OAK CREEK — Motorists traveling through the Oak Creek Canyon switchbacks on State Route 89A on Tuesday, April 21, should expect possible delays and allow extra travel time, while crews perform shoulder work at milepost 389.
Maintenance will be performed on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. with one lane of travel through the area. Flaggers will allow for alternating traffic and drivers are asked to allow for extra travel time to reach their destinations and use caution while traveling through the area.
Kaibab National Forest Supervisor Mike Williams [left] and Coconino National Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart signed the Final Record of Decision for 4FRI’s 1st Environmental Impact Statement on Friday, April 17 in Flagstaff, AZ.
FLAGSTAFF — On Friday April 17 the Forest Service reached the next milestone in the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) when Coconino National Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart and Kaibab National Forest Supervisor Mike Williams signed the final decision. It results in accelerated forest restoration on more than a half million acres of national forests and grasslands.
Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell lauded the decision. “This is exceptional work of Forest Service employees and stakeholders who joined together to support this historic endeavor,” he said. “This restoration work will contribute significantly to our efforts to sustain healthy, resilient landscapes. Support from these stakeholder groups will ensure we maintain this momentum for the long haul. That’s what it will take to make a difference.”
This achievement is the result of four national forests and more than 30 stakeholder groups joining together over five years to work on the largest landscape-scale restoration project ever analyzed in Forest Service history. 4FRI builds on many years of collaboration, research, and action since the mid-1990s. Over the past five years, the Forest Service has progressed toward accelerating restoration by implementing projects within the 4FRI landscape, using previous NEPA analyses. Progress continues with this final Record of Decision. It approves various restoration activities on over 586,000 acres of the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests. These activities include thinning; prescribed burning; watershed and road maintenance; grassland, spring, and stream channel restoration; and habitat improvements. Continue reading →
WILLIAMS — There is a quote attributed to W.C. Fields concerning why he does not drink water. The various versions are really not appropriate here. Suffice it is to say that W.C. Fields will not be drinking water in Williams.
Ian Tabeling checks the pH and temperature of the water before releasing crop into the water.
Well, not just because he has been dead for many years now. It is also because the Arizona Game & Fish truck arrived from the Peach Springs hatchery to restock the local lakes.
Ian Tabeling told me he stocked Santa Fe and was there to stock the Buckskinner reservoir—to the delight of the anglers waiting for a bite. His partner was stocking White Horse, he said.
This is welcome news for anglers who have been trying with no success since the reservoirs were lowered because of recent drought conditions.
(Sorry. Forgot to ask his partners name or if they were stocking Dogtown or Kaibab.)
BUCKEYE — The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has completed work on a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) analyses for total boron and total selenium (chronic) impairing the water quality of the Middle Gila River. The TMDL analysis is a combined water quality improvement plan and pollutant budget that is designed to bring the impaired reach back to the attainment of water quality standards.
TMDL analyses are written to address point and nonpoint sources of pollution for water bodies on Arizona’s Impaired Waters list as required by the federal Clean Water Act.
A public meeting will be held at City Hall in Buckeye, Arizona on April 23, 2015 to release the draft TMDL document. The meeting will mark the beginning of a 30-day comment period for the general public.
Topics discussed at the meeting will include existing water quality conditions, the implications of impaired water quality on land uses, recreation, and aquatic habitat in the vicinity, and the status of legacy pesticide contamination of the Gila River. Actions stakeholders can take to improve water quality, and funding opportunities available for stakeholders who wish to become involved in making improvements will also be discussed.
Landowners, irrigation district personnel, treatment plant operators, local water managers, and citizens with an interest in water quality and land use issues are all welcome to attend.
Meeting Essentials
What: Final Middle Gila River Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) public meeting
Who: Stakeholders, citizens, and interested parties
When: 5:30 -7:00 PM, Thursday, April 23, 2015
Where: Buckeye City Hall City Council Chambers
530 E. Monroe Avenue, Buckeye, Arizona 85326
BIG SPRING, Tx — An official briefing of the City Council of Big Spring surfaced on YouTube that sheds new light on the upcoming operation called Jade Helm 15. The briefing was conducted by Tom Mead, a contractor working for the United States Special Operations Command and planner and exercise designer for the Jade Helm Project. Mead explained that the purpose of the meeting was to obtain permission from the city officials. The video is edited greatly, but the portions remaining raise many questions.
Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 27,282 at the 2010 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, Abilene to the east, Lubbock to the north, and San Angelo to the south. Big Spring was established as the county seat of Howard County in 1882; it is the largest community in the county. (Wikipedia)
We are seeking written invitation and approval from local officials to conduct a realistic military training exercise within the jurisdiction of the City of Big Spring.
We’re not training for Afghanistan and Iraq—the things that we’ve done in the last fifteen years. We’re looking forward and we want to make sure these guys are trained properly.
He explained that the operation would be ongoing for five- to five-and-a-half weeks. The eight week time period would include time to prepare for the exercise in Florida and Mississippi. He also said that Texas would see the bulk of the exercise.
Mead explained that they would be asking for civilian participation.
We look for people who are willing to transport our guys, because they have to move around in a clandestine manner. For example, in the back of a horse trailer in the middle of the night so nobody can see them. These are ways they have to operate in foreign countries when they’re not supposed to be in those countries.
The video shows questions from council members.
Council man: Mr. Mead, how often do you do a operation like this? Is this done annually, or…
Mead: Yes, Sir, so, um, the Jade Helm project is a new project that has come along from General Cleveland, uh, from his staff at United States Army Special Operations Command. … Um, this operation is planned to be conducted yearly.
We conduct an exercise that’s similar to this. I say similar because the scope and the breadth of the exercise is nowhere comparable to what we do here. But they conduct that exercise six times a year in North Carolina.
COUNCILMAN: I just have to ask, how does FBI and DEA work with the military on an operation like this?
MEAD: Well, generally speaking, Sir, the FBI and DEA provide us liaison officers up at our command level, depending on how the scenarios written. One of the ways the FBI and DEA are working with us, here, is in Arizona they will actually do some questioning for us at one of the airports in Arizona.
COUNCILMAN: Do y’all use any personnel from NATO, UN, or…
MEAD: No, no, Sir. Currenly for Jade Helm it is US only. We… That has been one of the discussions that, I’m not sure if it has occurred yet, but… [Edited]
The operation that he refers to in North Carolina is probably Robin Sage. [Wikipedia] Robin Sage, however, is a confined exercise giving special forces groups specific scenarios, such as rescuing downed pilots. It does not include rounding up people and carting them off.
From the video, we derive that the operation is a new design to train troops to go into countries where they are not supposed to be. They are training to get rides from the local populace in the back of wagons. They will drive around in civilian vehicles without being noticed even though they are supposed to be wearing arm bands during the operation. Continue reading →
The Arizona Department of Transportation will remove dead trees from the right-of-way along a two-mile segment of State Route 260 next week in both directions (mileposts 247 to 249), approximately three miles west of the SR 260/87 junction, and eight miles north of Strawberry.
Work will begin on Monday, April 20 through Wednesday, April 22 between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. each day.
Drivers can expect delays of up to 15 minutes to allow a safe work zone for maintenance crews to remove fallen trees from the roadway. Flaggers will guide traffic through the work zone.
For safety reasons, motorists are urged to not to stop in the tree-cutting areas to pick up the wood.
ADOT advises drivers to proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down, and be alert for construction equipment and personnel.
![Kaibab National Forest Supervisor Mike Williams [left] and Coconino National Forest Supervisor Earl Stewart signed the Final Record of Decision for 4FRI’s 1st Environmental Impact Statement on Friday, April 17 in Flagstaff, AZ.](https://i0.wp.com/www.northernarizonagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/640FS-DSC_0022.jpg?ssl=1)
