About the Project

A project to produce a Community Based Workshop to create personal narratives. Its purpose is to research regional thinking on land use issues.

In rural Northern Arizona, as population growth accelerates, small town face issues of sprawl, depletion of water resorces, and rapid development. Similar to many beautiful rural areas, the population is continuing a movement outward from cities into sprawling developments and small acreage, filling in open space and eliminating agricultural acreage.

Several organizations have been formed to fight development, investigate water conservation, consider regional growth, and review alternative lifestyles. The business community, municipalities, and land owners favoring development see land use in diametrically opposing ways. The Forest Service, as steward of public lands held in trust for public use and future development views land use from the perspective of a diverse population and varied public opinion. Local newspapers emphasize the impact of disparate views through articles describing heated meetings. Public feeling is strongly reflected through letters to the editors and editorials that are insufficient or go unheeded.

The intent of this project is to gather various community organizations committed to land use issues, city governments, business organizations, non-profit organizations, water conservationists, developers, and individuals to participate in the workshop, representing a cross section of the seven Verde Valley communities, creating a collection of stories... ideas that reveal the voice of the people.