Crossposted from SmokeyMonkey.org.
The online version of the NY Times had this story at the top of their US page today: Helping Save Prickly Victims of Development about a group working out of Tucson. The Cactus Rescue Crew was founded in 1999 to save the Sonoran Desert flora from developers prepared to clear the area for malls, gated communities, and golf courses.
The effort has been duplicated in Lake Havasu City and in Phoenix, but this, I think, is a beautiful grassroots effort to preserve native species of cactus, as well as other desert plants. If you have never been to the Southwest, you may be thinking, what is there to save in the desert? Well, follow me below and I'll try to explain.
Does this look like a barren desert to you? The Sonoran Desert is actually the most biologically diverse desert in North America, with thousands of species of plant and animal ranging from wildflowers to bighorn sheep. Can you imagine clearing this beautiful scene in order to build a golf course? I can't.
The seemingly glowing plants you see in the foreground are 'jumping cholla' (pronounced cho'ya, as in Spanish). It is called that because, as any casual hiker in Arizona knows, their branches will seemingly jump onto clothing and skin. Ouch!
You can also see several varieties of shrubs in this one picture. I can identify at least one palo verde 'tree', whose bark contains the chlorophyl it uses to make energy.
And, of course, you can see throughout the picture the saguaro cacti that are so iconic of the desert southwest. Just right of center in the front you can see a short, armless saguaro. This would be a very young specimen, probably only 30 or 40 years old. The one behind it, the tallest in the picture, is probably closer to 100 years old. Saguaro grow extremely slowly and are, therefore, a protected species in Arizona.
Developers are required to get special permits to move or destroy saguaro on land they seek to clear. The saguaro is not the only protected plant species in Arizona; other 'highly safeguarded protected native plants' include the Arizona hedgehog cactus and the Arizona willow. Before removing, selling, or relocating any plants on these lists, the Arizona Department of Agriculture must be notified. It is from these notifications that the Cactus Rescue Crew gets its calling.
[NY Times] That is where the rescuers come in. With the cooperation of developers, they preserve hundreds of smaller saguaros, barrels, ocotillos, hedgehogs, pincushions and other plants that, while perhaps not garden magazine centerfold material, form the "ephemeral, unheralded texture" of the desert, and cover for birds and animals, said Margaret Livingstone, an associate professor of landscape architecture at the University of Arizona.
While the saving of native species of plant is noble in and of itself, there is another piece to this story. It is the piece that has me excited: xericulture.
In many ways, the cactus rescue is a savvy response to strict local ordinances protecting native plants and reflects a movement in the Southwest toward regionally appropriate, drought-tolerant gardening, sometimes called xeriscaping.
Arizona has been in a drought since the day I moved here in August of 2000. This winter gave us some respite, but the wildfire season last year was nasty, and this season promises similar intensity. With that in mind, many Arizona communities are pushing for mandated landscaping requirements.
Some cities are beginning to offer homeowners and businesses financial incentives for pulling up lawn and putting in approved low-water-use plants. The city of Scottsdale, for example, recently began a successful "turf removal rebate" of 25 cents a square foot, up to a maximum of $1,500.
The movement is not perfect. People like their landscapes, so many landscapers have brought in non-native species that do not require much water. These non-native species can exacerbate the fire-ready conditions as they take over entire swaths of desert where normally desert plants grow several feet apart.
By rescuing native plants from development sites, the Cactus Rescue Crew has provided a cheap alternative to non-native landscaping. Whether for your home, for an office building, or for a highway median, native plants offer much more than needles and spines. They offer a way to keep our natural beauty intact.
Please support the Cactus Rescue Crew.
Contacts:
Chris Monrad (520) 299-5623
Cactus Rescue Crew Chairman
Joe Frannea (520) 575-7126
Rescue Crew Coordinator
Email:CactusRescue@TucsonCactus.org