In May 2018, four partners, including Hauser and Hauser Farms, NRCS, AZGFD and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), finalized a voluntary conservation agreement that would prevent future development on approximately 513 acres of Park Central Farm in Yavapai County near Camp Verde. This privately-owned farm encompasses 230 acres of a healthy cottonwood-willow forest along the Verde River. Funding for the $6.5 million acquisition of the Park Central Farm voluntary land agreement came from the NRCS, The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust (through TNC), and AZGFD.
The area serves as a critical wildlife corridor between the Coconino and Prescott National Forests. Streamside forests provide a home to many SGCN, including the southwestern willow flycatcher and western yellow-billed cuckoo. Further up from the river, bobcat, mountain lion, and mule deer can also be found. This collaborative effort represented a major win to secure protections for a vital wildlife movement corridor in a region experiencing increased habitat fragmentation due to development.