Alumni, Family and Friends
Event details: Friday, March 1 & Friday, March 8, 2024 | 8 am-12 pm both dates | W Gates Pass Road, Tucson, AZ (Exact location to be determined)
Learn more: Invasive buffelgrass is a significant threat facing our beautiful Sonoran Desert community – both natural and urban areas alike. Buffelgrass is a fire-adapted, aggressively growing grass from Africa that was introduced in the early 1920s and 30s. Buffelgrass outcompetes native plants, monopolizing water, nutrients, and even sunlight as it grows into a tall, thick clump. Each clump can produce thousands and thousands of seeds. The fact that buffelgrass displaces our beautiful native plants is bad – but even worse is the fire threat that it poses. During the dry months buffelgrass goes dormant turning into a golden brown, tinder-dry clump. These large clumps ignite easily and they burn incredibly hot, over 1600 degrees – enough to melt most metal! There are two ways to effectively kill buffelgrass: manually remove it or treat it with an herbicide – and monitor the area for at least 2-3 years to remove any regrowth. This project will focus on manual removal. Digging up buffelgrass clumps is a highly effective way of killing buffelgrass.
Volunteers are invited to a morning of hiking (about 0.5 miles) and pulling out invasive buffelgrass. We will be working in the sun, often on rocky slopes and there are cactus. Tools and gloves will be provided. Special thanks to project sponsor, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Children 8 and older are welcome; you know your child(ren), so if they're willing and able, bring them along! Bring a full, refillable water bottle, a snack, and a pack to carry everything in. We strongly encourage the use of non-disposable water bottles as a pro-environmental measure. Stay cool, but protected from the sun and cacti; wear good hiking shoes, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Project is rain or shine; no cancellations unless weather is severe. There are no bathroom facilities nearby.
Your site leader will communicate with volunteers to determine a convenient place where folks can meet to carpool together.
Sign up: Registration has closed.
Meet your project leader: SNHU employee and alum Sterling Rose '22G is your volunteer project leader for this event. If you have general questions about SNHU Global Days of Service, please contact Alumni Engagement. Check out more ways to get engaged with the SNHU community!
Share your story: Remember to use #ServeWithSNHU to join the movement and share your experience on social media. Please report your hours served and provide us with more details on the Share My Story page.
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