The fall prescribed fire season has started off strong on the North Kaibab Ranger District, with 5,292 acres treated in the Billy Sink, Road Hollow North, and Road Hollow South units, and an additional 1,695 acres on Grand Canyon National Park’s Atoko Point unit on the North Rim.
Ignitions will continue this week in the Dry Park area with a target goal of 9,350 acres to be treated. Additional planned ignitions this fall include the 3,210-acre Telephone Hill unit and the 5,182-acre Red Point PH1 unit.
Smoke impacts can be expected on State Route 67, Demotte Park, Marble Viewpoint and the Saddle Mountain Wilderness area, portions of Grand Canyon National Park, and into the Navajo Nation. Roads around Dry Park, including Forest Road 22, may experience intermittent closures.
During operations, fire personnel and vehicles working in these areas will be visible to the public. Motorists are asked to avoid active hot areas and are reminded to use caution and drive with heightened awareness when passing through the project vicinity.
Our land management strategy is centered on long-term forest health, including reducing forest fuels and using prescribed fire on the landscape. Prescribed fires help reduce hazardous fuels that have accumulated due to drought, climate change, insects and disease, and decades of fire suppression. Fire also recycles nutrients back to the soil, promotes the growth of trees, wildflowers, and other plants, and improves habitat for threatened and endangered species. These efforts align with the Forest Service’s 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy which aims to increase prescribed fire and other treatments to improve forest resiliency for generations to come.
We recognize that smoke can impact residents, visitors, and our fire personnel. We will continue to coordinate closely with our partners and communities to minimize smoke impacts as much as possible. All prescribed fires on the Kaibab National Forest are subject to Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. The department’s Air Quality Division: Smoke Management webpage provides details about its air quality program.
Information can be found on the Kaibab NF website, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, or by calling the local ranger stations.