Contact Us

Arizona Native Plant Society
Box 41206, Sun Station
Tucson, AZ 85717

ANPS@AZNPS.org

Brief History of AZNPS

Interest in starting an Arizona Native Plant Society spawned an organizing meeting in Fall 1976. The dozen people who met to create our state group were all professionals in plant-related fields or worked for a related governmental agency.  Because of the diversity of interest in arid landscaping, the founders agreed that the new society would focus not only on Arizona’s native plants, but also on xeric-adapted plants from other areas and their growth in our landscapes.

The second meeting established goals for the new society. These included a society publication, a speakers bureau, school programs, the promotion of Arizona rare plant studies and a journal for publishing such studies, and involvement with public policy decision-making regarding Arizona’s native plants, including salvage and programs encouraging use of xeric-adapted plants in landscaping.

To promote the society’s educational and outreach goals, an Urban Landscape Committee was tasked with developing materials about the use of native and other arid-adapted plants in local landscaping. A series of pocket guides aimed at homeowners was developed at a price low enough to promote wide usage. The sale of these booklets continues to support the society’s educational efforts, including the offering of a yearly grant for native-plant-related publications.

A 1998 membership survey on the direction of the Society and program emphasis indicated that most members wanted more focus on Arizona native plants, leaving the promotion of non-native arid-adapted plants to nurseries. The mission statement was subsequently altered to reflect the Society’s change in goals.

Currently, AZNPS has five chapters, based in Flagstaff, Phoenix, Prescott, Tucson and Yuma. We also have an active Conservation Committee that works to carry out the habitat and native plant protection goals of the society. Happenings, a newsletter about chapter activities, comes out quarterly. Our state journal, The Plant Press, is published twice a year and contains articles about native plant research, publications and other related articles. The latest editions of both can be found on our website.

Through the years, the dedicated members of the society have worked to strengthen native plant protection laws, enriched the knowledge of Arizona’s native plants, and contributed countless volunteer hours to public education about the value of using native plants in the landscape, water conservation, and habitat protection. Valuable research has also been contributed on non native invasive species and habitat restoration. The volunteer efforts of the Sonoran Desert Weedwackers, an outgrowth of the Tucson Chapter, have protected desert park areas for years and stimulated others to join invasive species removal efforts.

Our programs are open to the public and are generally free.  If you are interested in becoming an AZNPS member, click here for a membership brochure. Please join us in working to preserve Arizona’s native plants and to increase knowledge and appreciation of them. Much of our flora is quite unique and we are working to ensure the native diversity is around for future generations.