The wildlife area allows festival organizers to promote eco-tourism and outdoor recreation opportunities.
"There's water there all year around. That's why (the area) is so important to wildlife," said Heidi Vasiloff, the 2007 Tres Rios festival coordinator.
Last week,
Vasiloff updated the Avondale City Council on
the festival and the wildlife area, which is in
Avondale and next to Phoenix International
Raceway. Vasiloff, executive director for the
Wildlife for Tomorrow Foundation, told the
council that more than 6,000 people showed up at
the festival in March.
Many families and children came out, she said,
and the kids who attended "had a blast"
participating in environmental activities.
There was entertainment, such as bluegrass
music, and there were speakers who talked about
edible plants, bird watching and other
activities that would be done in the wildlife
area.
There was canoeing and fishing on the Gila
River, and fish that were caught were displayed
in tanks, she said.
The Tres Rios Nature Festival began in 2003 as a
collaboration among Arizona Game and Fish,
Wildlife for Tomorrow Foundation, Luke Air Force
Base, Maricopa County and Phoenix, Avondale and
Goodyear, as well as many supporting corporate
partners.
In 2008, the festival will be held March 15-16.
The Base and Meridian Wildlife Area is primarily
a riparian wetland and riverbank habitat.
Vasiloff said there are more than 150 species of
birds along the Gila.
The wildlife area is also valuable as habitat
for Yuma clapper rails and other sensitive
species as well as great blue heron, belted
kingfisher and the Western screech owl.
Mammals in the area include beaver, bobcat,
desert kangaroo rat, javelina, and reptiles such
as the California kingsnake, Sonoran mud turtle
and diamondback rattlesnake.
The leading use of the wildlife area is fishing,
followed by bird watching. Vasiloff said people
from all over the world are coming to the
wildlife area to bird watch.
People also swim and picnic there, she said.
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