Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival: Botanical Walk – Tavasci Field Trip

Join botanist Max Licher on a flora and fauna journey as we learn the native and non-native, riparian and grassland plant and animal species. Learn about arid plants’ secrets to survival and the challenge of invasive species. We will be walking at the newly re-opened Tavasci Marsh after last years’ fire. Rating: 2 Transportation: Self-drive Meal: None Cost: $25 Speaker: Max LicherMax Licher is an architect with Design Group Architects and has been a resident of Sedona for 40 years. He has also been involved as a community planning volunteer, serving on several regional and city planning committees. He has had a lifelong interest in nature and has focused this interest primarily in the area of native plants. After early training with Jean Searle and Norm Herkenham, he has gone on to document the native and naturalized flora of Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon (approx. 1200 species) and has made this work available on the SEINET website. He has also helped coordinate the Plant Atlas Project of Arizona (PAPAZ), which is training amateur botanists in collecting techniques and organizing documentation efforts in northern Arizona. He is an assistant curator at the Deaver Herbarium at NAU, and has co- authored with Glenn Rink treatments for the Cyperaceae (sedges) and Juncaceae (rushes) as part of the ongoing Arizona Flora revision, and for the Flora Neomexicana III. In addition, he and his wife Clare have an interest in plant medicines, and distill essential oils from a number of our local native species. He received the Herkenham Award from Keep Sedona Beautiful in 2011.         Part of the Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival It’s the 2024 Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival! In 2024, join us as we explore the theme of migration and its impact on riparian areas in our environment. Our keynote speaker, Richard Crossley, will lead discussions, and the featured bird for the year is the common black hawk. The Free Family Nature Festival at the Verde Valley Birding & Nature Festival will be in the lagoon area on Saturday, April 27th from 9am to 3pm. There will be armchair birding and guided bird walks all across the Verde Valley from April 25th - 28th that you do need to register for.