The Wonders of the Bingo Bopper

Clearing invasive trees at the Corazon site

Introduction: At Tucson Audubon we recognize that frequently the most important way to protect birds is to protect the landscapes and habitats that support them. These days this often means stopping the spread of invasive plants into a landscape to prevent catastrophic fires and permanent loss of habitat through ecosystem conversion.

The post below describes our Corazon Hazardous Fuels project located at the heart of the Santa Cruz River in Tucson where it’s joined by the Rillito River and Cañada del Oro Wash. It’s inevitable that local river channels clogged with invasive plants will burn annually at some point. These fires risk wiping out vast stretches of critically important native riparian cottonwood and willow habitat and put human lives and infrastructure in danger. The Corazon project creates 13 fire breaks, removes 50 acres of invasive fire-prone grasses and 27 acres of flammable salt cedar—paving the way for a riparian restoration project being pursued by our partners at the Pima County Regional Flood Control District.

Rest assured, Tucson Audubon takes great care in treating invasive plants, always choosing the least impactful option. This frequently means applying herbicide in the most minimal fashion possible where it is the safest option for the long-term health of the area, though it’s our least-preferred alternative. All of Tucson Audubon’s applicators are thoroughly trained and are licensed by the AZ Department of Agriculture.

By Emanuel Arnautovic

We’re excited to share a glimpse into some of the daily work of Tucson Audubon’s Invasive Plant Strike Team and to nerd out with you about some of our favorite tools of the trade! This week we were collectively blown away by the introduction of the Buckthorn Blaster, also affectionately called the “Bingo Bopper.” It was introduced to us by team member Tasha Youngs whose previous work with buckthorn on the east coast utilized this magical herbicide application device that freed us from the hassle of unnecessary blue dye or spatter staining.



Our previous method for treating cut stumps to kill the roots of invasive trees used a paintbrush to precision-apply herbicide only to cut stumps and only to the part of the stump where the herbicide is effective (see above). This well-established method required carrying two containers, one for herbicide and another for the paintbrush, as well as towels for clean up and drip containment. Herbicide is applied to freshly cut tree stumps, before they dry out, to allow for rapid uptake and translocation to the roots through the plant’s cambium layer effectively killing the plant and preventing root resprout.



Meet the Buckthorn Blaster AKA the “Bingo Bopper.” It functions identically to a paint pen allowing for a drip-free and conservative herbicide application. With the paintbrush method we would use upwards of 30 oz of herbicide concentrate in a typical work week. With the Bingo Bopper, our weekly herbicide use has fallen down to under 10 oz!

We’re excited to share this new tool in our arsenal with our friends and partners who do similar work as it’s been a game changer for efficiency, cleanliness, and conservation of expensive chemical concentrate.

The Tucson Audubon Invasive Plant Strike Team. From left to right: Jenna Rabe, Fernando Diaz, Tasha Youngs, Matthew Wonsik, Dusty Rowen, Furey Stirrat, Paul George-Blazevich, Tony Figueroa, Emanuel Arnautovic, Jaemin Wilson, and Richard Morris.

We ended 2021 in a whirlwind of invasive plant management projects with partners and clients including Pima County, Saddlebrooke2 and other HOAs, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park system. Our team ended the year having tripled in size in 2021, from 3 to 12 full time people. You could say we’re growing like weeds!

Emanuel Arnautovic is a member of Tucson Audubon's Invasive Plant Strike team.