Volunteer Events
Join us for National Public Lands Day- Saturday, September 24th
April 30th, 2010
For Immediate Release.
Contacts: Lahsha Brown, Executive Director, Friends of Ironwood Forest, 520-256-7884
John Scheuring, 520-404-6758
Volunteer Efforts at Ironwood Forest National Monument Give Hope Against Buffelgrass
This project has nearly eradicated buffelgrass from the Waterman Mountains following a concerted three-
year effort aimed at completely controlling the species in this area by the end of 2010. In recognition of the
remarkable success of this project, lead volunteer, John Scheuring and the Friends of Ironwood Forest have
been selected to receive the BLM’s 2010 “Making a Difference” National volunteer award.
Friends of Ironwood Forest developed a “Save the Watermans” campaign to target the spread of buffelgrass
in this highly vulnerable and biologically important area. Combining on-the-ground surveys of existing
conditions, GPS mapping, and research data, the Friends campaign is designed to quickly and repeatedly
remove buffelgrass through a concentrated and orchestrated group of intensive projects, or “pulls”. The
Friends organized volunteers from various communities around the Monument and to date 14 different
“pulls” have been completed.
“We bit off a piece of the pie that we could chew and swallow”, said John Scheuring, lead volunteer and
organizer of the “Save the Waterman’s” campaign. “The success of this project is partly because the BLM
was willing to reach out and utilize volunteers and expertise. The BLM supported our efforts to give this
approach a try, and it worked”, he continued.
This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the designation of Ironwood Forest National Monument, an
incredible landscape recognized for its rugged scenery, biological diversity and cultural legacy located 25
miles northwest of Tucson. These 129,000 acres contain several desert mountain ranges including the Silver
Bell, Sawtooth, and Waterman ranges, and the iconic Ragged Top Mountain, and a significant system of
cultural and historic sites covering a 5,000-year period. The Monument protects the highest density of
Ironwood trees recorded in the Sonoran Desert, an enormously important protector of species diversity. The
Monument is also home to threatened and endangered species; including Nichols Turk’s head cactus, lesser
long-nosed bat, and the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl; and provides biological corridors to other areas as
part of the countywide Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.
Although fire has always played some natural and historic role in the Sonoran Desert, the lack of substantial
amounts of fuels limited the effects of fire on the landscape. Many desert trees, shrubs, and cacti, including
saguaros and ironwood, are not fire-adapted and cannot withstand fires. In the last two decades, buffelgrass,
a fire adapted, perennial bunch grass introduced from the African savannah, has taken a tenacious hold on
the fragile desert plant community with alarming consequences. The Monument is no exception. In fact
“Buffelgrass poses the greatest risk to the Ironwood Forest National Monument through increased risk of
catastrophic fire and crowding out of native vegetation.” (BLM FY 2009 Ironwood Forest National
Monument Manager’s Report)
Lahsha Brown, Executive Director of Friends of Ironwood Forest commented, “This project involved
hundreds of volunteer hours, for which we are extremely grateful. In the coming year, we hope to increase
the number of volunteers that help us protect the Monument. We can use everyone’s support.”
Bob Abbey, Director of the Bureau of Land Management, will honor John Scheuring and Friends of
Ironwood Forest locally on June 5th, at the 10th Anniversary celebration of Ironwood Forest National
Monument. The celebration is at Heritage Highlands at Dove Mountain and will feature well-known author
Gary Paul Nabhan as the keynote speaker. The event is from 5 to 8 pm and will be open to the public. More
information is available at www.ironwoodforest.org or by calling the Friends office at 628-2092.
Ironwood trees are some of the longest living plants in the Sonoran Desert, living up to 1,200 years. They
are extremely slow growing and are one of the largest desert plants, reaching heights up to 45 feet.
Ironwood trees play a critical role in the lives of over 640 other species of plants and animals in the Sonoran
Desert. Ironwood trees are recognized as a keystone species, enriching ecosystem function in a unique and
significant manner through their activities, and the effect is disproportionate to their numerical abundance.
Their removal initiates changes in ecosystem structure and often loss of diversity. Ironwood trees act as
“nurse” plants, sheltering and nurturing a wide variety of other plants including the stately Saguaro cacti.
Friends of Ironwood Forest is a local membership-based, non-profit organization dedicated to the
permanent protection of the biological, geological, archaeological, and historical resources and values for
which the Ironwood Forest National Monument was established through education, community outreach,
service projects and advocacy. Formed in 2007, Friends of Ironwood Forest (Friends) are the only
organization dedicated entirely to the protection of the Monument and its resources.
The Friends provide critical volunteer labor for projects on the Monument, working with the BLM and
many other partners including Sonoran Desert Weedwackers, Arizona Native Plant Society, and local
hiking clubs. Frequent volunteer projects include trash pick-up, removal of invasive species like
buffelgrass, restoration of illegally created roads, replacing vandalized signs, and monitoring resource
conditions. These service projects have resulted in hundreds of hours of restoration work, as well as
additional funds to manage the landscape.
The Monument is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and is part of the National
Landscape Conservation System (NLCS). With over 28 million acres of nationally significant landscapes,
the NLCS joins the existing National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges as another way to protect and
enjoy areas with outstanding cultural, ecological and scientific importance.