SITE-WIDE STRATEGIES | VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT

One of the most important elements to the functioning of the Tubac Presidio State Park is the effort of volunteers. Although operated under the purview of the Arizona State Parks system, it currently only has one paid employee who is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance and management of the park, and the rest of the effort is undertaken by volunteers and paid for through donations and fundraising efforts.

Currently, a group of Master Gardener candidates from the University of Arizona, together with some local and seasonal volunteers from Tubac design and manage some of the smaller garden areas of the park. These areas that have already been designed and implemented have largely been left in place. Additional small areas that have been designated as specific small gardens have been proposed with the intention that they will be largely designed and managed by these volunteers. This flexibility gives the volunteers a sense of agency and keeps them involved with their volunteer efforts. These designated sites are accessible in location and manageable in size so that they can be small projects that are easy to design, fundraise for, and manage.
Another aspect to volunteer efforts is phasing and small, easily implementable projects. In addition to the Master Gardener candidates, the Tubac Presidio State Park receives occasional volunteer efforts over the course of a few days or weeks. Volunteer groups like AmeriCorps volunteer can undertake infrastructural projects at the park, such as wall building, curb cuts, and major earthwork projects. These major undertakings should be considered as part of an overall site phasing and implementation strategy, and can set the stage for volunteer efforts over a smaller and more focused scale.

The last aspect of volunteer efforts is providing the opportunity for inter-agency cooperation among local, state and national parks in the area. Tumacacori National Monument is the closest park agency, located just a few miles south of the Tubac Presidio State Park. Under a National Park Service directive, maintenance staff can be deployed to other parks and agencies. The maintenance and interpretation staff from Tumacacori can be utilized for maintenance and upkeep needs, and can also be utilized for their expertise in other areas, such as adobe restoration and repair. There are a few adobe structures at the Tubac Presidio State Park that could be maintained in their current state with a little maintenance and intervention treatment. This also creates an opportunity for volunteers or for other educational purposes, teaching more people the intricacies of adobe maintenance and repair, while helping to preserve the adobe structures for the future and integrity of the Tubac Presidio State Park.