Flashback: How ADOT, Desert Botanical Garden saved endangered hedgehog cactus during US 60 Pinto Creek Bridge Project
Flashback: How ADOT, Desert Botanical Garden saved endangered hedgehog cactus during US 60 Pinto Creek Bridge Project
The Arizona hedgehog cactus, usually about a foot tall, is found in very few places, including where ADOT was replacing the Pinto Creek Bridge on US 60 in 2018.
Named for its resemblance to the prickly animal, the Arizona Hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus arizonicus spp. arizonicus) is listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and is protected under Arizona law.
Protecting native plants and wildlife is part of every ADOT project and we partnered with the Desert Botanical Garden to safely remove as many of the cactuses as possible before the bridge project began.
A team from the Desert Botanical Garden rappelled into the canyon, where they carefully removed 34 cactuses and transported them back to the Garden for propagation.
Sadly, some hedgehog cactuses in the area that were not in danger of being harmed by construction were destroyed in the Telegraph Fire in the summer of 2021.
The efforts about two years earlier to remove the cactuses for construction would turn out to be the key to ensuring the continued existence of this endangered species.
“ADOT and the Desert Botanical Garden had always planned to do the right thing for the beautiful hedgehog cactus,” ADOT Communications’ Doug Nick wrote at the time. “Until this summer, there was no way anyone knew just how important that right thing would be.”
When the bridge project was completed in 2022, the Desert Botanical Garden was able to plant more than 61 cactuses, nearly double what was rescued. Their great work ensured that these plants can continue to not only survive, but flourish in the area.
“We have a responsibility to make sure the plants and animals that make Arizona special are protected,” said Josh Fife, ADOT’s biology team lead. “We’re proud that the work we did will make sure the Arizona hedgehog cactus will continue to exist in the one special place in the world where they thrive.”
You can learn more about ADOT’s Environmental Planning here.