5th annual save our saguaros

On Saturday, November 9th, 2024, we partnered with Wells Fargo, the US. Forest Service Tonto National Forest, National Forest Foundation, Four Peaks Brewing Co., & Arizona Wholesale Growers for the 5th annual Save Our Saguaros Replanting Event & Veteran’s Day Weekend Celebration.⁠

125 volunteers, including 18 youth volunteers, helped us plant 100 1ft & 2ft saguaros in the 2020 Bush Fire burn scar at Four Peaks on the Tonto National Forest. ⁠Saguaros were purchased at a deep discount from Arizona Wholesale Growers through a grant we received from Wells Fargo.

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 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.

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.

This EVENT was financed by a grant from Wells Fargo & a Veterans Grant from the U.S. Forest Service

We would like to thank our Sponsors for their support of this event: AZ 4Runner Outsiders, Arizona Toy Pros, Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co., Arizona Wholesale Growers, Battle Born Offroad, Beer Barn, Desert Monsters Tours, HDR, Icon Vehicle Dynamics, Illuminated Funds Group, Native Resources, Nitro Gear & Axle, OdySea Aquarium Foundation, Resolution Copper, Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch, Salt River Project, Security Title Agency, State 48 Overland, Stellar Adventures, Victory 4x4, Wild West Off-Road Recovery, and Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative.

Thank you to Cody from CVC Photography for donating his time and services. We want to recognize and thank Stellar Adventures for donating the delivery & use of their portable bathrooms.

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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 through a grant from the the National Forest Foundation. Thank you to Bec & Julia from the Tonto National Forest Service for bringing it out to the event for us!