Ahakhav Tribal Preserve: Restoring Tribal Lands

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Ahakhav Tribal Preserve Restoring Tribal Lands

• Tribal Lands Climate Conference
• December 5, 2006
• Jennifer Cleland

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A shift from riparian habitat to agricultural
lands

• Ahakhav established in 1995 as a response to
  changes in the Colorado River Indian Tribes
  community
• Native cottonwood (Populus fremontii), Goodding
  and Coyote willow (Salix gooddingii and S.
  exigua) , and Honey and Screwbean mesquite
  (Prosopsis glandulosa and P. pubescens) trees
  were disappearing, only to be replaced by a
  nonnative invasive plant, Saltcedar (Tamarix,
  spp.)
• Other changes include fewer bird and mammal
  species, and an undocumented change in the river
  and land temperatures

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Ahakhav mission

• To preserve valuable cultural resources for
  future generations
• To protect threatened and endangered species,
  culturally sensitive wildlife, and their habitat

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Securing the Ahakhav

• The Preserve was started with the support of
  interns and a small tribal budget
• The Preserve expanded with the help of several
  grants and partnerships with Federal and State
  agencies
• Bureau of Indian Affairs Woodlands Program
• US Bureau of Reclamations
• US Fish and Wildlife
• AZ Department of Water Resources
• AZ Game and Fish

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Current projects Coordinating with government
agencies

• Bureau of Indian Affairs Burn Area Emergency
  Response Project
• Restore 250 acres of a burned mesquite bosque
• Bureau of Reclamations Research and Development
  Grant
• Develop techniques and methods for riparian
  habitat restoration
• Restore 135 acres of tribal land

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BIA Burn Area Emergency Response Project
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BIA Burn Area Emergency Response Project
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BOR Research and Development
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Methods of restoration

• Site selection
• Site preparation
• Native plant propagation
• Planting
• Monitoring

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Site selection

• Permits and compliance
• Cultural resource survey
• 404 permitting washes and U.S. waterways
• Soil sampling
• Test surface and subsurface soils for
  electroconductivity, pH, and moisture content
• Confirm soil matches the tolerance for all
  restoration species

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Site selection continued

• Choose an irrigation system
• Location of water source
• Project layout and funds
• Drip Irrigation low water use
• Flood Irrigation simulates natural water cycle

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Site preparation

• Without site preparation, weeds will be a problem
  on the restoration site!

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Site preparation continued

• Knock down weeds and clear brush using a tractor
  with brush bucket
• To remove roots buried beneath the soil, use a
  tractor with a root ripper. This will reduce the
  amount of weeds resprouting.

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Site preparation continued

• Gather roots and debris into piles and burn them.
• Repeat process until there is little to no
  regrowth
• Option Chemically treat persistent weeds
• Laser level (flood irrigation)

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Native plant propagation

• Coordinate with the native plants nursery so
  plants are ready at planting time
• Cut cottonwood and willow poles or plant mesquite
  seed

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Planting

• Based on the projects desired outcome
• Pick an appropriate planting method
• Create and test a new method
• Planting methods used by the Ahakhav include
• Circles
• Rows
• Mass planting

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Planting methods

• Circle planting leaves large areas unplanted and
  available for future plantings. This allows the
  site to avoid a monoculture type stand of trees.

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Planting methods

• Rows allow trees to be planted closer together,
  which can help to shade out weeds
• Row plantings are also ideal when using a drip
  irrigation system

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Planting methods

• Row and circle plantings were not creating dense
  enough restoration sites, so mass planting
  techniques were developed.
• Poles are scattered and disked into the site,
  creating a dense and random planting

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Planting methods

• Which method is best?
• Constant improvements and ongoing adaptive
  management plans are continuously testing the
  strengths and weaknesses of each planting.
• The final outcome of a planting may not be
  realized until years after the last tree has been
  planted

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Monitoring

• Provides data on the health trees and the success
  of each planting
• Create a protocol specifically for the planting
• Use existing protocols
• Document the entire process for future evaluation
  and improvements
• Track the financial progress to identify the most
  cost effective methods

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Results

• Benefits to community
• Safe place to gather
• Preserve cultural resources
• Benefits to environment
• Creating valuable riparian habitat
• Potential resurgence of endangered and sensitive
  species

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Contacting the Ahakhav

• Questions? Advice? Ideas?
• www.ahakhav.com
• Route 1, Box 23-B
• Parker AZ 85344
• Office [phone]
• Jon Villalobos, Project Administrator
• Annie Morton, Education and Outreach Director
• Caileen McDonnell, Nursery Director
• Jennifer Cox, GIS Technician
• Jennifer Cleland, Ecological Coordinator