We are Overland Expo Foundations First Grantee!

We are honored to be Overland Expo Foundation’s first grantee!

Thank you to everyone at Overland Expo Foundation for your commitment to helping us continue our work replanting the 2020 Bush Fire burn scar at Four Peaks and Lower Sycamore. We cannot wait to share this project with everyone! Click HERE to learn more.

We will also be back at Overland Expo West this year with a Natural Restorations booth and we hope to see you there! Mark your calendars for May 20th-22nd!

*****Repost from Overland Expo*****

Many of us have experienced the benefits of being outdoors and how it can help shift focus – it’s the reason many of us take overland trips!

Overland Expo Foundation’s first grantee, Natural Restorations, is an organization focused on getting vets out in nature with the task of beautifying an area for use and recreation. So far, they have provided veterans with over 10,300 hours of work and have planted over 23,000 trees, pants, and cacti!

Natural Restorations advice for overlanders: Take part in Trash Preparedness! Before you go, think about what you are going to do with your trash.

Click HERE to read the full article on The Compass!

Arizona Adventure Group 2022 Hiking Challenge Supports Natural Restorations

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

👍🏼 Register EARLY, before March 1st to get one entry raffle for a chance to win a two-night stay in a Glamping Dome near Grand Canyon from Versatile Properties.

✅ Once you register, you’ll get a custom 2022 AAG Hiking Challenge shirt designed by State Forty Eight!

👍🏽 This year's challenge has been designed for all to participate in!

🎁 With over $5k in giveaways from our sponsors!

✅ This year YOU choose YOUR hike, complete 4 unique hikes, a minimum of 1.5 miles each. Log them and then be entered into the raffle for a chance to win.

Profits will be donated to Natural Restorations, Make It Count 4 Dani , & State Forty Eight Foundation

SPONSORS: Versatile Properties, Thrive Construction, Tombstone Adventure, Riverbound Sports, The Strawberry Inn, and One Auto Movement.

📸 Credit: @theazjones

Our 2021 Totals

We have a lot to be grateful for and we'd like to take a moment to reflect on what we accomplished in 2021. This week, we will continue to share projects we completed in November & December, stay tuned!⁠

2021 Totals⁠
🔹107.52 tons of trash removed, that's 215,052 pounds of trash no longer littering Arizona's outdoor spaces!⁠

🔹429 tires removed & recycled⁠

🔹4,147 square feet of graffiti removed from rocks & boulders⁠.

🔹17,011 trees, plants, & cacti replanted in burn scars⁠

📌Our Dedicated Restoration Team completed 28 projects and removed 78.8 tons (157,600 pounds) of trash, 396 tires, & 4,147 square feet of graffiti. Our team also planted 16,486 trees, plants, & cacti. ⁠

📌We hosted 17 volunteer events across the state. Volunteers helped us remove 28.72 tons of trash & 33 tires! Volunteers also helped us plant more than 500 cacti!⁠

📌Overall, Natural Restorations has removed 644.4 tons of trash! That's over 1.2 million pounds of trash!!! We have also removed & recycled 1,361 tires, removed 40,396 square feet of graffiti, planted 22,555 trees, plants & cacti, and we have provided 10,499 hours off contract work to Military Veterans on our Dedicated Restoration Team. ⁠

12/04/21 Hewitt Station Volunteer Event

Natural Restorations teamed up with Footprints Matter to Us again for the 13th Annual Environmental Stewardship Event with Footprints Matter to Us at Hewitt Station OHV Area in Queen Valley on Saturday, December 4th, 2021.

Volunteers helped us remove 11,440 pounds of trash, that’s 5.72 tons of trash no longer littering this area! We also removed and recycled 7 tires.

Click HERE to view the entire project.

Save Our Saguaros 11/07/21 Revegetation Event

On Sunday, November 7th, 2021 we teamed up with Four Peaks Brewing Co., the US Forest Service Tonto National Forest, the National Forest Foundation, Tonto Recreation Alliance, & Copperstate 4 Wheelers for a Save Our Saguaro’s Volunteer Event. Volunteers helped us plant over 300 native desert cacti, flowers, & grasses to revegetate the burn scar.

Click HERE to view the project.

AZ 4Runner Outsiders Becomes an Official Sponsor of Natural Restorations

We would like to welcome AZ 4Runner Outsiders as an official Sponsor of Natural Restorations! Thank you to everyone from the @az4runneroutsiders community for supporting of our mission! ⁠

Natural Restorations was selected as the beneficiary of the raffle proceeds at their annual celebration a few weeks ago. The @az4runneroutsidersAZ 4Runner Outsiders community raised $10,050 for our Restoration Programs!!!!! We are honored and grateful for their support!⁠

Thank you so much for everyone's support of our restoration work, including our work in OHV areas and along all of the trials we love and enjoy across Arizona. ⁠ It means the world to us to have so much support from the OHV community! AZ 4Runner Outsiders has created something truly wonderful; they are an all-inclusive group that welcomes those who are new to the trails and new to Arizona. ⁠

Thank you to Matt, Dylan, Brian, and everyone at AZ 4Runner Outsiders organizing such a wonderful celebration! A lot of time and hard work went into this event and it showed! It was a great event for everyone, included families with kids. We loved seeing so many cool rigs, cool people, amazing sponsors, great food & drinks, fun games, an amazing raffle, and a Toy Drive for St Vincent De Paul!⁠

Thanks again for supporting our mission to keep Arizona's trails & outdoor spaces clean & open for everyone to enjoy!⁠

In addition to everyone from AZ 4Runner Outsiders, we would also like to thank their featured sponsors for the event: Chemical Guys, DuroBumps, Westcott Designs, GP Walsh Designs, Infusion Coffee & Tea, Desert Armor, Diode Dynamics, Alpha FoxTrot Designs, Wander Off-Road, Victory 4X4, Midland USA, Berge Ford, DRT Fabrication, Four Cam Engineering, Matador Powder Coating in Queen Creek, Rhino USA, BDM Customs, MORRFlate, Vortex Auto Films, Metal Tech 4X4, and everyone else who helped support this wonderful celebration! ⁠

Thank you to everyone at Desert Rat Offroad for letting AZ 4Runner Outsiders present their donation check to us at the December Coffee & Crawlers event!

Four Peaks & Sugar Loaf Cleanup

On the 1st Saturday in November, we team up with our friends at Copperstate 4 Wheelers for the 12th annual Four Peaks Cleanup. This event also included a cleanup of Sugar Loaf OHV area, directly across the 87.

The Sugar Loaf OHV Area portion of the cleanup event was financed in part by a grant to Natural Restorations from the Arizona Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Fund administered by Arizona State Parks & Trails.

177 volunteers, including 24 youth volunteers, helped us make a huge impact on Sugar Loaf & Four Peaks on the Tonto National Forest - Mesa Ranger District. Volunteers helped us remove 2,620 pounds of trash (1.31 tons) & 3 tires from the Sugar Loaf OHV Area and 9,640 pounds of trash (4.82 tons) of trash and 1 tire from Four Peaks for a total of 12,260 pounds of trash (6.13 tons) & 4 tires removed from Sugar Loaf & Four Peaks!

Check out the event HERE.

Bulldog Canyon at Hackamore Restoration Project

Our Dedicated Restoration Team removed 4,780 pounds (2.39 tons) of trash, 17 tires removed and recycled, and 124 square feet of graffiti removed from Bulldog Canyon at Hackamore on Bureau of Land Management public lands.

Click HERE to view the entire project, including before & after photos of trash and graffiti.

SRP Awards Natural Restorations with Operating Support Grant

1SRP Thanks.png

We would like to thank everyone at Salt River Project for awarding Natural Restorations with a corporate contribution of operating support for the fifth year in a row! We are extremely proud to continue our partnership with @srpconnect! ⁠⠀⁠ ⠀⁠⠀⁠

As a community based, nonprofit public power utility, Salt River Project makes corporate contributions to nonprofit organizations that provide programs and services which meet the needs of their customers and enhance the quality of life we enjoy. They are steadfast in their commitment to partner with nonprofit organizations that provide meaningful and beneficial programs to their customers and community. ⠀⁠⠀⁠

Thank you, Salt River Project, for recognizing the value of the programs we provide! We are excited to continue our relationship and provide volunteer opportunities for SRP employees and their families.⁠

Arizona Federal Credit Union Awards Grant to Natural Restorations

We would like to thank everyone at @arizonafederal for selecting Natural Restorations as one of the Fall 2021 recipients of Arizona Federal Credit Union's Local Artist, Local Causes grants! Thank you for supporting our mission and Replanting Program!⁠ ⁠⠀⁠

Arizona Federal is dedicated to making a difference in the communities they serve by supporting local nonprofits across Arizona. Through Local Artist, Local Causes Debit Card Giveback Program with Arizona Federal Credit Union’s Local Artist, Local Causes Visa® Debit Card, each time you make a purchase with the card, the credit union will make a donation to a community fund that helps support nonprofits throughout Arizona.⁠

Since 2018 the credit union has donated more than $200,000 to community organizations through their debit card giveback programs.⁠

Thank you to, Arizona Federal Credit Union, for recognizing the value of the programs we provide to benefit Arizona. ⁠

Annual National Public Lands Day Lower Salt River Cleanup

All of the photos from our annual National Public Lands Day Lower Salt River Cleanup on 09/25/21 are on our website. Click HERE to view the entire project.

International Coastal Cleanup & World Cleanup Day Event with OdySea Aquarium

Photo courtesy of FlashGordonMurray

Photo courtesy of FlashGordonMurray

All of the photos from our September 18, 2021 International Coastal Cleanup & World Cleanup Day Event with our friends at OdySea Aquarium are on our website. Click HERE to view the entire project.

NR Receive's Donation from The Sleepy Whale & Odell Brewing Co.

Sleepy Whale.png

We would like to thank everyone at The Sleepy Whale and the team at Odell Brewing Co. for their support of Natural Restorations! ⁠
*
For the month of April 2021, The Sleepy Whale donated proceeds of Odell Brewing Co.'s Sippin' Pretty draft pours to Natural Restorations and presented our nonprofit organization a check for $1,200! Thank you so much!!!⁠
*⁠
Shout out to Chris Hubbard from The Sleepy Whale and Thomas Decaro from Odell Brewing for everything they did to make this possible!
*
Thank you to everyone who purchased a draft pour of Odell's Sippin' Pretty in April 2021 at The Sleepy Whale in downtown Chandler!⁠
*⁠
We also teamed up with The Sleepy Whale & Odell Brewing Co. this past April for an Earth Day Lower Salt River Cleanup. We removed 233.5 pounds of trash.⁠ Click HERE to check out the cleanup. ⁠
⁠*⁠⁠
Thanks again to everyone at The Sleepy Whale & Odell Brewing Co. for your continued support!⁠⁠ We have a blast making a positive impact on the environment every time we get together with your teams!⁠

National Trail Day Cleanup with Keep Our Desert Clean

1.jpeg

On Saturday, June 5th, we teamed up our friends at Keep Our Desert Clean for a National Trails Day Cleanup. We hit the trails and removed trash from the trails around Munds Park and over to the trails on Forest Road 237 on the Coconino National Forest, near Flagstaff.

55 volunteers, including 13 youth volunteers, helped us remove 1,520 pounds of trash! We also removed and recycled 3 tires. You can view the entire project HERE.

Thank you to everyone at the Coconino National Forest Service for your support of this event! We would like to thank everyone at the Discount Tire off of Milton Road in Flagstaff for helping us recycle 1 regular tire. We would also like to thank everyone at Southern Tire Mart in Flagstaff for helping us recycle 2 semi tires.