Sixteen years of restoring the Salt River corridor one acre -- and one volunteer -- at a time.
Our story
The Salt River Restoration Project began in 2008 when a small group of Sunridge neighbors looked at a corridor choked with invasive buffelgrass and tamarisk and decided something had to change. What started with hand tools and borrowed trucks is now a 501(c)(3) organization with trained restoration crews, a certified native plant nursery, and a citizen-science water quality lab.
Sixteen years later, more than 1,200 acres of riparian corridor are under active management, native cottonwood and willow stands have re-established in reaches that were barren a decade ago, and wildlife populations that had all but disappeared are being documented again in restored zones.
What we stand for
Every project we undertake is guided by riparian ecology research and measurable outcomes. We track what we plant, count what returns, and publish our results.
Paid staff are few. Passion-driven volunteers are many. Our work is sustained by thousands of Sunridge-area residents who choose to give their Saturday mornings to this river.
A river is only as alive as its water. We prioritize water quality monitoring and floodplain function in every restoration decision we make.
We publish annual habitat reports, financial disclosures, and monitoring dashboards. Donors and volunteers deserve to see exactly where their time and money go.
Restoration reaches
Our restoration reaches span 22 miles of the Salt River corridor through and around Sunridge. Each reach has an assigned project lead and a multi-year habitat recovery plan.