|
LoPiano Mesquite Bosque Habitat
.jpg)
This area was once part of the Salt River floodplain.
Plants grew here and were washed out whenever the river overflowed. The Hohokam
may have used this area for gathering plants for baskets or other household
uses.
Homes once lined the canal in this area in the 1930s
through 1960s. Many of these homes flooded and eventually fell into disrepair.
In 1992, the Salt River was channelized, protecting this land from the floods.
This enabled ADOT to build a freeway on the land. The parcel of land on the
north side of the freeway, cut off from Papago Park by the canal and separated
from Tempe Town Lake by the freeway, became an isolated area that has been set
aside for habitat restoration.
The 13-acre LoPiano Bosque habitat stretches along the
north side of Loop 202 between College and Mill Avenues just south of the Indian
Bend Pump Ditch and Papago Park. Volunteers from 26 schools constructed this
habitat in 1993. The bosque is named for former Tempe Mayor
Dr. William LoPiano, who was on the first council that determined to pursue the
dream of Rio Salado..jpg)
The bosque has developed into a habitat that supports
lizards, snakes, quail, doves, roadrunners, jack rabbits, cottontails, falcons
and coyotes as well as a tremendous variety of birds. It serves as an outdoor
classroom for students, as well as a recreation site for equestrian, pedestrian
and bicycle users. Volunteers play a
significant role in keeping the habitat beautiful. Maintenance of the habitat is
done primarily by volunteer groups who have dedicated many hours to trimming
trees, re-establishing the rock-lined trail, pulling weeds, cleaning up trash,
planting wild seed and removing non-native invasive plants.
(More
pictures)
The Bosque Habitat provides viewing of these common
Sonoran Desert trees: Velvet Mesquite (Prosopis velutina), Honey Mesquite (Prosopis
glandulosa) and Screwbean Mequite, (Prosopis pubescens), Catclaw Acaia (Acacia
greggii), Sweet Acacia (Acacia smallii), White Thorn Acacia (Acacia constricta),
Palo Brea (Cercidium praecox), Blue Palo Verde (Cercidium Floridum), Foothill
Palo Verde (Cercidium microphyllum), Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis),
Freemond Cottonwood (Populus fremontii), Arizona Ash (Fraxinus velutina),
Gooding Willow (Salix goodingii) and Ironwood (Olneya tesota).
Loma
del Rio Ruins
 From 500 A.D. to 1450 A.D. Prehistoric Hohokam Indians
lived in the Salt River Valley in homes on both sides of the river. An example
of these dwellings may be found at the archeological site "Loma del
Rio" at the west end of Papago Park.
Loma del Rio, "small hill by the river,"
is a Hohokam ruin
that is approximately 650 years old
and is easily accessible
to the public. Stabilized and enhanced with a ramada and wheelchair accessible
path, visitors may explore the ruin at no cost.
Click here for pictures of the
Loma del Rio Ruins.
The Hohokam created an extensive desert valley canal
system that became the foundation for the Salt River Project canals. The earthen
canal south of Loma Del Rio next to the LoPiano habitat is one of the oldest
canals in the valley. It is called Indian Bend Pump Ditch.
|
