4th annual save our saguaros

On Saturday, November 11th, 2023, we partnered with the National Forest Foundation, the US. Forest Service Tonto National Forest, Four Peaks Brewing Co., & Arizona Wholesale Growers for the 4th annual Save Our Saguaros Replanting Event.

95 volunteers, including 21 youth volunteers, helped us plant 100 1-foot saguaros in the 2020 Bush Fire burn scar at Four Peaks. 76 saguaros 1-foot saguaros were purchased with grant funds from the National Forest Foundation and the remaining 24 1-foot saguaros were donated by Arizona Wholesale Growers.

Volunteers also tossed seed balls made at Four Peaks Brewing Co. in October. Restoring 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 that can be fuel for fires and replace them with native species.

Our Dedicated Restoration Team walked volunteers through a step-by-step demonstration on the process of planting a saguaro and setting it up for the best chance of long-term survival. Volunteers worked in groups of three to get each saguaro from the staging area using special leather/kevlar gloves to protect their hands over to a suitable location, digging a hole, putting the saguaro in the ground with the marking tape knot facing north, making sure it’s not too deep, too shallow, or leaning. Volunteers had members of our team check each saguaro before moving onto the next one to ensure they could give feedback if any changes needed to be made.

As the event wrapped up, volunteers were treated to lunch from REI Co-op in Chandler. Thank you to Paula and everyone at REI helping us show volunteers how much their hard work is appreciated. We also want to recognize and thank Stellar Adventures for donating use of their bathrooms.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 2020 BUSH FIRE

On June 13th, 2020 the 5th largest wildlife in Arizona history was sparked when an individual driving south on SR87 from Payson to Phoenix, noticed their car was overheating. They pulled off the highway to safely inspect the vehicle, but they parked on dry grass and the heat from their brakes sparked the fire.

Flames carried through 193,455 acres of the Tonto National Forest. It devastated multiple ecosystems in the Four Peaks Wilderness Area as the fire burned over the top of Four Peaks and back down towards Roosevelt Lake. Unfortunately, most of the fire occurred in the Sonoran Desert, an ecosystem not evolved or adapted to wildfires. With the impact to over 80,000 iconic saguaros and thousands of other native desert cacti, plants, and trees, Natural Restorations is dedicated to the long-term efforts to restore and revegetate this burn scar.

We would like to thank the following organizations for their support of this event: Arizona Adventure Group, AVNET, AZ 4Runner Outsiders, Arizona Toy Pros, Battle Born Offroad, Desert Monsters Tours, Icon Vehicle Dynamics, Illuminated Funds Group, Nitro Gear & Axle, OdySea Aquarium Foundation, REI Co-op, Resolution Copper, Salt River Project, State 48 Overland, Stellar Adventures, Tru Flask, Victory 4x4, and Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative.

Thank you to Cody from CVC Photography for donating his time and services.

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Photos courtesy of cody from Cvc photography

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. This was accomplished by providing each newly planted cacti with a little water, no easy task in the middle of the desert. We used the water trailer that we purchased last year through a grant from the the National Forest Foundation.