Buffelgrass is practically everywhere, but you may not pay much attention to it.  It seems harmless, but it's not.  Experts say our Sonoran desert and many other important resources will soon be overrun by buffelgrass if it isn't stopped.  It's a problem Bill Shannon faces at least twice a year.

“When I deal with it I try to get it all...out,” says Shannon.  Outside of his northeast side home buffelgrass is everywhere.  It’s considered a fire-loving drought-tolerant perennial plant that spreads when it's wet or dry.  It can burn any time of year.  A buffelgrass fire will kill any plant caught in its path. 

For the fifth time this year, Dennis Dickerson Environmental Planning Director at Pima Association of Governments has spoken to the city's Environment, Planning and Management Committee about buffelgrass. 

“What I'm doing today is giving them yet another update…,” says Dickerson

Anyone willing to help get rid of buffelgrass was asked to attend a meeting Tuesday night at the city's Ward II office.  But experts say before volunteers can start pulling buffelgrass out of the ground, they need to help find it first.  There's so much of it no one knows where it all is.  B.J. Cordova spokesperson of Tucson Clean & Beautiful, an organization raising awareness about buffelgrass says it’s estimated it could cost tens of millions of dollars to get rid of buffelgrass in Southern Arizona.

“It's better to address it now and be proactive about it rather than addressing it in the future when it's more expensive, harder to do and potentially even impossible to do,” says Cordova.  “The slower that we address it (the problem) the buffelgrass could continue to grow and expand its reach doubling in the amount of space that it covers every year.”

Many vacant lots across Tucson and Pima County are filled with buffelgrass.  The sidewalk along Grant Road and Wilmot has at least 200 yards of buffelgrass growing near the road.  You can get rid of buffelgrass either with chemicals or by digging it out of the ground.

Tucson Clean & Beautiful and other organizations are asking residents to help get rid of buffelgrass for one full day on March 1.