Rim To Rim Restoration

Seed Collection and Increase: Since 2009 Rim to Rim has worked to increase the availability of native seed and containerized plants at our Mayberry Native Plant Propagation Center on the Colorado River. Over the last four years work at Mayberry has shifted from weed control and infrastructure installation to expanding seed increase fields and brainstorming innovative methods for dispersing seed across remote parts of the region. In FY 2025 seed collection work expanded with the National Park Service as well as with the Bureau of Land Management. For the BLM Rim to Rim performed 15 standard Seeds of Success collections and two operational collections and recorded over 40 scouting points. In addition we installed seed increase plots for eight new species that will be viable for collection in 2025. For the NPS Rim to Rim produced containerized plants for use in revegetation projects and also added seed increase plots at Mayberry. Larger seed collections of workhorse species also occurred in 2025 and will continue in 2025 if drought conditions do not persist. Funding for this work is provided on a federal fiscal year so expenses and revenue do not always match.

Rim to Rim continues to partner with the Southeastern Utah Riparian Partnership which is a multi-agency collaboration that bolsters restoration efforts along the Colorado River and its side drainages. Work in 2024 included managing field crews at various project sites along the Colorado River from the Utah-Colorado border to Canyonlands National Park; hosting collaborative interagency meetings to plan projects; and building strong connections among partnering entities. Rim to Rim also assists federal and state land managers by developing scopes of work managing work crews and conducting long-term monitoring for revegetation projects. Funding for this work is provided on the federal fiscal year so expenses and revenue do not always match.

Mill and Pack Creek Revegetation with Fire Fuels and Flood Mitigation: Rim to Rim continues to coordinate interagency community-based planning and restoration in Mill and Pack creeks to address fire and flood concerns while also improving wildlife habitat. In addition to working along the creek corridors in town Rim to Rim also facilitated significant stream restoration high in the Pack Creek drainage on U.S. Forest Service land to protect the aquifer underneath Moab. At the end of 2024 Rim to Rim was awarded multi-year funding from the U.S. Forest Service to expand its partner-based work removing exotic plant species along the Mill and Pack creek corridors that create fire fuel hazards and magnify the impacts of flash floods. This portion of Rim to Rims work which also includes robust community outreach continued throghout 2025. Funding for this work is provided on the state of Utah for the fiscal year so expenses and revenue do not always match.