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Over 30 years ago, after I packed up all my possessions, and moved from Phoenix to Los Angeles, my mother sent me a flyer for a property in Camp Verde with a note that said “you should buy this place.” I surely thought she’d lost her mind. While the property looked appealing, I couldn’t imagine living in the country. The city life was for me! For the next 34 years, I raised my family and had a satisfying career that took me from environmental protection with the State of California to watershed protection with a nonprofit focused on the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers. I never stopped coming to Arizona, though, to spend time outdoors and visit my family. 
I was born and raised in Phoenix and grew up camping and hiking throughout the west. I enjoyed multiple backpack trips to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, with prep hikes to Sycamore Canyon and Piestawa Peak, and many more places, bike rides on Carefree Highway and along the Phoenix canals, visits to our summer cabin in Payson, and of course many trips to Sedona hooked me on Arizona. I ran across that Camp Verde for sale flyer again in 2015 when I was cleaning out the family house. I laughed through my tears about my mother trying to get me back to Arizona, the state she adopted after moving here with her parents in 1947. I tossed it, little imagining the turn my life would take just a year or so later. Perhaps that flyer primed me to take a second look at a job opening posted in 2017 for Executive Director of Friends of the Verde River. I learned that the Verde River is one of the last healthy, perennial rivers in Arizona, providing habitat for fish and wildlife, attracting recreational boaters and fishers, supplying irrigation and drinking water to people from the Verde Valley all the way to Phoenix and supporting the economy of the Verde Valley communities. I found common cause with the strong regional collaborations, including the Verde Front and Verde Watershed Restoration Coalition. I thought the Verde Exchange, a voluntary program that allows people to purchase Water Offset Credits, was a really innovative way to save a river. I applied for the job and here I am. I think my mother and father would have been proud to see what I’m doing now. Friends of the Verde River has changed its name and added several new staff in the past year, which has only strengthened our ability to make a difference. We have ten years of working to save this iconic western river and we are seeing progress. We know that we are stronger together, working for the River, its fish and wildlife, and ensuring our quality of life, which is so tied to the land. April 3rd is Arizona Gives Day; a statewide day to celebrate non-profit organizations, like Friends, that work to make our communities more vibrant and more resilient. Friends of the Verde River is working hard to ensure that the water keeps flowing, not only benefiting otters and herons, but people like you and me. So please join me and support the work of Friends of the Verde River on Arizona Gives Day. Visit https://www.VerdeRiver.org/AZ-Gives Nancy Steele, Executive Director
Friends of the Verde River.
