ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥

Working in conjunction with the nonprofit ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Cactus and Succulent Society, the goal is to make a 9.4-acre site near West River Road and North Camino de la Tierra the most complete collection of prickly pear and cholla in the entire country.

Like a botanical garden with lots of thorns, the site will not only highlight the sparse beauty of the Sonoran Desert, but will also provide research opportunities.

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, who is a member of the nonprofit society and has already been out on salvage operations with the group six times this summer, said taxpayers won't be kicking in a lot of money for the site, since the park will be built with volunteers on land the county already owns.

The county bought the land, a former sand and gravel pit, after the 1983 floods. It is currently used for the administration offices of the county Parks Department.

Ball fields wouldn't work at the site in case of sinkholes, he said, and it can't be developed because of the flood potential.

"It just wasn't suitable for anything but natural park purposes," Huckelberry said.

The site, dubbed the Pima Prickly Park, is in the early stages of development. Only a few hundred cacti dwell there. Two shade ramadas were brought in from another park, and it has one loop trail. It's also home to a litter of coyotes, and several bobcat sightings have been reported.

Ultimately, though, it will have several public trails leading visitors through more extensive gardens.

Jessie Byrd, a landscape designer and society member who has volunteered to be the project coordinator, agreed it's a patch of scroungy desert now. But Byrd hails from a group of people who get excited about finding a crested jumping cholla, for example, or who say "it's something to celebrate" that ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ is considered the world's cholla capital.

"We want to have a place where people can go look at the most beautiful things the desert has to offer and where we can change preconceptions people have that they don't want to use cactus in their landscape because they're not fun or beautiful."

Byrd said she hopes to secure grant funding to grow the project faster.

Parks Director Rafael Payan said the site also will be used to teach visitors about water harvesting and how to use arid plants in their own landscaping.

"They're beautiful plants," Payan said. "And with the potential of climate change having impacts on them, it becomes all the more important to preserve and protect them."

On the net

To learn more about the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Cactus and Succulent Society and Pima Prickly Park, go to

Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at rbodfield@azstarnet.com or 573-4243.