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January 14, 2020---Kegn Marissa Moorcroft began her new position this week as the nanager of Stewardship and Development for the nonprofit Friends of the Verde River. VVN/Jason Brooks
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Originally Published: January 14, 2020 11:05 a.m.
COTTONWOOD — Kegn Moorcroft has interacted with all types of Verde Valley visitors over the past eight years.
Working with the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau over the past eight years, Moorcroft had a number of roles interacting with the media and the public in a city that had 3.2 million visitors in 2019. She recently left the Chamber for the Friends of the Verde River, a Cottonwood-based nonprofit, where she’s the stewardship and development manager. “I grew up around northern Arizona’s precious water,” Moorcroft said.
“Growing up in Sedona, we went to West Fork (of Oak Creek) on Sundays. I remember thinking that when I grow up, I want to help protect this flow and this environment — for the rest of my life.”
Moorcroft will work with the Friends of the Verde River’s three silos: community outreach and development, sustaining flows and restoring habitat. She’ll also use her experience in event planning, web content curation and website maintenance, media and film coordination, brand development, tourism management and social media management to help bring more people to Friends of the Verde River events.
One of those events — The Wild and Scenic Film Festival — is where people of all ages enjoy short films focusing on water, rivers, and wildlife. The twice-annual educational fundraiser involved showings in Camp Verde last weekend, and two showings are set for this Saturday afternoon and evening in Prescott.
Other annual events include the Verde Valley Runoff — a kayak and stand-up boarder race and fun float, set for March 21 — and the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival, set for April 23-26. Safety boater training and river and highway cleanups are regular events.
Moorcroft said there are many priorities under the umbrella of public education, but most relate to the concept of the most unaffected, natural state of the river and its watershed make for the best quality of life for humans affected by it.
One of the many issues she’ll try to help educate the public about, Moorcroft said, is the impact of invasive species.
“One invasive plant can use water equal to building 10 new households, and have no predators,” she said. “And willow trees are native, and are the opposite of this.”
Sustainable farming is another large component of the Friends of Verde River’s work.
“Some of our recommendations, if implemented, could improve productivity and property value,” Moorcroft said.
Moorcroft spent more than three years working with guess at a resort in Saipan — an island the size of San Francisco, located near Guam in the South Pacific Ocean, in the Mariana Islands. She said that job required a ton of energy — as did working for the Sedona Chamber, in a much different way.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies last year from Grand Canyon University.
“I feel I did really meaningful work for the Chamber, but this is the kind of work where my heart lies,” Moorcroft said. “I think a lot of people don’t know about the Verde River — especially people who don’t naturally touch it. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to bring people here from the Phoenix valley who want to learn about the Verde. It’s where their drinking and agricultural water comes from.”
Moorcroft said she’s “a fan of the Verde Valley,” meaning all that it has come to be about — wine, art, the river and more.
“Sustainable travelers and green passengers — leaving the place better than you found it; that’s who we want to bring here,” Moorcroft said.
Moorcroft said she wants to help the Friends of the Verde River partner with developers and others in planning communities that will help the river, rather than hurt it.
“We’re not any type of enforcement agency,” she said. “We’re here to educate. “I’m developing personal green habits now that I am just becoming aware of; things I wish I knew about 20 years ago.”
An active competitive swimmer, Moorcroft said she’s hoping to help convey the message that water is life.
“How will the river be when we’re all gone?” she asks. “There is a peace and calm the river brings. We can enjoy that while preserving it. I want to be the reason these waters run clear."
