01/21/23
Super Bowl LVII Lower Salt River Restoration
On Saturday, January 23, 2023, we helped kick off NFL Green Week for Super Bowl LVII with a Lower Salt River Cleanup & Invasive Apple Snail Removal Project.
We teamed up with NFL Green, Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, OdySea Aquarium, the U.S. Forest Service Tonto National Forest, Force Blue, Phoenix Zoo, Verizon, Scottsdale Community College, APS, Arizona Cardinals, & Arizona Cardinal Cheerleaders. We are grateful to the organizations we worked with for months to plan this restoration project.
401 volunteers helped remove 7,849 pounds of trash (3.92 tons), divers removed 434 invasive adult apple snails and 320 egg clusters (each cluster has between 150-300 eggs) from the Lower Salt River, & volunteers helped clear Salt Cedar debris from the parking lot at Phon D Sutton Recreation Area.
Thank you to the military veterans on our Dedicated Restoration Team for all of their help at the event; Justin Ballard, U.S. Air Force; Ryan Morin, U.S. Army; Garett Cline, U.S. Navy. We have provided over 16,000 hours of restoration work in nature to the military veterans on our team.
Nicole Corey, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Natural Restorations giving the safety briefing.
We would also like to thank our Sponsors! Without their support, events like this would not be possible: AZ 4Runner Outsiders, Arizona Toy Pros, Battle Born Offroad, Desert Monsters Tours, Icon Vehicle Dynamics, Illuminated Funds Group, Joyride Society, Nitro Gear & Axle, the OdySea Aquarium Foundation, ON Semiconductor, Overland Expo Foundation, the Phoenix Suns, REI Co-op, RideNow Powersports, Salt River Project, State 48 Overland, Stellar Adventures, Tru Flask, Victory 4x4, Waymo, and Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative.
Thank you to American Rivers for donating trash bags for the event! Thank you to Litter Critters for being a site leader at one of the recreation areas along the river! Thank you to American Medical Response for being onsite.
Check out all of the event photos below.
click picture for full-size image gallery
Photo courtesy of NFL Green
Photo courtesy of NFL Green
The amazing team from the U.S. Forest Service Tonto National Forest made this balloon saguaro & footwear footprint out of balloons, shoes, sandals, flip flops & water shoes they have picked up form the Tonto National Forest. They help educate others not to release balloons & be mindful of your footwear when you recreate outdoors, secure your belongings, and leave no trace.
