West Wetlands Park facts for kids

The West Wetlands Park is a fun public park located on the northwest side of Yuma, Arizona. It sits right along the Colorado River within the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area. This amazing park first opened in December 2002. It covers 110 acres of land owned by the city. Many community volunteers helped build parts of the park. People in Yuma often vote it as the best park in the city! Today, the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Corporation helps manage the park. The City of Yuma Parks and Recreation Department takes care of its upkeep.

Park History

From Landfill to Park: 1910-1989

For many years, from 1910 to 1970, the area that is now West Wetlands Park was actually the City of Yuma's landfill. After the landfill closed, the area looked messy and was not safe. It attracted people who caused trouble. Sometimes, fires would burn the plants along the river. This allowed unwanted plants to take over the area. It became a dangerous spot for local residents. They couldn't even enjoy the river nearby.

In the 1980s, people in Yuma started wanting to turn the old landfill into a beautiful park by the river. Arizona State Parks and the City of Yuma worked together to plan this. However, they couldn't find enough money to start the project.

Planning and Funding: 1990-1999

In the early 1990s, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the whole site needed to be covered with 6 to 8 feet of clean dirt. This was needed before it could be used again. The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area realized they would need about $10 million. Their job was to create a plan to get the money and build the park. They needed a team to get grants and manage the building work.

Their first success was getting a $23,000 grant from the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Another big help came from Congressman Ed Pastor. He secured $1.45 million from the Bureau of Reclamation. This money was used to improve areas near the river and build a boat ramp.

Over three years, the Heritage Area got many more grants. These helped with planning the park. They received three grants from the State of Arizona Heritage Fund. These included money for trails and other park improvements. The City of Yuma also gave $1 million. This helped build roads and utilities in the park. The city also brought clean dirt to the site for free.

By September 1999, the park's main plan was finished. The Heritage Area held a community event to finalize the design. A month later, "Phase 1" began. About 700 volunteers planted 450 trees at the Millennium Tree Grove.

Building the Park: 2000-2006

In 2001, Congressman Ed Pastor helped again. He got another $500,000 from the Bureau of Reclamation. This money was for a special project to plant new, native plants. The first part of the park opened in December 2002. A pond was dug out during this first phase. It was filled and opened in late 2003. The pond is shaped like a bowl and is about 15 feet deep.

In 2005, Arizona Public Service (APS) worked with the City of Yuma. They built a solar garden to show how solar power works. This garden has 24 solar panels. They make 3,600 watts of power. This power goes to Yuma's electricity grid. It helps light up the park. This energy could power about twenty homes! The panels move 80 degrees from east to west each day to follow the sun. APS owns and takes care of the solar garden.

The Army of the West statue, also called the Mormon statue, was created by R.C. Merrill. It was put up in 2006. Private donations paid for the statue and its care. Many members of the Yuma Mormon community helped make the nine-foot bronze statue. It honors a group of soldiers who marched 1900 miles in 1846. They crossed the Colorado River on January 9 and 10, 1846. The statue celebrates this crossing and their role in expanding the western United States.

New Additions and Challenges: 2007-Present

In 2007, the Stewart Vincent Wolfe Creative Playground was built. Yuma volunteers worked together to create it. They built it to honor Stewart Vincent Wolfe, who loved the park. Ron Martin, a friend of Wolfe, gave $100,000 for the playground. About 8,000 Yuma volunteers helped build it. They also raised over $45,000 for the project. Elementary school students even helped design the playground!

Later in 2007, the Heritage Area and the City of Yuma updated the park's original plan from 1999.

In 2009, the paved walking trail was made longer. It now goes from the playground all the way to the park's southwest entrance. This was done using money from the federal government. The trail runs next to the main road and has lights. This makes the western parts of the park easier to use in the evening. It also gives bikers and joggers a smooth path across the whole park.

Sadly, on December 28, 2014, the Stewart Vincent Wolfe Creative Playground was destroyed by a fire. This shocked and angered the people of Yuma. The fire seemed to have been set on purpose. The park's rebuilding started in September 2015. It reopened just three months later, on December 19.

In 2017, the "castle park" part of the playground was damaged again. This was also due to a fire that was set on purpose.

Activities and Fun Events

The City of Yuma Parks and Recreation offers many trails in the park. You can see people flying kites, doing yoga, or playing soccer, football, baseball, softball, and disc golf. The park is a great place for picnics, parties, barbecues, and field trips. People also use it for geocaching, club meetings, dates, weddings, and family reunions. It's also popular for photography, bird watching, sightseeing, and dog walking. Many come to paint, study, read, or just relax.

Other fun things to do include fishing in the pond or the Colorado River. You can catch fish like catfish, bluegill, carp, and bass. On the river, you can go tubing, canoeing, kayaking, motor boating, jet skiing, and swimming. The park has a boat ramp to help get boats into the water. On the pond, some people even sail model sailboats!

For kids, West Wetlands has two playgrounds. The biggest and most popular is the Stewart Vincent Wolfe Creative Playground. This playground has a tire swing, four regular swings, and one special swing for children with disabilities. It also has a climbing wall, six slides, a train, a jet, and monkey bars. The ground is soft Pebble Flex, which is safe for falls and easy for wheelchairs. There's a special area for younger children with smaller swings. Benches are placed around the playground for parents. There are also fake rocks and a metal tractor scoop toy for kids to climb on.

The park also hosts many special events:

• Walkathons and Marathons: Different 10k and 5k runs, Color Runs, and charity walks.
• Colorado River Balloon Festival
• Two Rivers Renaissance Faire
• Movies in the Park
• Blue Grass in the Park
• Jazz on the Green
• Catfish Rodeo
• Annual Float-down Regatta

Plants of the Park

Invasive Plants

The Yuma West Wetlands Park used to have many unwanted plant species. These are called invasive plants. Some examples were the salt cedar tree (Tamarix ramosissima), giant reed (Arundo donax), and Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia).

The salt cedar tree is especially harmful to the park's environment. It releases salt from its leaves. This salt makes the soil too salty for native plants and animals to live. It grows very well along rivers and can completely replace all native plants. Areas with salt cedar have fewer native birds. This tree also uses a lot of water. One salt cedar tree can absorb 200 gallons of water every day!

Giant reed (Arundo donax), also known as wild cane, is another invasive plant. It has caused a lot of damage to the lower Colorado River area. It's a tall grass that can grow from nine to thirty feet high. When giant reed takes over an area, native plants disappear. It doesn't provide food or shelter for native wildlife. So, areas full of giant reed have very few animals. It also makes the river water warmer because it doesn't provide shade. This harms aquatic animals. Both giant reed and salt cedar have greatly damaged the lower Colorado River area.

Other invasive plants like Russian olive, buffelgrass, and common mullein are also a problem. They spread quickly and push out native species.

Native Plants

The West Wetlands Park is also home to many native plant species. These include cattail (Typha latifolia), arrowweed (Pluchea sericea), coyote willow (Salix exigua), and four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens). Some native trees are cottonwood (Populus fremontii), Goodding's willow (Salix gooddingii), and honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa).

Animals of the Park

The park is home to many interesting animals!

Mammals

You might spot several native mammals in the park. These include beavers, cottontail rabbits, round-tailed ground squirrels, and Botta's pocket gophers.

Birds

Burrowing Owls In 2006, the City of Yuma got money for a special project for Burrowing Owls. They built a viewing platform so people could watch these owls. They also made 20 fake burrows for owls that needed a new home. Signs guide visitors to the viewing platform. The habitat has PVC pipes sticking out of the ground, hidden among sage bushes. The western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) is unique. It's the only owl that spends most of its life underground, even raising its babies there. Unlike most owls, they are active during the day too. Because they live underground, building projects can harm them. They are a "Species of Special Concern" in many areas. Burrowing owls can't dig their own burrows. They use old burrows made by squirrels, rats, coyotes, or badgers. They have brown spotted feathers and long legs. They also have cool white "eyebrows" above their bright yellow eyes.

Hummingbirds The West Wetlands Park also has a beautiful hummingbird garden. It was named after former Congressman Ed Pastor. This was to thank him for his help in restoring the riverfront parks. There are signs in the garden with interesting facts. One sign shows maps of North and South America. These maps show how four common hummingbirds in the garden migrate. Another sign describes the plants and flowers that attract these hummingbirds. These birds prefer dense leaves, trees, and shrubs where they can easily perch. Arizona has 18 types of hummingbirds. The West Wetlands Park is home to four of them: Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna), the black-chinned hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri), Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae), and the rufous hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus).

Other Birds

Thanks to the work to restore the wetlands, the bird population has doubled! The variety of birds has also increased by 75%. Some rare and endangered birds have been seen, like the Yuma clapper rail and the southwestern willow flycatcher.

The white-faced ibis is a special bird that has returned to the West Wetlands. They are now nesting and feeding there. Other birds seen include great and snowy egrets, and long-billed Savannah sparrows. Many birds stop here during their long journeys. In winter, you might see osprey, hooded mergansers, and belted kingfishers. During the right season, you might spot different kinds of warblers.

Birds that live in the park all year include the greater roadrunner, Gambel's quail, and different types of woodpeckers. Winter visitors include the blue-Gray gnat-catcher. Rare birds like the northern parula have also been seen.

Reptiles

A large western diamond-backed rattlesnake was spotted on the east side of the Yuma West Wetlands in January 2015.

Insects

Butterflies West of the hummingbird garden, you'll find the butterfly habitat. This area is full of yellow and orange flowering bushes and trees. Many types of butterflies are common here:

• giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
• monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
• queen butterfly (Danaus gilippus)
• western pygmy blue butterfly (Brephidium exilis)
• orange sulphur butterfly (Colias)
• painted lady butterfly (Vanessa cardui)
• fiery skipper butterfly (Hylephila phyleus)
• funereal duskywing butterfly (Erynnis funeralis)
• snout butterfly (Libytheinae)

Park Habitats

The West Wetlands Park has both natural and human-made habitats. These include the Hummingbird Garden, Burrowing Owl areas, Butterfly Garden, Willow Flycatcher Nesting Habitat, Millennium Grove, Beaver Pond, and a Cactus garden.

Habitat Restoration

About 30 percent of the 110-acre West Wetlands Park is a restored riparian habitat. This area is called the "Lower Bench." Before it was restored, this area was dirty and filled with trash. It was also taken over by unwanted plants, especially salt cedar and giant reeds.

Large areas of these non-native plants were removed. Some were bulldozed, and others were pulled out by hand. Special machines and chemicals are used to keep the invasive plants under control. It takes constant work to get rid of the giant reed, which grows back quickly.