest of the day, we worked on building rock structures incrementally through streams in order to prevent erosion. At this site we met Eduardo, Zach, and Nicole, who taught us the intricate work of creating these structures. We were shown how pivotal these erosion control structures are to the water shed’s preservation, and how closely these engineering projects can work and intertwine with human-made art within natural habitats.

Originally posted here.