As 2013 comes to a close, Borderlands Restoration sees an ever-expanding future for our goal of building a restoration economy. We have received several grants this year to support our research and restoration efforts and have just sent off a renewal application to the Walton Foundation to continue our river restoration work.
In our first official year of operations, we have hired some 20 people, including a 12-person work crew from Patagonia and Sonoita, who built erosion control structures on the Babocomari Ranch. In 2014, we hope to have a full-time crew and to further develop our training program.
You may have read in Edible: Baja Arizona magazine about our summer intern program with Patagonia Union High School students. Next summer, we plan to increase this program to include more students. We also plan to hire a number of community members for our developing adult intern program. Our first adult intern, Cooper Seibert, was recently hired by a greenhouse in Phoenix, who eagerly offered him a job after hearing about his experience with Borderlands.
The focus of the adult intern program is to train more people for work in the world of ecological restoration, either as employees of organizations like Borderlands or as small business owners. There is no shortage of work in this field, and the need for a network of restoration economy organizations and businesses is expanding. By this process, we hope to enable people to make a living by following their passion.
Patagonia resident Ivan Mingura, reflecting on his experience working for Borderlands Restoration, says “At the end of the day I feel good about the work I do. I get to choose activities that I enjoy, and the work feels more significant because it is a team effort. I feel appreciated. I am happy to have this work that allows me to stay in my community, and has given me a choice as to the type of work I want to do in order to stay here.”
Borderlands Restoration wants to stay in Patagonia too. To accomplish this, we are supporting the growth of our local economy. Along with training interns, we can support growing businesses and ranches by connecting them with funding sources. We also patronize local businesses whenever possible. If we have overnight field excursions, we buy our food from Red Mountain Foods and the Patagonia Market. We contract with local businesses like D&M Excavating and Sonoita Feed. This money gets circulated within the community, and over time will lower costs on local goods and provide even more jobs. The network of interconnected local businesses is what defines a restoration economy.
If you are interested in knowing more about Borderlands Restoration, or are looking for another reason to feel good at the end of the day, please connect with us on our Facebook page or our website: BorderlandsRestoration.org. You can also volunteer with us; there is no better way to connect than by helping to restore the watershed.