Save Our Saguaros On Arizona’s National Forests

Restoring an Iconic Landscape across Arizona’s Sonoran Desert Ecosystem

Regional Programs Southwest Program

Save Our Saguaros On Arizona’s Nati...

The saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) is one of the defining plants of the Sonoran Desert and an icon of the American West. The saguaro is truly emblematic of the southwest and can only be found in central and southern Arizona and parts of western Sonora Mexico, and only within the Sonoran Desert landscape.

The saguaro cactus is also a master of desert survival. Every aspect of this plant is specifically designed to thrive in the relatively harsh and arid Sonoran Desert.

We must now proactively protect these towering desert sentinels as invasive grasses threaten the native plant community. They outcompete for sunlight and water and introduce high intensive wildfires that do not naturally occur.

With your help, we can ensure the beautiful and lush Sonoran Desert does not come a nonnative grassland devoid of native plant and animals.

Building a Community, Restoring a Landscape

Addressing both post-fire impacts and invasions of introduced species, the NFF and partners are working together on two major tactics to Save Our Saguaros:

Establishing a cacti and saguaro nursery and replanting cacti on the Tonto National Forest to recover from devastating impacts of fire, and
Managing and treating invasive species on the Coronado National Forest to prevent conversion of the iconic Sonoran Desert to invasive grasslands.

Replanting Saguaros within the Bush Fire on the Tonto National Forest

In June of 2020, an individual driving south on SR87 from Payson to Phoenix pulled over onto dry grass to insect their overheated car. Unfortunately, their brakes sparked the Bush Fire, the fifth largest in Arizona history.

Years of extreme drought and increased establishment of nonnative, invasive grasses weeds from the spring rains carried the flames through 194,000 acres of the Tonto National Forest. Unfortunately, most of the fire occurred in the Sonoran Desert, impacting over 80,000 iconic saguaros. With an upwelling of desire to assist from the local community, an initiative was born: restoring and revegetating portions of the Bush Fire burn scar over the next 5-10 years.

In partnership, the NFF, Four Peaks Brewery, Natural Restorations and the U.S. Forest Service are dedicated to the long-term efforts to:

replant this iconic landscape,
house specimens in a cacti nursery,
test out methodologies for recovery, and
showcase opportunities for volunteerism and connection.

Click here to learn more about our work in Northern Arizona.

Protecting Saguaros on the Santa Catalina Mountains on the Coronado National Forest

With ongoing and annual herbicide and mechanical treatments of invasive grasses, land managers can make headway to prevent unnatural fires in the Sonoran Desert. Yet treatment is costly and requires methodical and intensive protocols, and still, nonnative grasses like buffelgrass and fountain grass on the Coronado National Forest are gaining traction faster than treatment can keep up.

While treatment reduces threats on some acres, the landscape needs more resources to manage and eliminate the invasive species that fuel unnatural fires that can kill both young and old saguaros alike.

Buffelgrass-fueled fires can convert a rich desert ecosystem into a barren buffelgrass grassland almost overnight. If left unchecked, buffelgrass, and its close cousin fountain grass, will fuel larger, more frequent fires, impacting not just saguaros, but all of our native desert plants and the animals that depend on them.

We experienced this in June of 2020 when lightning sparked the Bighorn Fire, which burned over 120,000 acres of Sonoran Desert landscape in the Santa Catalina Mountains, and right at the wildland urban interface of the Tucson Community.

With dramatic community attention and support, the NFF, Friends of Sabino Canyon, Public Lands Interpretive Association, and the U.S. Forest Service are dedicated to the long-term efforts to manage invasive species, to ‘beat back buffelgrass’ and to protect our iconic saguaro cacti.

Click here to learn more about our work in Southern Arizona.

Want to help?

Volunteer, Donate, Learn, Experience!

Participate in the annual cacti planting and clean up days on the Tonto National Forest
Participate in the annual ‘beat back buffelgrass’ pulls on the Coronado National Forest
Take a hike! Enjoy the amazing Sonoran Desert on National Forests: on the Tonto National Forest or on the Santa Catalina Ranger District, Coronado National Forest. Remember to hike responsibly and follow Leave No Trace principles.
Donate to Tree Planting, which helps support reforestation needs around the country including on the Bush Fire Scar on the Tonto National Forest.
Donate to SAFF, which helps support invasive species management and treatment directly on the Coronado National Forest.

Appreciating the Power of Partnerships!

The Save Our Saguaros program is made possible through a committed and diverse partner network. From funding to grow and plant native cacti, to invasive species management and volunteer events and education, celebrating the power of partnerships on our public lands illustrates how priority work is accomplished in real time!

Contact

Rebecca Davidson, Southwest Region Director, at [email protected]