Valer Austin

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Valer Clark Austin is a permaculturalist involved with desert greening. Based in southern Arizona, she is known for promoting ecological restoration through water conservation and holistic land management.[1][2]

Valer is a graduate of Hollins University, from which she received the Hollins Distinguished Alumnae Award in June 2012.[3][4]

Valer later married to Josiah Austin, her current partner.[5] The Austin’s have invested time and resources into the restoration of the watersheds in the Sonoran Desert region for the purposes of maintaining free open spaces and promotion of biodiversity.[6] Their restoration efforts began with a 40-mile stretch which encompassed the El Coronado and Bar Boot Ranches.[6] Acknowledging their important efforts, they began to grow their operation for the restoration of wetlands on a broader scale, such as, the borderland regions between the United States and Mexico.[6]

In the 1990s, the couple founded the Cuenca Los Ojos Foundation, which translates to "Watershed of the Springs",[3] based at their El Coronado Ranch.[7] The foundation encompassed various educators, scientists, ranchers in the area, and government agencies to restore and maintain the grasslands in the area, as well as, restore the habitats and biodiversity[3]

Notable Achievements include:

  • Protection of over 130,000 acres in Mexico[4]
  • Construction of 50 large gabions, 40,000 loose rock dams and 1000+ berms in Mexico and the United States[4]
  • Restoration of the Coues Deer and Gould’s turkey in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona[4]
  • Restoration of 5,000 acres of grasslands in Mexico with native vegetation[4]

Their work has been recognized by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service[8] and the United States Geological Survey,[9] as well as The Nature Conservancy.[10][11] In addition, Austin has served on the advisory board for the Borderlands Research Institute for Natural Resource Management at Sul Ross State University, located in the Big Bend region of West Texas.[12] In 2008, Valer and Josiah Austin were awarded the landowner stewardship award for their work at El Coronado Ranch.[6]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ [1] Archived 2017-01-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Dobie, Kathy (2012-09-21). "An amateur rancher brings the wastelands of the Southwest back to life". CNN.com. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  3. ^ a b c "Valer Clark Austin – Hollins". Hollins. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Support Us". Cuenca Los Ojos. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  5. ^ "An Amateur Rancher Brings the Wastelands of the Southwest Back to Life". Oprah.com. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  6. ^ a b c d "Valer and Josiah Austin | ELI National Wetlands Awards". elinwa.org. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  7. ^ "Land Conservation". Cuenca Los Ojos. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  8. ^ Jerewmy Voeltz. "Collaborative conservation on private lands" (PDF). Fws.gov. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  9. ^ "Aridland Water Harvesting Study". Geography.wr.usgs.gov. 2017-02-03. doi:10.1111/j.1752-1688.1998.tb05961.x. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  10. ^ Tana Kappel (2014-07-07). "The River Geronimo Knew | Conservancy Talk". Blog.nature.org. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  11. ^ "Arizona Court of Appeals Division Two holds that a signatory to an agreement that includes an arbitration provision cannot compel arbitration... < AZAPP Blog | Osborn Maledon". Omlaw.com. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  12. ^ "Desert Tracks" (PDF). Bri.sulross.edu. 2014. Retrieved 2017-04-25.

External links[]

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