When people think of endangered species, their minds may turn to elephants, rhinoceroses or animals living thousands of miles away. But one endangered species is much closer to home for Navajo County residents.
The Peebles Navajo cactus is a tiny cactus found only in northern Arizona. The species was listed as endangered in 1979 and remains federally protected even today. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the cactus grows only a few inches tall, with a small, rounded body that can easily blend into the rocky ground around it.
For Joseph City resident and high school science teacher Jess Bushman, the cactus embodies something she wishes more people recognized about this part of northern Arizona: that beauty does not always announce itself. In communities such as ours, she said, some of the most remarkable features require people to slow down, look around and appreciate what is already here.
The Peebles Navajo cactus is an especially striking example. Its natural range is extraordinarily limited, occurring in two core populations located near Holbrook and Joseph City. According to the National Park Service, it grows only in the old gravelly soil channels of the Little Colorado River, where sparse vegetation and well-drained ground provide the specialized habitat it needs.
The cactus can be easy to overlook. Often only the tops of its small, rounded stems protrude above the ground, where white spines form distinctive twisted crosses. In late April, yellow-green flowers bloom and can grow larger than the cactus stem itself.
More than 20 years of monitoring have shown that Peebles Navajo cactus populations tend to increase during wet years and decrease during dry ones. During dry periods, the plants can die from water stress and may also become food for rabbits and other rodents when more desirable vegetation is scarce. Human activities, including off-road vehicle use, livestock grazing and gravel quarrying, have also contributed to threats facing the species.
For Bushman, protecting a species like the Peebles Navajo cactus is about more than preserving one small plant. It is also about recognizing what makes this area unique. Northern Arizona may not always fit the traditional picture of natural beauty, especially when compared with forests, mountains or greener landscapes, but that does not make what is here any less valuable.
“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” Bushman said, borrowing the message from Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi.” For her, the cactus is a reminder to pay attention to the beauty already around us, and to take care of it while it is still here.
