Growing Solutions to Global Issues
Case for Support
The Allure of the Sonoran Desert
The desert is a magical place. There’s something about the harshness, the solitude, the quiet and the feeling of being in an endless, timeless land. Deserts may appear empty, but they are filled with life adapted for survival.
Approximately 80,000 families, adults, bird watchers, photographers, researchers, students, nature lovers and hikers from Arizona and around the world visit Boyce Thompson Arboretum each year. Guests treasure the tranquility of the 392 acres located in a riparian corridor along Queen Creek and beneath its towering volcanic remnant, Picketpost Mountain.
“In our crazy, busy, stressful lives it is a place of calm and joy and a place to remember what is important.”
“The essence and spirit of Arizona and world deserts has found a place in my heart.”
“It’s wholesome, relaxing, inspiring and educational. Enjoyed by our entire extended family and friends.”
Deserts account for one third of the Earth’s landmass, are home to more than one billion people and account for approximately 12 percent of biodiversity hotspots–the richest area for rare plants and animals. Deserts have changed dramatically over the last 50 years, and not for the better.
Development and rapid population growth are urgent catalysts to learn more about desert ecosystems. Close examination of desert plants in as natural environment as possible has already taught us many lessons.
There is an abundance of wild plants that may be used not only for medicinal products, but also for foods, insecticides, and industrial goods. This largely untapped botanical gold mine contains an abundance of wild plants that may be used for medicinal products, food, insecticides, and industrial goods. Where researchers may find the cure for cancer or the next world food source, vast tracts of plant communities are being systematically destroyed.
Experts agree that the systematic collection and study of desert plants from around the world is likely to play a substantial role in discovering how essential resources–food, water and energy–can support the human population now, and for generations to come.
Survival of mankind depends upon it.
The World’s Largest Desert Plant Collection
When invited to provide a permanent home to the Scottsdale’s Wallace Desert Gardens Collection in 2014, Boyce Thompson Arboretum’s Board and staff leaders leapt at the opportunity. What has unfolded since is a massive effort to transport 6,000 plants–many of which must be painstakingly boxed due to their size and fragility–the largest being 30 feet high and 24 feet wide–and trucked 79 miles to Superior in Pinal County, where they await planting in a location in which they can acclimate, survive and flourish.
It’s a tall order for an organization with a $1.8 million annual operating and program budget. While the Board of Directors of the Wallace Desert Gardens Collection generously gifted $2 million to relocate nearly 4,000 plants, an additional $2 million is needed to move the remaining 2,000, irrigate and replant them, and construct an accessible pedestrian bridge for barrier free access.
This unprecedented project is extremely important considering that one third of all plant species are in danger of extinction in our lifetimes. We have yet to understand their potential in which they may be utilized for the benefit of mankind.
Consider the facts:
Food. Everything we eat comes directly or indirectly from plants.
Water. Plants regulate the water cycle; they help distribute and purify the desert's water.
Medicine. About 40 percent of our prescription medicines come from plant extracts or synthesized plant material.
Habitat. Plants are the backbone of all life on Earth and an essential resource for human well-being.
Air. Human and animal life depends upon the oxygen released by plants. Without continual photosynthesis, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere will slowly diminish.
Climate. Plants store carbon and help keep much of the carbon dioxide produced from the burning of fossil fuels out of the atmosphere.
Focusing our attention to the desert and arid-land plants is more critical than ever.
♣ 95 percent of our food is directly or indirectly grown in soil.
♣ Global agricultural productivity must increase 60 percent by 2050 in order to meet food demand alone.
♣ It takes approximately 500 years to replace one inch of topsoil lost to destruction.
♣ Droughts are expected to keep getting longer and more severe, particularly in the Southwest.
♣ Wildfires alter desert landscapes by eliminating slow-growing trees and shrubs and replacing them with fast-growing grasses.
♣ Irrigation used for agriculture, may, in the long term, lead to salt levels in the soil that become too high to support plants.
♣ It is estimated that as much as 40 percent of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded.
♣ Rising temperatures have evaporated waters, depleted reservoirs, and dried out huge swaths of soil, crippling farmers in the process.
♣ Grazing animals can destroy many desert plants and animals.
♣ The population is not only expanding, it is also becoming more discerning, with greater demands for energy-intensive foods such as meat and dairy.
♣ The water we have today is the only water source we will ever have.
♣ In 2012, the USDA designated 71 percent of the United States as a disaster area due to drought.
Creating a Place of Discovery and Exploration Unlike any Other
Understanding desert plants has never been more essential. The growing human population needs abundant safe and nutritious food and water, shelter, clothes, fiber and renewable energy, and must address the problems generated by climate change, while preserving habitats. These global challenges can only be met in the context of a strong fundamental understanding of plant biology and ecology, and translation of this knowledge into field-based solutions. Understanding begins with awareness.
Two large collections of biologically distinct desert plants from around the world are soon to coexist at Boyce Thompson Arboretum. These plants will create an unparalleled discovery laboratory. The comprehensiveness of the plant species of the garden will inspire greater exploration––by additional visitors, civic leaders, students, educators, scientists and researchers. The Wallace Desert Gardens Collection at the Arboretum is intended to heighten awareness about the fundamental value of desert plants and their potentiality.
Applied solutions are already working. Arizona farmers have long used laser technology to keep their field tables flat and reduce runoff. Agriculture uses approximately 69 percent of the available water supply in Arizona. In the past, this percentage was as high as 90 percent. Reductions have been the result of investment in conservation measures—by the irrigated agriculture industry—done both on the land and in the delivery systems. But we have only touched the surface. Much work remains to be done.
♣ Using innovative technology to support solutions.
♣ Leveraging the genetic potential of the plants.
♣ Developing more efficient use of existing water resources and better control of soil degradation to improve arid lands.
♣ Creating new ways to rotate crops to protect fragile soil.
♣ Planting more leguminous plants, which extract nitrogen from the air and imbeds it in the soil to increase soil fertility.
♣ Digging gutters in the ground to retain rainfall and trap windblown seeds.
The new Wallace Desert Gardens Collection area at Boyce Thompson Arboretum will be open to the public in 2018, and will create an unmatched garden of arid land plants from around the world. The combined collection of the two gardens will feature more than 5,000 different types of plants. Based on a Botanic Gardens Conservational International report, we estimate this places Boyce Thompson Arboretum in the top 75 gardens globally and top 25 in the United States.
The Arboretum’s unique tripartite agreement with the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Arizona State Parks will help create robust exploration and discovery programs of impact to this generation, and those to follow.
One Step Closer to Realizing the Vision of two Prominent Trailblazers
Colonel William Boyce Thompson, a Montana-born mining engineer, financier and philanthropist, founded the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in 1924 as a desert-plant research facility. The inspiration to create an arid-region arboretum sprang from his fervent interest in things botanical, horticultural, and natural. Col. Thompson had seen firsthand the suffering in post-World War I while on a service mission in Russia, and the importance of plants as the ultimate source of a large portion of mankind's food, clothing, and shelter. It was then that he determined to use his wealth to improve the use of plant resources for the greater good.
The Arboretum is one of his finest living legacies and, to this day, continues to be frequented by his children, grandchildren and extended family. The winter mansion he built in 1924 that overlooks the beautiful desert-scape still stands at the base of Picketpost Mountain but requires renovation before tours can be reinstated. A shrewd businessman with an interest in science, he decided to establish the Boyce Thompson Institute, now affiliated with Cornell University, and endowed it with $10 million, which continues to thrive to this day. His hope was that the institute would acquire the very best scientists, equipment, and supplies and then develop relationships with industry and the government to help finance research.
H.B. Wallace, son of former United States Vice President Henry Agard Wallace, founded the Wallace Desert Gardens Collection until his passing in 2005. H.B. was responsible for revolutionary breakthroughs in the science of poultry breeding that have greatly boosted the international effort to feed the earth's burgeoning human population.
Upon retiring to Scottsdale, Arizona in 1985, H.B. developed a passion for arid lands and the Sonoran Desert. More than 25 years ago he created a unique botanical center housing one of the world's largest non-commercial collections of cacti and succulents. The Wallace Desert Gardens served as a free research facility for scientists, ecologists, educators and students from universities, non-profit organizations and agencies until he and his wife’s passing. It was then that the idea to relocate his garden to the Arboretum was conceived with a vision of providing additional opportunities for research, education and conservation.
Shedding Light on one of Arizona’s Most Unique Assets
Boyce Thompson Arboretum is already recognized as a world-class arboretum with a rich heritage. Never intended for commercialization, it is a busy and vibrant place that safeguards more than 4,000 different types of arid land plants from around the world, many of which are rare, irreplaceable and magnificent. In the arid desert environment of the Arboretum, myriad plant and animal species are present, ranging from insects and invertebrates to snakes and other reptiles, birds and mammals.
Exhibits range from a cactus garden, palm and eucalyptus groves, an Australian exhibit, a South American exhibit, an aloe garden and an herb garden all the way to boojum trees, cork oaks, jujube trees, legume trees, and, in the Eucalyptus grove, one of the largest red gum Eucalyptus trees in the United States.
The park also attracts Sonoran Desert wildlife and migrating birds. Visitors have seen bobcats, javelinas, bighorn sheep, coatimundis, rattlesnakes, gila monsters, hawks, hummingbirds and vultures. More than 270 bird species have been spotted in the park and the Audubon Society has designated the Arboretum as an Important Bird Area. Walking the Chihuahuan Trail, Curandero Trail or High Trail is an experience not to be missed.
Other features of the Arboretum include towering trees, captivating cacti, sheer mountain cliffs, a streamside forest, panoramic vistas, a desert lake, and a hidden canyon. With a visitor center, a gift shop featuring local artists, research offices, greenhouses, a demonstration garden, picnic area, and a looping 1.5-mile primary trail, the Arboretum truly offers something for everyone.
Help us Prepare for the Next Century
Boyce Thompson Arboretum will celebrate its 100th Year Anniversary in 2024. It is a lean and dynamic organization in need of greater visibility, additional visitors and improved grounds and facilities. Operating under the direction of a Board of Directors and a staff of 30, the Arboretum has balanced its annual operating budget while adding to its collection. Increasingly known for its thoughtful and informative publications, the beauty and the work of the Arboretum remains too much of a well-kept secret.
Completion of the $2 million Growing Solutions to Global Issues campaign will ensure that the Wallace Desert Gardens Collection will be protected. It will also heighten recognition of the Arboretum by helping additional visitors develop a deeper appreciation for desert resources. Contributions paid over three to five years will significantly advance this mission and facilitate the discoveries of the desert’s capacity to enhance the greater good. We invite you to be part of this great endeavor, and sincerely hope you will join us.
The mission of Boyce Thompson Arboretum is to instill in people an appreciation of plants through the fostering of educational, recreational, research and conservation opportunities associated with the world’s arid land plants.
37615 E US Highway 60, Superior, Arizona, 85173-5100 • 520.609.7823 • Fax: 520.689.5858 • arboretum.ag.arizona.edu
Cooperatively managed by Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum, Inc., University of Arizona, and Arizona State Parks