REPLANTING THE DESERT TO PREVENT NEW TRAILS & STAGING AREAS
As a result of the 2020 Bush Fire, people started blazing their own trails in areas previously covered in vegetation. They began taking their trucks and OHV’s into desert areas that were previously blocked by saguaros, ocotillo, hedgehog, barrel, prickly pear and teddy bear and staghorn cholla.
In a short period of time the area no longer looked natural and people were driving farther and farther into the desert, causing more damage and destruction. The area quickly started to look like another road with a parking area. The U.S. Forest Service Tonto National Forest quickly recognized the problem and put a fence up to prevent additional damage as we prepared for replanting.
Our Dedicated Restoration Team replanted the area at Lower Sycamore during this grant project. We planted the most difficult and painful to move through cacti closest to the road; teddy bear and staghorn cholla. Our hope is that cholla will discourage anyone from trying to cut the fence and cause more damage to the desert. We moved farther away from the road with ocotillo, hedgehog, and barrels. We placed saguaros farther away from the road to provide more protection from people and vehicles.
CLICK ON A PICTURE FOR FULL-SIZE IMAGE GALLERY.
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
BEFORE
AFTER
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 for this project because it rained sufficiently during both project weeks. We will continue to monitor the area and water as needed if we do not get sufficient rain.
