Firefighters plan to conduct prescribed fire operations on the Clifton Ranger District beginning Nov. 13 through Nov. 30, 2023 weather permitting. The East Eagle project area is 13,416 acres and is 30 miles north of Morenci. The East Eagle prescribed fire is within the San Carlos Tribal Forest Protection Project which is one of the National Priority Landscapes. These landscape treatments are a cooperative effort with the San Carlos Apache Tribe and includes; the National Forest Foundation, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the Mule Deer Foundation, and the Salt River Project.
The boundaries of the project are along Trail #18 (Salt House Creek) to the east, Forest Road 54 to the north, Forest Road 8369 to the west, and East Eagle Creek to the south. Air quality monitors have been placed in Alpine, AZ and Luna, NM. More information on air quality is available at https://www.airnow.gov/.
Smoke will be visible from portions of State Highway 191 and the community along Eagle Creek. Burn Boss Joe Names said, “We are making every effort to keep people, including private landowners near the project, informed of the project before, during and after the prescribed fire.”
Landscape treatments on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests align with the Forest Service's 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy, which aims to increase the use of fire on the landscape and other treatments to improve forest health.
Visit the A-S National Forests website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/asnf and follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/apachesitgreavesnfs.