John McGee tried to avoid contact with cacti while using a hoe to dig out the buffelgrass. (Photo by Peggy McGee)
Peggy McGee
Several members of the Greater Green Valley Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) joined forces with employees from the Freeport-McMoRan Sierrita Operations Team and representatives from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for a Buffelgrass Pull on Oct. 26. Armed with shovels and hoes, the group learned how to identify buffelgrass from other similar looking native plants, and then they went to work digging and chopping to remove the highly flammable buffelgrass to keep it from spreading. As they learned, digging out the roots of the buffelgrass is the most efficient way to remove this grass, which is not only extremely flammable but also chokes out and eventually kills native plants, including saguaro and other varieties of cacti and agave.