The first ever large landscape project in Arizona that RMEF has initiated and is leading is the Arizona Conservation Initiative. This endeavor encompasses over 2.5 million acres of land in Arizona. The AZCI plan is divided up into 5 conservation areas: Tusayan, Williams, Anderson Mesa, Central Mogollon and White Mountains. A decision was made to prioritize the initiative area and the most important region and the first big project of the initiative is the Tusayan water pipeline. RMEF has partnered up with state and federal agencies, local communities, landowners, ranchers and other conservation groups in an effort to work on such a large landscape project such as this that will benefit elk other wildlife and livestock in the area.
The Tusayan Water pipeline encompasses the following 4 goals.
▪ Installation of pipeline approximate 11.4 miles
▪ Increase storage capacity and water collection of 23 existing
catchments ( 7 Completed)
▪ Build 23 new water catchments
▪ Bentonite up to 20 earthen tanks to improve water retention
capability
