The Landscape Committee manages the desert along the Foothills Clusters HOA roadways within the Limited Common Area, which includes HOA road easements, cul-de-sacs and the lighting and vegetation at our two community entrances. The committee focuses on managing for native desert plants, including the monitoring and removal of non-native plants in support of the board’s Invasive Grasses Abatement Policy (2020). Additionally, the committee supports education and enforcement of native plant protection as defined in Article VII Use Restrictions, Section 9 Native Growth (page 87 of the CCRs), which prohibits removal of native growth without prior written approval.
The committee conducts inspections of the limited common area and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors. Committee activities include a community Green Waste Collection, scheduled typically in late fall to mid-winter. This collection supports homeowners’ pruning of plants, when needed, and the removal of non-native invasive plants, a key step in maintaining a healthy and wildfire-resistant desert.
Committee members (2025-2026) are Ron Steffens (Chair), Jerry Milewski, and Dan Weisz.
For recent activities, please see our FCHOA Landscape Committee Report for 2025.
Living in the Desert
The Landscape Committee shares some key steps for living in our desert landscapes:
- NATIVE PLANTS ARE PROTECTED. Homeowners do not have permission to remove any native plants in the Limited Common Area and Master Association Common Area.
- MAINTAIN DESERT VEGETATION. Our community is noted for our native desert. Removal of native desert vegetation is limited by FCHOA guidelines and by regulations and guidelines of Pima County and the State of Arizona. For a comprehensive resource, see the Native Plant Management pages from the Arizona Native Plant Society.
- REMOVE INVASIVE PLANTS. If you identify non-native plants on your property, please remove and report, according to accepted guidelines that include the FCHOA Invasive Grasses Abatement Policy (adopted in 2020). Resources for managing invasive plants include:
| Pima County | Pima County Invasive Species Information |
| Sonoran Desert Weedwackers (Information Guide) | |
| Buffelgrass | Buffelgrass Removal (Foothills Clusters) |
| Buffelgrass: Don’t Feed the Fire! (Foothills Clusters) | |
| “Save our Saguaros” – February 16, 2019. A Foothills Neighborhood Nonnative Grass-Pull Event (Dan Weisz). | |
| Fountain Grass | Invasive Desert Plants – Fountain Grass (Video, AZPM Arizona Public Media). |
| Stinknet | Stinknet.org (with a Pima County focus) and Report Stinknet survey |
- PREVENT OR TRAP PACK RATS (DON’T POISON). If pack rats occur on your property, seek professional assistance for trapping or trap them yourself. Look for early signs of nest building (typically a few gathered cholla buds and sticks) and break these apart before the pack rats begin nesting. Do not use poison, as pack rats typically aren’t killed by the poison but their predators are killed — which removes them from their key role in naturally controlling pack rats. See Poison Doesn’t Control Pack Rats!
- MISTLETOE FEEDS THE DESERT. Mistletoe is a unique signature of a healthy desert. While it’s a partial parasite in mesquite, it is a key resource for pollinators and birds such as phainopepla. In most cases, there’s no need to prune it from mesquite branches, as both plants have adapted together. For more information, read “Mistletoe: parasite, seldom a killer” (Arizona Daily Star: July 2, 2014); “Ask Carianne: Mistletoe management in desert trees is controversial for homeowners” (Arizona Native Plant Society: June 23, 2021); and an expert’s analysis of desert mistletoe by Kelsey Yule (Tortolita Alliance: March 25, 2021).