FRIENDS OF SABINO CANYON

Board of Directors

PO Box 31265

Tucson, AZ 85751

9/2/08

Dear Board Members,

Please consider the following grant request from Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists and the USFS Santa Catalina Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest:

THE PROGRAM TO BRING “GIANT REED GRASS” (ARUNDO DONAX) UNDER CONTROL

IN SABINO CANYON RECREATION AREA

THE DANGER

In recent years Giant Reed Grass (Arundo donax), an aggressive, non-native plant that comes from Eurasia, has quickly spread up and down lower Sabino Canyon and now dominates native plants in the area immediately above Sabino Lake Dam. Arundo is one of the fastest growing land plants in the world and can grow 4-inches in a day and up to 30-feet tall. It uses as much as four times more water than any native plant.

The primary problem with Arundo is that it crowds out Sabino Creek’s native plants, displacing the food and shelter to which the native wildlife are adapted. It can turn a diverse natural habitat into a monoculture. Without aggressive eradication efforts Arundo may, in a relatively short time, dominate the Sabino Creek streambed as Arundo now dominates California’s Santa Ana watershed and the lower Rio Grande in Texas.

THE OPPORTUNITY

This fall, the U.S. Forest Service Coronado Ranger District will begin a program to control Arundo in Sabino Canyon Recreation Area acting on its Sept. 2004 “Environmental Assessment for the Invasive Exotic Plant Management Program” for Coronado National Forest, which specifies a method for controlling Arundo in Sabino Canyon.

The Arizona Master Watershed Steward program, Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists and Arizona Rivers, all of which collaborated on a pilot project to remove Arundo in Sabino in 2007, will organize and supervise the large volunteer workforce necessary to complete the program.

THE PLAN

The major effort will occur on successive Sunday mornings in November when teams of volunteers will “grub out” small stands of Arundo and remove the rhizomes--or horizontal roots through which Arundo spreads. Volunteers will also cut and bundle stalks of larger Arundo stands preparatory to application of the wetlands-approved herbicide glyphosate by certified USFS personnel. Bundled stalks will then be removed by the USFS. In the weeks that follow the remaining Arundo rhizomes, which will begin to rot, will be dug out by volunteers for disposal.

·  Glyphosate (trade name Rodeo) will be applied by trained professionals (not volunteers) directly to the cut Arundo stumps. The Environmental Assessment notes, the herbicide is “practically non-toxic to aquatic organisms …” and “… little or no on-site effects are anticipated, no downstream effects are expected …”. Because plants and animals have different metabolic pathways, there is low risk to wildlife and humans.

·  The USFS intends to reintroduce the endangered Gila topminnow in lower Sabino Canyon and control of Arundo will be necessary for its success. Sabino’s endangered Gila chub occurs only at bridge five and above, out of the treatment area.

Killing back the Arundo crowding out native plants will allow native vegetation to return into areas once dominated by Arundo and will restore more natural channel conditions that support a diversity of wildlife.

TENTATIVE TIMELINE

• September—Josh Taiz, USFS biologist completes supplemental biological assessment.

• October—Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists and others are trained as team leaders.

• November—Successive cut-and-bundle events in preparation for USFS Rodeo application.

• November and after—cut out stands that come back, dig out rhizomes.

THE FUTURE

Ongoing Arundo control efforts in Sabino Canyon Recreation Area will be essential. We are soliciting $1,120 in donations for tools for volunteers. A group of Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists will specifically address the threat of Arundo in the canyon on an ongoing basis and, because Arundo does not respect property lines, will help organize removal efforts using these tools beyond the USFS boundary as well, such as downstream in the Rillito and Santa Cruz Rivers.

• With forward-looking habitat stewardship and protection, lower Sabino Canyon can eventually become a showcase for all of the region’s native aquatic wildlife.

—REQUEST FOR DONATION—

10—2.5 lb pick mattock @ $22 = $220

5—1.5 lb. tiller mattock @ $15 = 75

8—Long-handled shovels @ $20 = 160

10—Powerlevel bypass lopper @ $30 = 300

10—Powergear bypass lopper @ $15 = 150

1—Roll of heavy duty twine @ $15 = 15

100 pairs—Wells Lamont roughout-palm heavy-duty work gloves @ $2 = 200

TOTAL REQUESTED = $1,120

Sincerely,

Phillip Bentley, President, Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists

Josh Taiz, Wildlife Biologist, USFS Santa Catalina Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest

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