Rewilding Arizona

Summary: What happens after a wildfire burns through our desert? Volunteers help restore it! Join Cheryl and Kiersten as they discuss some great volunteer programs helping the Arizona desert rewild itself.

 

For our hearing impaired listeners, a transcript of this podcast follows the show notes on Podbean.

 

Show Notes:

www.naturalrestorations.org/lower-salt-river-restoration-2022

 

https://www.friendsofthetontonationalforest.org/projects

 

https://www.knau.org/knau-and-arizona-news/2021-11-12/national-forest-nears-end-of-seed-planting-project-to-defend-against-parasitic-mistletoe

Background bird song:  Naturescapes Backyard Birds www.naturescapes.com

 

Our email address, please reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions: thefeathereddesert@gmail.com

 

Transcript

Host Voice: Welcome to The Feathered Desert’s What’s That Bird? A three-minute glimpse into the birds we share this amazing desert landscape with.

 

Cheryl Intro:

         I picked up a wilderness/wildlife conservation magazine the other day, and found it filled with amazing people doing amazing things to help their wilderness areas in their states, especially after the wild fires we have had in the west in the last few years.  Without reforesting and replanting of our wild areas after intense fire storms well birds and people would be in trouble.  So, I wanted to know what was happening in my state of Arizona?  I was pleasantly surprised by what I uncovered when I went looking for the unsung heroes/heroines of restoration. 

 

         Kiersten:  Let’s start with the Lower Salt River Restoration project.  Now we have talked about the restoration of the Verde River up by Cottonwood, (Earth Day Podcast), shared information about the San Pedro River, and the actions being taken to protect it (Southeastern Region of Arizona Podcast) now it is time to give some notice to the Salt River. 

 

         The Salt River is about 200 miles long and it flows through eastern Arizona starting at Roosevelt Lake.  It makes it way through the mountains to Apache Lake, then Canyon Lake, and finally Saguaro Lake.  Then lower Salt River weaves it way through Mesa, Tempe, and then south Phoenix. The Salt River provides metropolitan Phoenix area with up to 60% of its irrigation and drinking water needs.  The Salt River is home to wildlife and bird life and wild horses. It is known for the outdoor activities like kayaking, fishing, hiking, and tubing.

 

         In 2017, a fire burned the lower Salt River on the Tonto national Forest.  The fire lasted 4 days and burned 800 acres.  It was spurned on by invasive plant species such as tamarisk, which had been established in the area for decades.  Seeing a need a volunteer organization called Natural Resources.org was started in 2017.  With the help of U.S. Forest Service staff this volunteer group has removed 1,489 million pounds (744 tons) of trash, removed 41,950 square feet of graffiti off of rocks and boulders from the lower Salt River wilderness areas.  This group launched a replanting program in 2020 and they have planted more than 27,900 tree & cacti in the Salt River wilderness areas.

 

         Cheryl: There are erosion and soil mitigation projects going on in the Tonto National Forest starting in spring.  Boyce Thompson Arboretum-near Superior has a replanting program within the property around it to help with erosion after the fires in 2021.  I did find one reforesting project that is in its final phase in the Tonto National Forest. The U.S. Forest service is continuing a project to plant 500 Southwestern White Pine Seedlings on the Pleasant Valley Ranger District.  The U.S. Forest Service says the 25-acre project is part of a management plan to treat dwarf mistletoe, a parasitic plant native to western forests.  It’s been infecting Ponderosa Pine Trees within the Colcord Campground area.  150Ponderosa Pines are lightly to moderately infected and 350 trees are severely infected.  Dwarf mistletoe survives only on living trees by taking water and nutrients from them often leading to the tree’s death.  The newly planted southwestern White Pines aren’t susceptible to the mistletoe infection.

        

 

Ponderosa Pines’ can not catch a break between fires, drought and dwarf mistletoe…what’s a pine tree to do?  Alright, I found a group that has some truly outstanding projects going on and they are always looking for volunteers.

 

Kiersten:  Friends of the Tonto National Forest, is a volunteer organization that truly works hard for our wild life and wilderness areas. 

 

         One of the projects they have under their organizations watchful eye is Milkweed for Monarchs.  The project’s goal is to assist the Tonto National Forest staff create habitat for monarch butterflies.  A key element in the life of Monarch Butterflies is the milkweed plant.  This project focuses on the cultivation of native milkweeds in designated areas.

 

  The plan is to help Monarchs (and other butterflies) by planting native milkweed plants.  Monarchs have an international migration from Canada to Mexico, so Arizona is a small part of a much larger picture.  In order to establish monarch breeding habitat and support migrating monarch butterflies, friends of the Tonto National Forest work with forest service staff to plant milkweed in select locations.

 

 These plantings started in 2016 and they currently have nearly 200 milkweed plants growing in the Mesa and Cave Creek Ranger districts of the Tonto National Forest.  Milkweed seedlings are grown each summer by the volunteers, planted on the Tinto National Forest in November and are watered during their first year.  Every spring and fall trained volunteers monitor the milkweed for butterfly eggs, larvae, pupae and adults (Monarchs).  The findings are reported to the Monarch Larva Monitoring project, a national database used y scientific researchers from many fields.

 

Cheryl: Riparian Photo Point Program

         The first riparian specialist, hired by the Tonto National Forest knew the value of repeat photography in documenting resource conditions so 33 years ago he had the fore sight to initiate a riparian photo point program in 1988-finding important reaches of streamside vegetation and streambanks, annually, if possible, at the exact same sites each year.  Forest staff and researchers have come to depend on the information these photos provide-impacts by livestock, or improvement conditions through live stock management, wildlife impacts, results of flooding, firs and drought.  These photos provide documentation for resource conditions, which is used for natural resource management decisions.  While data is important, it’s true that nothing tells a story like a good photography.  Friends of Tonto National Forest runs the programs now is looking for volunteer photographers between the months of April to the end of June 2023.

 

         Kiersten:  Invasive Plant management is one many Friends of the Tonto National Forest support and help the U.S. Forest to reduce the fire risk in the Tonto National Forest.  This is done by mapping and removing plants that are not native to the Tonto National Forest, and monitoring the removal areas.

 

This project focuses on two prevalent species-Fountain grass and Buffel grass.  These plants are commonly found along roadsides and in home and business landscaping. Seeds are easily transported by wind, water, animals, vehicles, hikers, bikers, and equestrians.  By removing invasive plants, the volunteers are reducing the threat of wildfire to nearby communities. 

 

Historically, the Sonoran Desert portion of the Tonto National Forest was considered a low fire risk environment; lightening, and other natural causes could ignite a fire, but the natural spacing of the native plants generally carried low intensity fires and for short distances.  Most plants native to the Sonoran Desert, including the iconic Saguaro, are not fire adapted.  They do not recover from the effects of a fire.

 

         Cheryl- Closing:

When I stated my research for this podcast, I did not know what I would find. What I found was quite a few hard-working people who are working with each other, and governments on all levels to protect our amazing wilderness areas. When we protect wild places, we protect the wild life and bird life we so enjoy.  We benefit as well. Please check our show notes for the links to these volunteer organizations if you would like to participate or donate.  I know that I will be out there doing my part in 2023.