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Volunteer Opportunities
If you are interested in contributing your time and energy to buffelgrass control, there are a variety of ways in which you can get involved and help.
Set a good example by removing invasive species from your yard. Then encourage your neighbors and friends to do the same.
Schedule a buffelgrass presentation for your church, home owner's association, or other community group to learn more about what can be done. (520) 615-7855 or email the Pima County Environmental Education Department
Volunteer at SABCC if you would like to do office work, research or help with the mapping effort.
Participate in a volunteer weed pull. Weed pulls are regularly scheduled in a variety of locations and you may join in these efforts throughout the year. Click to see scheduled weed pulls: Buffelgrass Calendar
Volunteer Buffelgrass Weedwacking Groups in the Tucson Area- 2012
There are many groups throughout the region that pull buffelgrass. You can find a group (or groups) that work(s) in your area or an area you are interested in. New groups are forming all the time and we will post them here.
If you would like to form your own group and would like more information:
Please contact Marilyn Hanson
Other useful links can be found at the Arizona Native Plant Society Website
- Sonoran Desert Weedwackers/ Wednesday Weedwackers
- Saguaro National Park (Rincon Mountain District) Weedwackers
- Weed-Free Trails Program. SNP-E
- Tanque Verde Valley Weedwackers
- Tucson Clean & Beautiful
- Oro Valley Buffel Busters
- Marana Weedwackers
- Friends of Ironwood
- Neighborhood Weedwacking Groups in Tucson
- Phoenix Weedwackers
- Pima County Buffelgrass Education Outreach Program
- Outside groups helping the Sonoran Desert Weedwackers
Sonoran Desert Weedwackers/ Wednesday Weedwackers
Organized in September 2000. Wednesday Weedwackers started in February of 2007.
Originally the Weedwackers were working with the support from the Desert Museum. Since 2005, Pima County has been helping with publicity. Pima County started supplying van transportation, bags, tools and gloves since 2002. The Arizona Native Plant Society has supported the Weedwackers from the beginning paying for brochures and road signs. Now the Weedwackers could not continue without the support of Pima County personnel. Doug Siegel with the help of a County Temp employee provides van transportation and considerable time to continue this effort.
Average Number of Volunteers per Saturday event: depends on the season, 20-40 during the school year, 10-15 during the summer, 470 people on the elist.
Wednesday Weedwackers: between 8-12 volunteers. These folks are regulars!
Monthly Reconnaissance: Mike Bauer and Doug Siegel have been mapping the presence of buffelgrass throughout TMP since 2001. Marilyn Hanson has mapped all of these data in Google Maps. Aaryn Olsson is a collaborator with these maps and has access to the data.
Meeting Time: Third Saturday on each month, second and fourth Wednesday of each month
Location of pulls: Tucson Mountain Park. the initial work was done around the Desert Museum, clearing all of the washes above and below the Museum. The group then concentrated on the roadsides throughout the park. Since 2007, most of the effort has been clearing large infestations on the upper slopes of Tucson Mountains. Much time has been spent in 2006 and 2008 clearing a huge patch on the south face of Brown Mountain. Six months in 2007-2008 volunteers cleared the Trail’s End Wash, which was completely choked with fountain and buffelgrass. In March of 2009 weedwackers found the wash mostly clear of invasive grasses.
The Wednesday Weedwackers climb higher and work longer. They tackle the hard spots that would be difficult for the Saturday volunteers. Since September 2007, they have been working on the south-facing slope of Bushmaster Peak. They continue to remove patches of buffelgrass from that slope.
Seven miles of washes have been monitored in Spring 2008. The washes are mostly clear of invasive grasses, verifying that manual digging and bagging has been effective.
A total of 4800 volunteers (some individuals have been working for years) have worked for 17,000 hours for a value of $340,000 at the current Federal volunteer hourly rate. An estimated 160 tons of invasive grasses have been removed.
Contacts:
Marilyn Hanson
Doug Siegel
- Natural Resource Specialist
- Pima County Natural Resources Parks & Recreation
- 520-877-6063
- Dsiegel@pima.gov
Data points showing the activity of the Sonoran Desert Weedwackers (2000-2008)
Saguaro National Park (Rincon Mountain District) Weedwackers
Organized in October 2007.
Average Number of Volunteers per event: 12 with an active group of approximately 40 volunteers.
Meeting Time: every second Saturday of the month from Sept-May
Location of pulls: The group has worked on Hope Camp trail, Camino Loma Alta trailhead, Freeman Homestead, Javelina Picnic Area. There are group volunteer pulls with organizations (TEP, Citi Group, St. Gregory’s Prep School), with Boy Scout Eagle projects, and with special events (Public Lands Day, Earth Day, Beat Back Buffelgrass Day, etc.). Some of these volunteer pulls occur at the Tucson Mountain District of Saguaro National Park.
The SNP-E Weedwackers have removed approximately 35 acres of buffelgrass from Saguaro National Park, contributing over 2000 hours of volunteer labor. On average, they have a turnout of approximately 12 volunteers each month, including several regulars who attend the buffelgrass pulls on a monthly basis.
Organized in February of 2008
Number of Volunteers: Fifteen individuals attended the 12 hour training and orientation. There are 10 active volunteers monitoring trails and washes.
The goal of this program is for volunteers to monitor the trails, mapping and removing exotic plants from these corridors and fulfilling the goal of “Early Detection, Rapid Response”. Weed-Free Trails. Volunteers contributed 222 hours in 2008. In FY09, seven volunteers became active in the program and surveyed almost all of the trails at Rincon Mountain District twice to account for various germination events. They removed 7.2 gross acres of invasive plants, and contributed approximately 1,050 hours to this effort. In FY10 there has been an increase in efforts at the Tucson Mountain District where monitoring and removal are sorely needed.
Volunteers must attend an orientation on:
Expectations of volunteers - tracking hours, Plant ID, Data collection and recording, GPS training, Outreach training, Cultural training, Radio & Safety training
Contact:
Bethany Hontz
- Saguaro National Park
- 520-733-5187
Tanque Verde Valley Weedwackers
Organized in January 20, 2008.
Currently, TVV Weedwackers is working under the auspices of Tucson Clean and Beautiful to pull grasses within the Tanque Verde Valley that are also within the City of Tucson. Tucson Clean and Beautiful supplies tools, vests, road signs, bags, and provides the sites where we work, and arranges with the City of Tucson for pickup of bagged buffelgrass. Recently, a sign was placed recognizing TVV Weedwackers’ "home base" on Irvington Road at Pantano Road.
Average Number of Volunteers per event: 10 with an active group of 25 volunteers. 70 people in the elist.
Meeting Time: every first Saturday of the month
Location of pulls: The group has worked on three sites, Irvington Road between Pantano and Camino Seco, the Atterbury Wash at Escalante Road between Le Beaux Place and Sarnoff Road, north to Stella Road and Camino Seco from Golf Links toward Irvington.
Contact:
Ann Hollis
- E-mail ANN
Tucson Clean & Beautiful, Inc. (TCB) is a non-profit environmental education program addressing land stewardship, urban forestry, recycling and waste reduction, and natural resource conservation. Through its Adopt-a-Park & Public Areas volunteer program, it assists in coordinating ongoing, as well as one-time, litter cleanup and beautification projects. Tucson Clean & Beautiful encourages its litter cleanup groups to assist with buffelgrass removal, as well as assisting with one-time volunteer projects in urban natural spaces where buffelgrass is a concern. Tucson Clean and Beautiful supplies tools, vests, road signs, bags, and arranges for pickup of bagged litter/buffelgrass and other debris at designated locations as part of previously arranged volunteer sites. Trees for Tucson, also a program of Tucson Clean & Beautiful, provides low-cost trees for community volunteers to plant at public sites such as schools, neighborhood streets, parks, and washes, furthering the goals of helping to restore and beautify the natural characteristics of the site. TCB is developing protocols for trained volunteers to spray herbicide along roadways where weedwacker volunteers have removed buffelgrass.
Average Number of Volunteers per event: varies between 10 and 50+, depending on a combination of volunteers/group leaders, supplies, and appropriate sites.
Meeting Time: varies based on group leader interest/volunteer availability; many removal projects are included as part of larger cleanup and beautification efforts
Location of pulls: volunteer sites are typically at City of Tucson parks, streets, and washes; Pima County parks and washes
TCB has about 30 digging bars for loan.
Contact:
B.J. Cordova
- Director of Programs
- Tucson Clean & Beautiful
- P.O. Box 27210
- Tucson, AZ 85726
- (520) 791-3109 office
- (520) 622-7112 fax
- bj.cordova@tucsonaz.gov
Organized in July 2008.
Average Number of Volunteers per event: 10
Meeting Time: every second Saturday of the month
Location of pulls:
- Honeybee Canyon- 1 event
- Tangerine Road-La Cholla-Dove Mountain-2009 Beat Back BG Day
- Lambert Lane-River Walk Drive-3 events
- Canada del Oro Wash at La Canada/ W. Oak Shadow Dr.-5 events
- Naranja Drive- 2 events
Contacts:
Phil Trenary
- Public Works
- Operation Division Manager
- 680 W Calle Concordia
- Oro Valley, AZ 85704
- 520-229-4868
- ptrenary@orovalleyaz.gov
Karn Boyce
- Water Conservation Specialist
- Oro Valley Water Utility
- 11000 N La Canada Dr.
- Oro Valley, AZ 85737
- 520-229-5024
- kboyce@orovalleyaz.gov
Carmen Ryan
- DPW ~ Senior Office Assistant
- 680 W Calle Concordia
- Oro Valley, AZ 85704
- 520-229-5070
- cryan@orovalleyaz.gov
Organized in December 2007.
Average Number of Volunteers per event: 6. Marana has a listserv of 42 people and sends out monthly reminders of pulls. This group has taken a break for the summer and plans to resume activity in September.
Location of pulls: Old Silverbell Road, Tangerine Road, linear park behind Coyote Trails School.
The Town of Marana also sprays roadside areas for buffelgrass when it is green and the O&M crew (including Department of Corrections) pulls buffelgrass when it is dry. Town field staff also maps buffelgrass as they find it during field visits.
Contact:
Janine Spencer
- Environmental Project Coordinator
- 11555 West Civic Center Drive
- Marana, AZ 85653
- 520-382-2658
Organized in March 2009
Sierra Club organized buffelgrass pulls at the illegal Harlow Jones airstrip site for the last three years. The group worked about twice a year, digging and bagging BG. The Sonoran Institute mapped some of the BG and Nichol’s Turk’s Head cacti on lower slopes in the area in 2007. BLM hired a commercial contract crew to spray Roundup on the main buffelgrass stand on and above the landing strip in August 2008. That effort will be repeated for the next two monsoon seasons to make sure the plants are eradicated.
FIF volunteers and the BLM/IFNM ranger scouted the upper slopes of the Northern Watermans in mid March 2009 and found BG patches on the upper slopes that had been seeded from the landing strip seed source. A systematic weekly plan was made to send "commando groups" over a 6 week period on Sundays to sweep the northern infested slopes of the Watermans between 26 April and 31 May, 2009. With this stepped up volunteer work on IFNM, BLM purchased additional tools and backpack sprayers.
Average Number of Volunteers: 14 on April 26, 2009,5-9 on commando efforts on high slopes in May. Sierra Club events usually had around 30 volunteers per BG pull.
Meeting time: initial event for BG eradication for Save the Watermans was 4/26/2009 with small groups working the following 4 Sundays
Location of pulls: Waterman Mountains in IFNM
Meeting point and time: 7am at the intersection of Avra Valley and Pump Station Roads
Future Plans: During monsoon 2009 FIF volunteers will spot spray Roundup along the edges of the airstrip in about a 24 acre area to kill BG that has escaped into adjacent and downslope drainages.In 2010, FIF will undertake buffelgrass eradication on the Waterman south slopes which are currently closed to the public due to illegal smuggling activity.
Contact:
John Scheuring
- Secretary- Friends of Ironwood Forest
- 520-404-6758
- Email: John@ironwoodforest.org
Neighborhood Weedwacking Groups in Tucson (Incomplete)
- La Paloma/Swan and Sunrise- There are neighborhood groups working on removing extensive buffelgrass patches in this area.
- Barrio Centro- persons working on Tucson Boulevard and 22nd Street.
- Campbell and north of Skyline- One person removing BG along the roadsides in this neighborhood.
- Caballo Rd. from Irvington to Holiday, Dakota from Caballo to Camino de Oeste- south of Hwy 86- neighbors digging and bagging BG.
- Pima Canyon Trailhead- neighbors dug out and bagged fountain grass and buffelgrass.
- Bopp Road- Local HOA removing BG along the roadsides and on private property.
Organized in December 2006
The Phoenix Weedwackers started work in the Piestewa Peak area of the Phoenix Mountain Preserves, an area where we remain part of the year due to the initial heavy infestation and fire danger. Our goal is to control buffel infestation in the heavily used, accessible areas of the preserve so as to not lose the quality and character of the desert, and to prevent any large fires from occurring. Tools, bags and gloves are supplied by the Weedwackers and the Phoenix Parks Department. The Parks Department also is responsible for removal of the bags. Through May of 2009 we have accumulated over 1800 volunteer hours and have removed over 3500 bags of buffel and fountain grass from the preserves.
Average Number of Volunteers per event: 20
Meeting Time: every second Saturday of the month, times vary by the season. The 2010 event hours from July onward are Jul-Aug 6-9 am, Sept-Oct 7-10 am and Nov-Mar of 2011 8-11 am.
Location of pulls: The group is currently working at Piestewa Peak as of July 2010. In the coming months our work locations may change to different parts of the parks so if you are not on the e-mail reminder list, please contact Claudia before showing up!!! (claudia@phoenixweedwackers.com)
To see past work events visit www.phoenixweedwackers.com
Contact:
Claudia Bloom
Pima County Buffelgrass Education Outreach Program
Organized in August 2007. 12 volunteers were trained; 4-6 are currently active. Another training session for Buffelgrass Outreach Volunteers is planned for late summer of 2009.
Meeting times: Trained volunteers speak to any group in the greater Tucson area. They deliver a “Buffelgrass in the Sonoran Desert” presentation that provides information on where the invasive grasses came from, why they are considered a serious threat, and what can be done to control them. Buffelgrass Outreach Volunteers also staff tables with buffelgrass samples and handouts at community events in Tucson.
Number of Events: From July of 2008 to May of 2009, 22 “Buffelgrass in the Sonoran Desert” presentations were given to a total of 480 people. Volunteers and staff provided Buffelgrass education materials and information at six community events, serving a total of 1315 people.
Contact:
Meg Quinn
- Pima County Natural Resources, Parks & Recreation, Environmental Education Team
- 3500 West River Road, Tucson, AZ 85741
- 520-615-7855
- Email: Meg.Quinn@pima.gov
Outside groups helping the Sonoran Desert Weedwackers
Outside groups-2009
- Marana High School- (7 volunteers) Brown Mountain- Y.A.Gonzales@maranausd.org
- Sunnyside HS- (10)(7) -Brown Mountain- ddamber@yahoo.com
- Innercity Outings (Sierra Club) Los Niños 5th graders-Brown Mountain-JudyM@susd12.org
- Maxwell Middle School-TUSD- Ironwood Picnic Area-Cheryl.Walling@tusd1.org
- Marana HS (3)- BBB-2009- dgapp@msn.com
- Picture Rocks Scout Troop (9 volunteers)
- UA Sch of Education-Alberto Arenas (20 volunteers)-Ironwood PA-South
- ASDM Coati Club- Robin Kropp (22 volunteers) –dump across from the Desert Museum
- ASDM Education staff (9 volunteers)
- ASDM docents (4)
- UA Landscape Architecture students (3)
- Amerischools Academy Middle School (57 kids+8 adults)
Outside Groups-2008
- Boy Scouts of America (12 volunteers/ 48 hours/Trail’s End wash)
- Hiking Club of America (8 volunteers/40 hours/Tucson Estates)
- Invasive Species Managers (17 volunteers/34 hours)
- Cholla High School (Trail’s End Wash)
- UA School of Education-students from Argentina, Chile and Uruguay (24 volunteers/3.5hrs)
- UA School of Education- students from South America- Bushmaster Peak
- Sierra Club (18 volunteers/8 hrs=144hrs) Bushmaster Peak
- Amerischools Academy (15 volunteers/3.5hrs=52.5 hrs/Prospector Trail)
- Amerischools Academy (19 volunteersx2hrs=36 hrs/King Canyon)
- University of Miami (9 volunteers x 2.5hrs=22.5/CAP canal)
- University of Miami (7 volunteers x4=28 hrs/Bushmaster Peak)
- Americorps (4 volunteers x7hrs=28hrs/TrEnd Wash&TusEst Ridge)
- SUNY Fredonia (14 volunteers /6hrs=84hrs/back of SASI)
- Tucson City School (13 volunteers /2.5 hrs=32.5/CAP canal)
Prior to 2008, students from Catalina Foothills and Tucson Magnet HS volunteered.
