News Release

USDA Forest Service

Coronado National Forest        

300 West Congress

Tucson, AZ 85701

www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado

 

Effective Immediately                                    CONTACT:      Heidi Schewel   (520) 237-4860

                                                                                                 (for news media use only)

 

FOREST SERVICE AND PARTNERS TO REMOVE

GIANT REED FROM SABINO CANYON

Volunteers Needed for Work Days Oct. 4 – March 7

 

 

TUCSON, AZ  (September 15, 2009) – On Sunday, October 4, the Coronado National Forest, Santa Catalina Ranger District, in partnership with local organizations and individuals, will kick off the continuation of public work days to remove the non-native invasive plant Arundo donax, (Giant Reed) from Sabino Canyon.  Volunteers should meet at 7:45 a.m. in front of the Sabino Canyon VisitorÕs Center, 5700 N. Sabino Canyon Road.

 

Giant Reed is an invasive plant from Eurasia which forms dense thickets which choke riversides and stream channels, crowd out native plants, and alter wildlife habitat and stream flow.  It readily invades riparian channels, where it competes with native species such as cottonwoods and willows, as it has done in Sabino Creek.

 

ÒWe have made significant progress in the eradication of this ecological threat to Sabino CanyonÓ said Stan Helin, Santa Catalina District Ranger.  ÒWe place high value on the assistance of our team of volunteers, without whose dedication this critical work could not have been accomplished.Ó

 

The effort was initiated during fall and winter of 2008/2009, when volunteers worked 2,842 hours to remove 617 40-gallon bags of roots and rhizomes and 895 bundles of canes from the canyon.  The workforce included individuals and organizations from throughout Tucson and Phoenix.

 

Work days this season will occur October 4 through March 7.  Volunteers are needed on the first Sunday of each month from 7:45 a.m. to noon to assist with removal of the plants, which entails cutting, bundling and hauling the stalks.  Volunteers can sign up for the work days by emailing tucson.arundo@gmail.com or calling Kendall at (520) 971-2385.

 

Partners include Arizona Rivers; Friends of Sabino Canyon; Master Watershed Stewards; Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation; Pima County Regional Flood Control District; the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists; Tucson Audubon Society, Tucson Clean and Beautiful and the University of Arizona/SAHRA .

 

Volunteers are advised to wear sturdy shoes or boots, long-sleeved shirt and pants, a hat, sunglasses or safety glasses.  Tools and gloves will be provided.  Parking for Arundo volunteers is free.  Volunteer windshield parking passes can be obtained at the registration table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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