State grant to help ongoing war on weeds at Catalina State Park

Armed with a new state grant, the 11-year-old volunteer group is teaming up with the Friends of Catalina State Park to expand their ongoing fight against buffelgrass and other problem plants within the 5,500-acre preserve at the edge of Oro Valley.

The Friends and the Catalina State Park Buffel Slayers were recently awarded $198,000 from the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management through its Invasive Plant Grant Program. The money will help the two volunteer groups treat invasive weeds and grasses on an additional 86 acres in the park.

Buffelgrass is one of several hardy, fast-growing grasses from other parts of the world that were introduced across the West decades ago for livestock forage, erosion control and landscaping. These invited invaders have since spread out of control, overwhelming native species and fueling larger wildfires in saguaro and palo verde ecosystems not built to survive the more intense flames.

If left unchecked, experts warn, buffelgrass and other invasive weeds pose an existential threat to the Sonoran Desert on par with extended drought and climate change.

Since 2015, the Buffel Slayers have targeted buffelgrass, fountain grass, Sahara mustard and other invasives at Catalina State Park, mostly through volunteer weed-pulling events held monthly from September to May.

Meanwhile, the Friends group has contributed more than $400,000 since it was formed in 2012 to pay for equipment, events and projects in the park, including work by the Slayers.

According to Arizona State Parks and Trails, Catalina State Park has benefited from over 22,500 service hours by more than 100 volunteers during fiscal year 2026 alone. It is the third most popular state park in Arizona, with about 250,000 annual visitors.

The literal grassroots effort to dig out and spray invasive plants there has already helped clear space for palo verde trees and young saguaros and foster the return of other natives such as brittlebush, bristlegrass, cottontop and tanglehead.

The $198,000 grant should cover — or maybe uncover — a lot of ground. As Buffel Slayers founder and leader Patty Estes likes to point out, the group accomplishes a lot without spending very much.

Whatever money they do get goes to buy tools, gloves and thank-you gifts for the volunteers who turn out to pull weeds. Some lucky participants have even gone home from buffelgrass pulls with one of the most extravagant raffle prizes imaginable: an actual saguaro in a pot from a local nursery.