A final decision increasing prescribed fire and thinning in the Blue Ridge area was signed July 27 adding protection to the watersheds feeding C.C. Cragin Reservoir which are engulfed by overgrown forest.
Prescribed Fire
Fire managers on the south zone of the Kaibab National Forest will resume implementation on the Sunflower prescribed fire project beginning Saturday of this week. With red flag conditions subsiding and a measure of moisture in the immediate forecast, favorable weather conditions have presented an opportunity to continue with treatments in this specific area.
As part of the Tonto National Forest’s ongoing strategy to restore the health of the landscape and reduce catastrophic wildfire danger in Rim County, fire specialists will conduct prescribed fire treatments on 758 acres south of Payson, starting on Monday, January 29, and continuing through Friday, February 2, 2018. The treatment areas are located south of the Payson Golf Course, north of Oxbow Estates, southwest of Granite Dells, south of Round Valley, and north of Jim Jones Shooting Range.
Fire Managers on the south zone of the Kaibab National Forest will continue with pile burning on the Tusayan Ranger District this week and are expecting to complete an additional 429 acres west of the Grand Canyon Airport by Friday.
Typically, pile burning produces far less smoke than broadcast burning with less impacts to adjacent communities. Piles consume quickly and have little to no spread potential with recent snow accumulation on the ground. Burn days are always chosen based on current weather conditions that are optimal for ventilation and dispersion of residual smoke.
Tonto National Forest fire specialists plan to conduct a 1,247-acre prescribed fire treatment in the Shoofly ruins area north of Payson from Monday, November 13, through Thursday, November 16, 2017.
The prescribed fire will eliminate timber slash, dead and down woody debris, grass and brush.
National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service fire managers, working together as the North Zone Interagency Fire Management Program, continued operations on both the North Rim Slopes and High Severity Edge prescribed fires last week. Updates on these prescribed burns are as follows:
Ignition operations on the Wildhorse prescribed fire (Wildhorse Rx) were completed today. As a result, smoke from the prescribed burn is expected to result in more favorable smoke dispersion over the weekend. Fire managers estimate that approximately 2,813 acres of hazardous fuels have been treated since the project began this week on the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest.
Over the weekend, resources will remain onsite and continue to monitor and patrol the Wildhorse and Tipover East prescribed fire projects.
Operations on the Wildhorse prescribed fire (Wildhorse Rx) continue to progress. Fire managers estimate that approximately 1,000 acres of hazardous fuels have been treated since the project began yesterday on the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest.
National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) fire managers, working together as the North Zone Interagency Fire Management Program, anticipate initiating more prescribed fire (Rx) treatments as early as Wednesday as weather and fuel moisture conditions allow on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest.
Unseasonably warm and dry weather conditions in northern Arizona have presented a unique opportunity for Fire Managers on the Williams Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest to successfully treat just under 9000 acres of densely forested area with prescribed fire over the month of October.
The Green Base Prescribed Fire project which is 9836 acres in size is nearly complete and officials expect to finish the final two blocks totaling 769 acres in one more day of ignitions.
Pages
