NEWS
JULY 19, 2017 | AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS NEWS
Vandal’s chollas on some Ahwatukee Lakes trails upset neighbors AFN News Staff
S
ome Ahwatukee Lakes residents are upset with a mystery vandal who keeps planting chollas on trails. Neighbors have complained to AFN that chollas for more than a year keep showing up on hiking trails in the wash between 36th and 38th streets south of Ahwatukee Drive. Their concern is for small pets and birds that might run into the cactus, requiring a sometimes painful and painstaking removal of the needles. One neighbor reportedly has been going out regularly on the trails to rip out the chollas, only to find new ones planted within a matter of a week or so. Photos of a small dog covered with cholla spines have been making the rounds of Ahwatukee social media sites in recent weeks. “That’s our area but we have received no complaints,” said Ahwatukee Board of Management general manager Robert Blakesley when asked about the mystery vandalism.
Blakesley said ABM twice a year goes through washes to remove cacti and other vegetation that people plant in an effort to stop hikers from using trails near their homes, either because of a misguided effort to protect their privacy or because they simply don’t want people near their property. “It’s shocking what some people will do on other people’s property,” he said. Whatever the mystery vandal in the Lakes is trying to accomplish, it appears to be targeted to a small area. Greg Bach, a spokesman for the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, said rangers have not encountered any problems around trails on South Mountain. “I checked with staff in the department’s Natural Resources Division,” Bach said. “This doesn’t seem to be an issue or problem they’ve encountered. Bach noted that cactus and other desert plants “are used by rangers for trail re-vegetation when closing” socalled spider trails that hikers create by walking off designated paths.
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