Current:Home > ScamsThis stinks. A noxious weed forces Arizona national monument’s picnic area to close until May-InfoLens
This stinks. A noxious weed forces Arizona national monument’s picnic area to close until May
View Date:2024-12-23 22:00:58
COOLIDGE, Ariz. (AP) — It literally stinks that visitors to Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in south-central Arizona might not be able to use the attraction’s picnic area until May.
Monument officials announced Wednesday that the picnic area will be closed from March 28 through April 30 due to the density of an invasive and noxious winter weed called stinknet that can grow more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) tall.
The weed has a turpentine-like odor and can cause serious breathing problems as well as severe skin rashes.
Stinknet has bright yellow blossoms on narrow green stems. The blossoms are round and similar to the shape of golf balls, right down to the dimpled pattern.
Arizona Native Plant Society officials said stinknet explosively spread in Maricopa County during the wet fall and winter seasons of 2016, 2018 and 2019.
That led to heavy infestations on the north fringes of Phoenix and Scottsdale along with rapid movement southward to Casa Grande.
Monument officials are asking visitors not to walk near — or step on — the flowering weed to avoid spreading it.
They said the Casa Grande Ruins team is working on a solution that will get the picnic area reopened as soon as possible, but they said it may take until May 1.
The monument, located in Coolidge about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Casa Grande, preserves a group of structures built by the Hohokam tribe more than 700 years ago.
veryGood! (627)
Related
- The Daily Money: Mattel's 'Wicked' mistake
- Shop Hollister's Extra 20% Off Clearance Sale: Up to 75% Off on $4 Tops, $12 Pants & More Deals Under $25
- WNBA MVP odds: Favorites to win 2024 Most Valuable Player award
- Found: The Best Free People Deals Under $50, Featuring Savings Up to 92% Off & Styles Starting at Just $6
- Timothée Chalamet Details How He Transformed Into Bob Dylan for Movie
- These evangelicals are voting their values — by backing Kamala Harris
- Wagon rolls over at Wisconsin apple orchard injuring about 25 children and adults
- Texas education commissioner calls for student cellphone ban in schools
- LSU leads college football Week 11 Misery Index after College Football Playoff hopes go bust
- Video shows geologists collecting lava samples during Hawaii's Kilauea volcano eruption
Ranking
- Jury awards Abu Ghraib detainees $42 million, holds contractor responsible
- Memories of the earliest Tupperware parties, from one who was there
- High School Musical’s Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens' Relationship Ups and Downs Unpacked in Upcoming Book
- 'Golden Bachelorette' Joan met her 24 suitors in emotional premiere: Who got a rose?
- Man accused of killing American tourist in Budapest, putting her body in suitcase: Police
- Elle King Reveals She and Dan Tooker Are Back Together One Year After Breakup
- What NFL games are today: Schedule, time, how to watch Thursday action
- A former officer texted a photo of the bloodied Tyre Nichols to his ex-girlfriend
Recommendation
-
Armie Hammer Says His Mom Gifted Him a Vasectomy for His 38th Birthday
-
Raven-Symoné Says Demi Lovato Was Not the Nicest on Sonny with a Chance—But Doesn't Hold It Against Her
-
Disney Store Sale Extravaganza: Unlock Magical 40% Off Deals Starting at $17.49
-
Commitment to build practice facility helped Portland secure 15th WNBA franchise
-
Mike Tyson concedes the role of villain to young foe in 58-year-old’s fight with Jake Paul
-
Maternal deaths surged in Texas in 2020, 2021
-
Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new criminal charge in New York
-
Mission specialist for Titan sub owner to testify before Coast Guard