Opt Outside for our 7th annual Save Our Saguaros Replanting Event

Opt Outside & Spend the Morning Planting Saguaros in a Section of the 2020 Bush Fire Burn Scar at Four Peaks on the Tonto National Forest.

Opt Outside & Join Natural Restorations, the U.S. Forest Service Tonto National Forest, AVNET, the National Forest Foundation, REI Co-Op, & Western Area Power Administration for the 7th annual Save Our Saguaros Replanting Event & Veterans Day Celebration.

In 2020, the Bush Fire consumed over 193,000 acres on the Tonto National Forest. Unfortunately, most of the fire occurred in the Sonoran Desert, an ecosystem that has not evolved or adapted to wildfires. With the impact to over 80,000 iconic saguaros, Natural Restorations is dedicated to the long-term efforts to restore & revegetate the Bush Fire burn scar. A portion of this region includes over 85 acres of habitat surrounding the base of the Four Peaks Mountains; on 11/14, you have the opportunity to replant saguaros in the burn scar & help ensure future generations can enjoy what makes the Sonoran Desert so unforgettable.

Sign-in: 8:30-9 a.m. | Safety Briefing: 9:00 a.m. | Event Ends: 12:00p.m. with a free raffle for volunteers!

DIRECTIONS:

We are meeting in the 3rd staging/parking area at Four Peaks:

Four Peaks is east of Bush Highway on the Bee-line Highway on the way to Payson. You will see a green sign that says Four Peaks with a right turn arrow and we will have a Natural Restorations Volunteer Event sign at the turn off. Make a right onto Cline Cabin/4 Peaks Road. Drive past the open gate onto the dirt road and follow the road past the main staging area, past the 2nd staging area, until you arrive at the 3rd staging area. Make a right into the 3rd staging area; look for our flags, signs, & shade tents. Watch for volunteers and drive with caution. We may have a military veteran from our team helping direct traffic, they will be wearing high-vis, long sleeve Natural Restoration shirts.

GPS Coordinates: 33.666674, -111.474159

Plug the GPS coordinates above into your phone or mapping system.

Do not use the EventBrite map to get there, it will send you to the wrong location. Use the GPS coordinates above to past into Google Maps to get to the event staging location. Check out the map below to ensure your map system is taking you to the right area.

You do not need an OHV (off-highway vehicle), 4x4 , or high clearance vehicle to participate. The road to the 3rd staging lot sign-in table in is graded but very wash boarded so drive slowly & carefully, especially if you're in a car.

Once you park, please walk over to the tents where we will have a walk-up registration. We will ask for your name to cross reference with registration; this event has limited spots for participation; once the event fills up, we will not be adding more or taking additional volunteers. Please DO NOT show up if event registration is full; we limit participation to give everyone in attedance a chance to actually plant saguaros instead of flooding the event with hundreds of volunteers & you never get the opportunity to plant one.

Everyone will be required to fill out or turn in a Natural Restorations liability waiver to participate. After you turn in your paperwork/sign-in, everyone will hang out in the main staging area until the safety briefing & game plan for the morning at 9am.

Tonto Recreation Pass: You do NOT need one for this location.

Youth volunteers: anyone under 18 years old must be accompanied & supervised during the entire event by a parent, guardian, or adult group leader.

******We strongly encourage parents, guardians, & adult group leaders to use their best judgment on whether or not a child should be working around and/or with saguaros. The desert landscape is very unforgiving & there are a lot of spiky /pokey cactus, plants, & trees throughout our replanting area. We will be working with a variety of saguaro sizes from 1-foot up to 4.5-foot tall saguaros for this event.**********

If you need youth registration paperwork ahead of time for parent/guardian signatures, please email Nicole at [email protected]

Snacks: We will have light snacks for volunteers, including apples & bananas. If you have dietary restrictions, we recommend bringing a snack with you. You can always bring a cooler with snacks & beverages to leave in your vehicle.

If you or your organization would like to donate breakfast, lunch, or snacks to volunters, please contact us (info below).

Bathrooms: Stellar Adventrues is donating the use of their bathrooms, they will be onsite during the replaning in our staging area. Thank you Stellar Adventures!!!

Free Volunteer Raffle: We are hosting a free volunteer raffle at 12pm for participating volunteers. Everyone will receive a raffle ticket at sign-in, must be present to win. We have some awesome prizes donated from REI Co-Op and we'll be giving away some Natural Restorations merch.

If you or your organization would like to donate to the raffle, please contact us (info below).

What to wear: Check the forecast & dress accordingly. Please wear clothing & shoes that can get dirty. Wear long pants, thick-sole & closed toe sturdy shoes (no flipflops/sandals), a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen or UPF clothing.

What to bring: We strongly suggest that you come prepared. If you want to plant saguaros, please bring a set of thick leather work gloves to protect your hands (leather gloves are necessary when working with cacti). We will have some adult-size gloves on hand for volunteers to borrow while supplies last.

***Bring a reusable water bottle or hydration pack, we will have water coolers for you to refill your bottles and packs. We will also have ice cold NA's from Athletic Brewing Co. for volunteers 21 & up to enjoy.

Additional items that are extremely helpful for replanting but not necessary:

*Kevlar Reinforced Leather Gloves - these are the gloves we use on our replanting projects to provide better protection for our hands & forearms. If you plan to attend replanting events with us frequently &/or want to ensure you can carry saguaros, you may want to invest in a pair. We like using the RAPICCA Animal Handling Gloves Bite Proof Kevlar Reinforced Leather Padding gloves available on Amazon. These gloves are what we will provide volunteers until we run out.

*Knee Pads - a lot of replanting work is spent with your knees on the ground. Knee pads or a pad for your knees can help protect you from rocks & cactus needles, and provide cushion for your knees.

*If you bring any of your own tools, put masking tape with your phone number on them so that we can get them back to you if you get separated.

If you have any other questions, please click on the CONTACT button at the bottom of this page or email Nicole at [email protected]