SAVE OUR SAGUAROS

RESTORING AN ICONIC LANDSCAPE

02/19/22 four peaks replanting

87 volunteers, including 17 youth volunteers, joined us on Saturday, February 19th for a Bush Fire Burn Scar Replanting, Trash Cleanup, & Invasive Species Removal at Four Peaks on the Tonto National Forest.

Volunteers helped us replant a section of the 2020 Bush Fire burn scar with 145 saguaros, ocotillo, hedgehog, barrel, prickly pear, & staghorn cholla, and spread 198 packs of Sonoran Desert WildFlower seed mix packs. Volunteers also removed 297 pounds of trash & 2 tires from the replanting area and 12 volunteers helped remove 100’s of bundles of buffelgrass, an invasive & non-native weed, from the burn scar with Friends of the Tonto National Forest. Restorating a burn scar goes beyond putting cacti in the ground, we have to look at the big picture and take action to remove invasive plants and trash that can be fuel for fires.

This event was part of our long-term Bush Fire Burn Scar Replanting Project on the Tonto National Forest. The project was possible through grant funding from the Overland Expo Foundation, grant funding from the Secure Rural Schools Program Title II Special Projects on Federal Lands through the Southern Arizona Resource Advisory Committee and the U.S. Forest Service Tonto National Forest, & a Local Artist, Local Causes Visa® debit card giveback program donation from Arizona Federal Credit Union. We are grateful for their support of our Replanting Program and their desire to see these iconic views restored!⁠⁠ ⁠We also received $100 in replanting supplies from Matt & his team at the Home Depot in Mesa off of Power & McKellips.

Thank you to Jenny Vitale, Toll Brothers Arizona, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, & several private land owners for everything they do to help make this project possible! We are grateful for the opportunity to savage, transport and replant cacti in the burn scar. Thank you to everyone from the Tonto National Forest - Mesa Ranger District for all of their help and support of this project!

This project is also possible due to support from the following organizations: ⁠AZ 4Runner Outsiders, Arizona Toy Pros, Battle Born Offroad, Davidson’s Inc., Desert Monsters Tours, DuroBumps, EPAZ, Friends of the Tonto National Forest, Gallery of Guns, ICON Vehicle Dynamics, Illuminated Funds Group, Northern Arizona University, Nitro Gear & Axle, OdySea Aquarium Foundation, the ON Semiconductor Foundation, REI, Salt River Project, State 48 Overland, Tru Flask, UniSource Energy Services, Victory 4X4, and Yamaha Outdoors.

Check out all of the work our Dedicated Restoration Team did collect cacti for this project & transport them to the project site, place cacti where we want them planted and pre-dig most of the holes for volunteers, click HERE and HERE.

CLICK ON ANY PICTURE FOR FULL-SIZE IMAGE GALLERY

In the photos above, volunteers learn planting techniques from Jenny Vitale, including how to figure out which direction is south to ensure the cacti are planted correctly. We mark the south facing side of each cacti when we collect them to ensure we can replant them facing the same direction.

Spreading sonoran desert wildflower seeds

Our friends at SWCA Environmental donated 198 packs of Sonoran Desert Wildflower Seeds to our Replanting Program for volunteers to spread in the burn scar with permission from the Forest Service.

invasive buffelgrass removal

Our friends from Friends of the Tonto National Forest came out to to help volunteers remove invasive buffelgrass from the replanting area. It will take continued long-term effort to remove invasive species from the burn scar and we will team up with Friends of the Tonto as often as possible.

Buffelgrass greatly increases the potential for fire and reduces plant and animal diversity by outcompeting native plants for water and nutrients. It spread exponentially by filling in, under and around native plants. Buffelgrass eliminates natural desert open spaces which could slow or stop fires and its dense growth supports hot fires that kill saguaros and other signature plants of the Sonoran Desert. Invasive species removal of buffelgrass, fountain grass, Sahara mustard and stinknet is a key component to restoring burn scars and lower the chance of repeat fires.

Volunteer with Friends of the Tonto, click HERE to check out upcoming events.

Watering Cacti in the desert

Watering cacti is not only valuable in providing initial water to reduce transplant shock, it also aids in compacting the soil around the freshly planted root network. We did not need to water at this event because it rained several days before the event and several days after the event. We will continue to monitor the area and water as needed if we do not get sufficient rain.

Trash removal

Volunteers removed 297 pounds of trash and two tires from the replanting area.

Keeping our replanting areas free from trash is vital to the success of each replanting project because trash can be fuel for fires.

You can view our all of our replanting projects here.

View more Volunteer restoration projects HERE.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP FUND PROJECTS LIKE THIS, contact us or CLICK THE DONATE BUTTON BELOW WILL LINK YOU TO PAYPAL. ENTER 'replanting' IN THE SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS AND YOUR DONATION WILL GO TOWARDS OUR Dedicated Restoration Team replanting PROJECTS.

IF YOU OR YOUR ORGANIZATION IS INTERESTED IN SPONSORING OUR military veteran-based DEDICATED RESTORATION TEAM AND HELPING FUND TEAM PROJECTS, PLEASE CONTACT US.

Thank you to the Overland Expo Foundation, the Secure Rural Schools Program Title II Special Projects on Federal Lands through the Southern Arizona Resource Advisory Committee and the U.S. Forest Service Tonto National Forest, & a Local Artist, Local Causes Visa® debit card giveback program donation from Arizona Federal Credit Union for helping us make lasting impacts on Arizona’s natural spaces, the military veterans on our team, and our volunteers.