Photo By Mark Schauer | To celebrate Earth Day, YPG Environmental Sciences Division personnel got a hand from...... read more read more
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At U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), every day is Earth Day.
As a natural laboratory for testing virtually every piece of equipment in the U.S. Army’s ground combat arsenal, YPG has a vested interest in responsible ecological stewardship.
Located within North America’s most diverse desert, the proving ground is home to a vast array of wildlife, including Sonoran pronghorn, desert tortoises and one of Arizona’s healthiest and most genetically diverse populations of bighorn sheep. More than a hundred unique bird species pass through or call YPG home.
Last year, YPG’s Environmental Sciences Division began a pilot project to plant native species of plants and trees around populated areas of post and sustain the saplings without irrigation systems. Toward this end, the workers have planted the saplings using Groasis Waterboxxes, three-gallon lidded polyurethane buckets that slowly wick water onto the plant’s roots over the course of months and are refilled by rain water or condensation. Planting saplings in vertical shafts in the center of the devices also shields them from the intense heat of the desert floor until they grow hardier.
“The goal behind this is to plant native trees without the need for irrigation,” said Daniel Steward, YPG Wildlife Biologist. “There won’t be any cost associated with managing these trees in the future, and they are great for wildlife and ourselves.”
To celebrate Earth Day, YPG Environmental Sciences Division personnel got a hand from school children at YPG’s James D. Price Elementary School to plant a variety of Palo Verde, Ironwood, Honey Mesquite, and Desert Willow in one of the parks in YPG’s Howard Cantonment Area. The YPG employees showed the kids how to assemble the plastic apparatus, topped with a protective sleeve to keep the saplings safe from nibbling rabbits and other creatures looking for a snack.
“We’re planting these trees for them,” said Steward. “It’s going to take 10 or 15 years for these trees to even look like trees. These kids will be able to enjoy the trees we plant today for a lifetime to come.”
YPG officials vow that the annual Earth Day events and efforts to reintroduce native flora will persist into the foreseeable future, particularly given the success last year’s trees have shown. With the exception of trees planted in an area that had been inundated with invasive salt cedar trees for many years, all of last year’s batch have survived so far. Even in the inhospitable soil left by the salt cedars, 60% of the saplings continue to grow.
“The water boxes have done a good job of helping those little plants along,” said Steward. “Hopefully in the fall we can remove the water boxes and let the trees grow naturally. If we can do things to help make our environment a little better for wildlife, we benefit: we’re part of the environment, too.”
| Date Taken: | 04.20.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.20.2023 17:46 |
| Story ID: | 443033 |
| Location: | YUMA PROVING GROUND, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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