Cactus Rescue Group Celebrates 20th Anniversary

TUCSON – A Tucson cactus rescue group that prevents death-by-urban-development of many species of cacti is celebrating its 20th anniversary Sat., Oct. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The free celebration will be held at the Pima Prickly Park at 3500 W. River Road and includes plant nursery tours and plant giveaways, games, music and food trucks.

The celebration also includes a 10:30 a.m. short program featuring Tucson Cactus and Succulent Society (TCSS) member remarks by President Dick Wiedhopf, Founder Chris Monrad, Rescue Coordinator Donna Ellis, Pima County’s Native Plant Nursery Manager and Member Jessie Byrd and Chuck Huckelberry, county administrator and member.

Pima County’s Native Plant Nursery and TCSS administer the cactus rescue program, which has since 1999 saved 98,094 cacti. “This work is critical to preserving the amazing existing species diversity in urban areas,” Byrd said in a media release, “because the number one threat to wild cactus all over the world, not just here in Tucson, is habitat loss to development.”

TCSS calls Pima Prickly Park home. The park is where the organization showcases the cacti it’s rescued or cacti donated by businesses or homeowners who preferred to have the plants moved rather than destroyed, according to TCSS boardmember and Volunteer Coordinator for Pima Prickly Park Linda Heisley. Her forearms show scars of dealing with thorny cacti over several years. “We always say, ‘It’s not a success rescue if you’re not bleeding,’” she added.

The Native Plant Nursery was created in 2000 by Pima County’s Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department to reduce urban development’s harm to native plants while adhering to the county’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan’s directives.

For more information on the cactus rescue group’s 20th anniversary celebration Saturday, email park@tucsoncactus.org or call 520-429-4162.