You may be wondering exactly who is behind the Save the Dells campaign. We’d like to take this opportunity to fill you in on some of the details on the people who are behind this organization. Save the Dells is a Political Action Committee (PAC) which was registered with the City of Prescott on January 18, 2018. As a non-profit PAC, Save the Dells is allowed to receive donations, but because we are not a 501c3 any donations are not tax-deductible. All donations are/will be used for advertisements, printing, stickers, venue rent, postage, and minor incidental expenses. There are no paid staff, interns or contractors.

 

Joe Trudeau is the PAC Chairman, and veteran open-space advocate Rod Moyer is the Treasurer. Joe and Rod are the only individuals who are legally affiliated with the group. There is no Board, nor official governance structure, but there are some people who we've asked for help along the way. These are all upstanding members of our community who have fought for years to preserve the most essential elements of our culture and nature here in Prescott. They include an esteemed surgeon, environmental scientists, college-level educators, former city officials, students at our colleges, retired folks, athletes, musicians, Prescott natives, and some "familiar faces" in Prescott's open-space and trails protection history.

 

We built our website and our entire campaign ourselves from the grassroots up. We did this with the help of these friends in town who are long-time open space, wildlife, and recreation advocates. These folks work for, or own, local non-profits and businesses that you've heard of many times. Because we are organized as a PAC, we are inherently "political", and as such, people who affiliate in an active manner may incur some degree of exposure to the whims of political battles. Because of that, most people who have helped us get this campaign up and running have asked to remain somewhat anonymous, at least at the website/public print level, which we understand and must honor. But if you pay close attention to social and print media, public events, and other marketing, you’ll be able to figure out who else is involved.

 

As for Joe, he’s a conservation scientist and advocate who has worked in outdoor education and natural resources management in the Southwest for 20 years. He and his wife, a Prescott native, built a house on her family land off White Spar Highway and they're settled in here for the long haul. Joe works for a national wildlife conservation non-profit, but he’s approaching this effort from a civic level, and not officially involving his organization. Joe’s a 25-year veteran mountain biker (love’s riding in the Dells), a member of the Prescott Mountain Bike Alliance, has been active in the Greater Prescott Trails Planning Partnership over the past 5 years, and in the past he served on the Board of Directors of the Central Arizona Land Trust ("CALT" holds conservation easements for public access on a property in the Dells, three on Thumb Butte, and one in Mountain Club; all with public trails). Joe is hugely devoted to this place, and committed to keeping Save the Dells an entirely homegrown local’s effort.

 

We hope this has helped alleviate any concerns over who Save the Dells is and how we are structured. And we hope this has earned your support in our effort to preserve the Dells as central Arizona’s premier Regional Park! Please continue to explore our website, follow us on Facebook, and if you want to learn more about this campaign, sign up to get involved in helping to Save the Dells! And again, please consider a donation to help us make sure City Council knows that our community is serious about taking a long-term perspective on protecting the best of Prescott’s wild, rocky Granite Dells.

 

Thank you and we look forward to you joining in our movement.

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-Joe Trudeau

Chairman, Save The Dells