Dolores River Restoration Partnership

Marsha Porter-Norton,

Phone: 970-247-8306

About the Partnership

The Dolores River Restoration Partnership (DRRP) is a public-private collaborativeof partnering individuals, organizations, and agencies working to restore the riparian corridor of the Dolores River, which flows from the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado to eastern Utah, where it merges with the Colorado River. Since 2009, the DRRP has worked to remove invasive plants whose extensive growth has displaced native plant communities, impaired wildlife habitat and forage, hindered recreational opportunities, and increased risks associated with wildfire.

The Partnership’s Goals

Ecological Goals: enhanced plant communities

Increase the number of acres of sustainable, healthy riparian and floodplain plant communities in the watershed while reducing those dominated by tamarisk and other invasive, non-native plant species.

Social Goals: youth, public safety, and aesthetics

Increase opportunities for the next generation of stewards; increase public safety both by reducing wildfire-related risks and improving highway safety; and improve aesthetics.

Economic Goals: employment, local investments, efficiency, and recreation

Increase employment opportunities for contractors and youth in the Dolores River area; improve effectiveness and financial efficiency of our riparian restoration efforts; and enhance visitor experience

Management Goals: learning, sharing, and improving

Increase treatment effectiveness/efficiency by sharing lessons learned and other resources across boundaries; incorporate educational and interpretative practices to enhance public understanding and appreciation of riparian restoration actions.

Core Team

Each of the DRRP subcommittee chairs along with a representative of the Bureau of Land Management comprises a “Core Team,” the entrusted body between the larger partnership and subcommittees. The Core Team fosters cross-subcommittee coordination, takes direction from and provides guidance to the partnership, and develops agendas for bi-annual partnership meetings.

Current members of the Core Team include: Rusty Lloyd and Kristen Jespersen, Tamarisk Coalition; Mike Wight of the Southwest Conservation Corps; Celene Hawkins, The Nature Conservancy; Mark Grover with the Four Corners School of Outdoor Education; Alicia Austin Johnson of the Bureau of Land Management’s Northwest District of Colorado; and Marsha Porter-Norton, the partnership’s facilitator.

Primary contacts: Rusty Lloyd (rlloyd@tamariskcoalition.org) or Marsha Porter-Norton (mporternorton@gmail.com)

For much more information please go to the website: https://www.drrpartnership.org/default.htm