Two Tucson men have pleaded guilty to charges of vandalizing cacti and a palo verde tree at Saguaro National Park East last May.
Beau Campbell and Colton Salazar were placed on probation for a year, will pay $458 each in restitution and complete 30 hours of community service with the National Park Service, according to federal court documents obtained by the Arizona Daily Star.
The plea agreements on the misdemeanor charges were signed last Thursday in U.S. District Court.
That service includes this somewhat unusual provision described in the court documents:
“Court orders that the defendant shall buy a half cord of wood, 4 feet in length, and chop the wood into 2-foot lengths with an ax. The probation officer shall supervise the defendant’s purchase of wood and the chopping of the wood.”
The vandalism included destruction of two barrel cacti, a small saguaro and half of a 10-foot palo verde tree along the park’s Douglas Spring Trail. Court documents show the damage estimate to the plants was $915.
Campbell and Salazar contacted the Park Service to acknowledge their role in the vandalism after photos of them, captured by a surveillance camera, were released and posted on media websites.
“It’s satisfying to see one of these cases come to fruition,” said Paul Austin, chief ranger at Saguaro Park. “It was a good example of the community, rangers and investigators working together. We thank the public for their assistance in this case and for continuing to look out for their national parks.”
The two were each facing up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
But about that unusual wood-chopping provision: “It wasn’t anything that came from us,” Austin said.
Steven West, an attorney who represented Salazar in the case, said it wasn’t something proposed by attorneys, but rather a provision ordered by the judge, U.S. Magistrate Bernardo P. Velasco.
“Since they had taken an ax out into the desert, the judge thought they should use an ax for more productive purposes,” West said.
