Microchips may track saguaro thieves

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Saguaros may benefit from another layer of protection to that already provided by their tough flesh, spined ribs, massive size, protective state laws, a federal haven and a vigilant public.

Think microchips.

Saguaro National Park has begun an environmental study to determine if the tiny electronic markers can be safely implanted into the Sonoran Desert giants as a means of deterring theft.

The technology is already being used on smaller plants in several California desert communities where the value of golden-barrel cacti and other species has made them targets for thieves.

The chips would enable authorities to verify ownership of plants and more easily prosecute thieves, said Bob Love, chief ranger at the park.

Love said officials there began discussing the microchip strategy a year ago after finding 17 saguaros dug up, hidden and ready to move from within park boundaries.

The environmental assessment is now being reviewed in-house before submission to the Environmental Protection Agency. The group Friends of Saguaro National Park has agreed to raise money for the project, Love said.

The microchips, similar to those used to identify pets, are tiny and inserted with a syringe.

Love said he couldn't estimate how many saguaros would receive the chips -- "certainly not all of them."

The most recent saguaro census counted about 1.3 million saguaros in the 91,446-acre park, which bookends Tucson on the east and west.

Size and location of the cacti would be determining factors. Thieves operate near untraveled roads and zero in on saguaros large enough to have economic value but small enough to easily transport in the bed of a covered pickup, Love said.

He said he wanted to be deliberately vague about the details. "Our greatest objective is deterrence," he said.

Mike Reimer, a native-plant investigator for the state Department of Agriculture, said the microchips are a good idea.

The native-plant law "is working pretty well," he said. "Unfortunately, it's not possible to be everywhere at once."

Reimer and Love both said public vigilance is the saguaro's best protection.

Reimer said he receives phone calls all the time from people who spot saguaros missing from their usual spots or being transported suspiciously.

It is illegal to remove any plants from the national park, with penalties that rise to $20,000 in fines and five years in prison.

It is additionally illegal under Arizona law to move saguaros from public or private land without a permit.

Enforcing those laws is tough, however, and few resources are devoted to stopping plant thievery or illegal transportation.

Small saguaros retail for $50 to $60 a foot at commercial nurseries.

Larger ones are even more expensive because of the difficulty of transplanting them.

Doug Parks, owner of Arctic Cactus, said a 15-foot-high saguaro, with no arms, would cost more than $1,000.

"In an arm plant, you're dealing with how pretty the plant is," he said. "You start getting into some real money."

(E-mail reporter Tom Beal at tbeal(at)azstarnet.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)