Friends of Ironwood Forest

Help us protect Ironwood Forest National Monument and an endangered cactus by joining FIF in participating in a volunteer service project sponsored by the Sierra Club near the Waterman Mountains.

The service project is set for Sunday, March 4, 2007 at 8am when we will be assisting the Bureau of Land Management with removing buffel grass, a non-native invasive grass, from a portion of the Ironwood Forest National Monument near Tucson. This 129,000-acre National Monument encompasses the Silver Bell, Ragged Top and Sawtooth Mountains and contains one of the richest stands of ironwood trees in the Sonoran Desert. Ironwood Forest National Monument is also home to the Nichol Turk’s Head Cactus, an endangered species.

We will remove the buffel grass with picks – large and small – and bag it for disposal. The plan is to work for about three or four hours, have a lunch break, and finish up no later than 2pm. There will be an orientation session on identifying the grass and how to safely remove it, plus a briefing on the monument and the vegetation. The Sierra Club will provide lunch. Please bring water, a hat, sunscreen, some work gloves, and lots of energy.

There will be a contingent driving down from Phoenix, so contact us for details. For more information on the project and to r.s.v.p. contact Sandy Bahr at (602) 253-8633 or sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org.