This project was a combined effort in partnership with grants & donations from the U.S. Forest Service Southwestern Region (RAC Grant), the National Forest Foundation, Arizona 4Runner Outsiders, AVNET, the Arizona Community Foundation through the Helen Dyar King Fund, Arizona Financial Credit Union, & SRP.
the 2020 Bush Fire
On June 13th, 2020 an individual driving south on SR87 from Payson to Phoenix, noticed their car was overheating and smoke was coming out from underneath. They pulled off the highway to safely inspect the vehicle, but they pulled onto dry grass and the heat from the brakes sparked the 5th largest wildfire in Arizona history.
Years of extreme drought and increased fuel loads (largely made up of non-native, invasive weeds and shrubs) carried the flames through 193,455 acres of the Tonto National Forest. It devastated multiple ecosystems at Lower Sycamore and in the Four Peaks Wilderness Area as the fire burned over the top of Four Peaks and back down towards Roosevelt Lake. 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 and revegetate the Bush Fire burn scar.
XXX Cacti salvaged from WAPA Transmission Lines, XX Purchased
XXX cacti replanted in the 2020 bush fire burn scar
XXX saguaros replanted in the burn scar
??? saguaro, hedgehog, barrel, prickly pear, ocotillo, & SEVERAL varieties of cholla
This project was a combined effort in partnership with grants and donations from the U.S. Forest Service Southwestern Region (RAC Grant), the National Forest Foundation, Arizona 4Runner Outsiders, AVNET, the Arizona Community Foundation through the Helen Dyar King Fund, Arizona Financial Credit Union, and SRP.
Through this grant, our Dedicated Restoration Team salvaged XXXX cacti, including XXX saguaros from WAPA transmission lines. We also had the opportunity to purchase XXX saguaros with grant funding; ******we purchased saguaros from AZ Wholesale Growers, Acacia Nursery, & Windmill Ranch*******. We planted XXXX cacti, including XXXXX saguaros in the 2020 Bush Fire burn scar at Four Peaks & Lower Sycamore.
This project provided XXXXX hours of work to Military Veterans on our team. Veterans working with us benefited from our program not only through paid contract work but also through spending time in nature with other veterans. It is extremely rewarding to accomplish these restoration projects, bringing life back to a fire scar area and making a lasting impact on the state.
Replanting this burn scar directly supports the creation, restoration, improvement, and protection of Sonoran Desert habitats. Wildlife, including pollinators, benefit from the replanting of their native habitat.
Replanting improves the usability and safety of the area for the outdoor community. Bringing native plant communities back to these watersheds helps soil stabilization & reduces the effects of erosion caused by water and wind.
**********Thank you to U.S. Forest Service Southwestern Region (RAC Grant), the National Forest Foundation, Arizona 4Runner Outsiders, AVNET, the Arizona Community Foundation through the Helen Dyar King Fund, Arizona Financial Credit Union, and SRP for helping us make lasting impacts on Arizona’s natural spaces and the veterans on our team, we are grateful for your support.
Do not take cacti, trees, or plants from along transmission lines, construction or development sites, private land or public land. We go through a lengthy process to ensure we are legally allowed to collect, transport, and replant in the burn scar.
This project consisted of many parts: Salvaging, Transporting, Replanting, and Monitoring.
Salvaging: We have the unique opportunity to salvage saguaros with WAPA. ADD INFO ABOUT WAPA SALVAGE.
Our Dedicated Restoration Team salvages saguaros, barrels, hedgehog, ocotillo, prickly pear, & 3 types of cholla with hand tools. We salvaged XXXX cacti for this project!
TRANSPORTING: Once loaded in our trailer and truck bed, we transport cacti to our cacti nursery on the Tonto National Forest for a safe, shaded place to store them before replanting.
REPLANTING: Our team transports cacti from our nursery to the Bush Fire burn scar. We unload them, walk them through the burn scar & place them in areas where they will have the best chance of survival.
We dig holes, replant them with our markers facing the same direction we salvaged them facing, and water them. We replanted XXXX cacti, including XXX saguaros!
MONITORING & WATERING: We regularly monitor everything in our replanting areas and water as needed depending on weather conditions. We lost a few saguaros to careless people using them for target shooting practice.
THANK YOU: Thank you to the home builders, construction companies, & private land owners we worked with for everything they did to help make this project possible!
We are grateful for the opportunity to legally collect, transport, and replant cacti in the burn scar. Thank you to everyone from the Tonto National Forest - Mesa Ranger District for all of their help and support of this project!
We would also like to thank Arizona Wholesale Growers, we worked with them to purchase healthy saguaros for the project with grant funding.
If you or your organization is interested in helping fund replanting projects, please contact us.
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6th annual Save Our Saguaros Replanting Event
On Saturday, 11/08/25, we partnered with Wells Fargo, National Forest Foundation, the US. Forest Service Tonto National Forest, The Mission Continues, Arizona Wholesale Growers, & Stellar Adventures for the 6th annual Save Our Saguaros Replanting Event & Veteran’s Day Weekend Celebration.
122 volunteers, including 21 youth volunteers, helped us plant 148 saguaros in the 2020 Bush Fire burn scar at Four Peaks on the Tonto National Forest.
View all of the event photos HERE
Watering cacti in the desert
Watering cacti is not only valuable in providing initial water to reduce transplant shock, it also aids in compacting the soil around the freshly planted root network.
We continue to monitor the areas we replant and water as needed if we do not get sufficient rain.
Salvaging Saguaros
Where do the saguaros come from?
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The saguaros for this replanting project are provided when we work with construction companies, home builders, and private land owners that let our Dedicated Restoration Team salvage cacti with hand tools. We also received grant funding to purchase additional saguaros for the project.
