Sky Island Alliance – Walnut Check-Up in the Santa Catalinas

BACKGROUND

The Santa Catalina grey squirrel (a subspecies of the Arizona grey squirrel) is in decline throughout the Catalinas and Rincons. Fire, and competition with introduced Abert’s squirrels, are thought to be some of the reasons for their lower numbers, but we are hoping to give these beautiful animals a helping hand by improving some of their habitat on the mountain. With the help of the Forest Service and Borderlands Restoration, we planted native walnut trees at several sites in the mountains to provide more of their favorite year-round food! Now we are going back to determine how many trees survived, and to remove the cages we placed around the trees.

TRIP LOGISTICS

• 9 AM: Meet with SIA staff at the south end of the Safeway parking lot in the Madera Village Shopping Center: NE corner of Tanque Verde and Catalina Highway.
• Saturday 4:00 PM: We will work throughout the day, and wrap things up around 4 PM.
• Saturday 5:00 PM: We will arrive back at our meeting spot by 5:00 PM or so.

THE WORK

• This project is rated as moderately strenuous; we will be carrying buckets of water and caging materials through steep, uneven terrain.

WHAT TO BRING

• CLOSED-TOE SHOES/BOOTS ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS PROJECT. Due to the possibility of surface water in the project area, you might want to wear shoes/boots that you dont mind getting wet and or muddy. Aside from that, anything you would bring on a long day hike would be recommended, such as plenty of water, lunch/snacks, sun protection (sunscreen, long pants and long-sleeved shirts), cloting appropriate for the weather, etc.

PROVIDED BY SIA

• Tools, work gloves, supplemental drinking water and first aid equipment.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Families welcome!
• Sorry, dogs are not allowed on this project.
• There is no fee involved for this project (although we will put any donations to good use!)