Lower Cliff Dwelling Environmental Monitoring

Post-fire Restoration Project

In 2019, the Woodbury Fire burned 88% of Tonto National Monument. The monument is located in the Sonaran Desert, which is not fire-adapted. The fire burned iconic saguaros, hedgehog cacti, agave, and more, impacting ecosystem health and introducing invasive red brome (Bromus rubens) into the area. The park is working on a Post Woodbury Fire Restoration plan designed to repair and improve lands unlikely to recover naturally. These rehabilitation treatments are proven to have a high probability of success.

Citizen Science: You Can Help!

To help monitor postfire restoration efforts, Tonto National Monument has partnered with Chronolog, an environmental monitoring project powered by citizen scientists. Chronolog is a web-based system that uses a crowdsourced photo time-lapse to help monitor recovering ecosystems. The Chronolog station is located along the Lower Cliff Dwelling Trail. Park visitors can contribute to and watch Tonto's restoration efforts in real time. Through each month of photos, we hope to track changes over time.

How to Participate

Anyone can be a citizen scientist! At a Chronolog photo station, visitors are encouraged to take a photo in the designated photo bracket. By sending them to the Chronolog email, you can contribute to a long-term study to understand how the Sonoran Desert regenerates after wildfire. Chronolog will stitch the photos together to create a time-lapse. Everyone is invited to participate!

What to Do

1. Find the photo station along the trail.
2. Mount your phone on the bracket and take a photo.
3. Email the photo to Chronolog using the information provided at the station.
4. Check the Chronolog website and watch a time-lapse of everyone’s photos.