Buffelgrass bugging Sahuarita

It looks harmless and has been responsible in part for the success of cattle ranching in the region, but it turns out that buffelgrass just isn’t very good for our environment, so it’s starting to attract the attention of the Town of Sahuarita.

“It seems to be choking out other native plants,” said Dave Burnett, in his fifth year as street superintendent for the town after a 25-year career in civil and residential construction.

“It grows under trees and around cacti and would kill plants if ignited,” he said, adding that it also is a potential fire threat to private property.

The African grass was introduced to this area about 70 to 80 years ago for erosion control and as a food source for cattle.

Strategic control plan

Burnett has been studying the problem through the environmental science department at the University of Arizona over the past year in the wake of announcements, mostly in Tucson, of a five-year Southern Arizona Buffelgrass Strategic Plan for controlling it.

Several meetings, closel covered by media, have been controversial regarding the best way to attack the pesky plant.

The Sahuarita town manager’s office directed Burnett to draft his own strategic plan for eradication here.

He says he has considered several options, but you can’t burn it or try to control it because the plant would survive.

“We found that the pulling of the plant is too difficult, given our soil conditions,” he said, plus it’s not very cost-effective given the necessary manpower.

Limited spraying tests

So, the decision has been made to begin spraying on a limited basis in areas of low infestation to test for negative effects and to determine if it’s an effective and safe way to eradicate.

There are apparently no known biological methods of control available.

He said the chemical to be used — glyphosate, the active ingredient in the common herbicide Roundup — should present no harm to other plants or animals or adversely affect run-off.

“I know people are concerned about this,” Burnett said, adding that residents can call him at 344-7100.

“Whatever we do, we’ll be as careful as we can.”

Licensed technicians will spray on a plant-by-plant basis — no broadcast spraying, he said.

Starting this fall

The plan is to begin in early fall, first at locations along Nogales Highway, Duval Mine Road and the Quail Creek area, where there are two to three plants per 100 square feet. After assessing the cost and effects, they’ll continue in 2010 in other places.

“We are going to outlying areas first,” Burnett emphasized, “least-infested gradually to more infested.”

He encourages homeowners to begin looking around their property.

“I’d like to get the word out there to homeowners to look at their common areas and contact their HOA.”

He admitted that the plant is tough to get rid of, since more and more of it multiplies, but he’s confident the fire hazard especially can be reduced significantly.

“Where we’re able to, we’d like to have it to a manageable state in five years.”

Burnett believes that because encroaching development over the years has pushed cattle and wildlife farther away, the plant has been allowed to flourish as a result.

There seems to be no question that it has taken over in the Sonoran Desert, with rapid unchecked growth spurts in the 1980s and ’90s until experts began to realize it was becoming a fire hazard and a threat to plants, which is ultimately adversely affecting wildlife as well.

There’s more information at www.buffelgrass.org.

Green Valley resident Mike Touzeau is a freelance writer for the Green Valley News and Sahuarita Sun.