Tonto National Forest fire officials are planning to conduct fuel treatments beginning Monday, July 3, 2023.
Fire specialists will begin hand thinning operations around the communities of Christopher Creek subdivision, See Canyon Summer Homes, Hunter Creek Ranch, Geronimo Estates, Beaver Valley Estates and P-C Scout Camp; as well as around Upper Tonto Creek and Lower Tonto Creek Campgrounds. The purpose of this project is to decrease the ladder fuels on the ground and to maintain the fuel breaks around these communities.
Work will continue through the end of September with the goal of treating 2,109 acres to reduce the risk of wildfires damaging communities and critical infrastructure. The types of vegetation to be thinned include juniper and shrubs. Thinned vegetation will be scattered to decompose naturally creating valuable nutrients for the forest floor.
Land managers can increase forest resilience and minimize wildfire impacts through forest management activities based on sound science. These activities are called hazardous fuels treatments and forest health treatments because their purpose is to reduce dangerous fuel levels through mechanical thinning, the removal of trees from overstocked forests, and prescribed burns: low-intensity burns to clear excess debris from the forest floor. These treatments will restore forest health and resilience.
This project is part of the USDA Forest Service 10- year strategy for confronting the wildfire crisis here in Arizona. Learn more about the Forest Service Wildfire Crisis Strategy by visiting https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildfire-crisis.
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A map of the Fuel Break Maintenance near Geronimo Estates - June, 30 2023
A map of the Fuel Break Maintenance near Upper Tonto, Christopher Creek and Bear Flat - June 30, 2023