Category Archives: Fredonia

North Kaibab Ranger District Christmas tree permit update

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FREDONIA — As a reminder, the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest is currently selling over-the-counter Christmas tree tags at both the district office in Fredonia and the Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center in Jacob Lake, and all fourth graders are eligible for a free Christmas tree permit as part of the Every Kid in a Park (eKIP) initiative.

Specific dates and times for getting a Christmas tree permit for the North Kaibab Ranger District are as follows:

The Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Dec. 13 for tag sales. The visitor center is located at the intersection of highways 89 and 67 in Jacob Lake and can be reached at (928) 643-7298.

The North Kaibab District office will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays, and on two Saturdays, Nov. 28 and Dec. 5, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for tag sales. The office is located at 430 S. Main St. in Fredonia and can be reached at 928-643-7395.

To be eligible for a free Christmas tree permit from the North Kaibab Ranger District, all fourth graders must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and present their fourth grade pass. Additional information about the initiative and how to obtain a pass may be found at the official eKIP website.

For those not eligible for the fourth grade initiative, a $15 permit may be purchased.

All Christmas tree permit holders will be provided with a map showing their designated cutting area along with additional Christmas tree cutting instructions. North Kaibab Ranger District tag holders are authorized to cut a tree of any species that is less than 10 feet in height and within the designated cutting areas on the map provided. All sales are final, and no refunds will be made.
The Williams and Tusayan districts of the Kaibab National Forest also have Christmas tree tags available. For detailed information on those tags as well as additional information on North Kaibab Ranger District tags, visit the Kaibab National Forest website.

100 Acres of Prescribed Fire planned near Jacob Lake

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pb-fredonia-1FREDONIA — With a favorable window of opportunity expected to remain open on the North Kaibab Ranger District for the remainder of the week, North Zone fire managers plan to commence this year’s prescribed fire season as early as tomorrow by initiating ignitions in the Moquitch 4 project area.

The Moquitch 4 burn unit is geographically located approximately 6 miles south of Jacob Lake and is bound by Forest Service Road (FR) 217 and dozer line on the east, FR 282 on the west, FR 260 on the north and FR 212 on the south. Mainly comprised of ponderosa pine with scattered clumps of aspen and patches of New Mexico locust, this planned fuels treatment is intended to reduce hazardous fuel loads, improve wildlife habitat and stimulate aspen regeneration in the project area.

Fire managers began fuels treatments in this project area in June and to date completed 96 acres of the 1,104 acre planning area. Tomorrow, fire managers plan to target an additional 100 acres in the southern-most portion of this burn unit and continue working in a northerly direction throughout the following week until complete.

Implementation of prescribed fires is dependent on weather and fuel conditions including winds, temperature, humidity, moisture of the vegetation and ventilation conditions for dispersal of smoke, as well as, prior coordination with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Smoke may be visible from the vicinity of Jacob Lake, AZ Highway 67 and AZ Highway 89A.

“Understanding that smoke is often not a popular trade-off for having a healthy forest in a fire adapted ecosystem, part of our goal is to get the word out to people in our local communities as soon as possible and limit our operations to times when smoke has the best chance of dispersing,” said North Zone Fuels Specialist Dave Robinson.

Prior to igniting a prescribed burn, fire effects crew monitors use a pilot balloon (PIBAL) to construct a wind profile to determine wind direction and wind speed. If conditions are not appropriate to implement a prescribed fire treatment, then operations are halted until conditions fall within established parameters. In addition to conducting PIBAL operations, fire effects crew monitors also measure, monitor and document the effects of fuels treatment projects during implementation.

“The documentation generated by our fire monitors is important in determining how we can improve forest health and also in measuring our compliance with various laws, our forest plan and burn plans to help ensure the quality of our air, our water and our reforestation efforts,” said North Kaibab District Ranger Randall Walker.

Forest visitors are reminded to use caution when in the vicinity of fire personnel and fire vehicles during prescribed fire operations. Visitors should drive slowly, turn on headlights, and avoid stopping in areas where fire personnel are working.

Kaibab National Forest fire information is also available through the following resources: InciWeb http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/; Kaibab National Forest Fire Information Phone Line (928) 635-8311; Text Message – text ‘follow kaibabnf’ to 40404; Twitter www.twitter.com/KaibabNF.

Save the date: National Public Lands Day at NKRD

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FREDONIA — The Kaibab National Forest and the International Mountain Bicycling Association will host a weekend trail building event for volunteers September 26 through 27 at Timp Point.

The 18-mile Rainbow Rim Trail is a single-track trail located in the vicinity of the south-southwestern most portion of the North Kaibab Ranger District on the Kaibab Plateau along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Once completed, the extension project will extend the existing Rainbow Rim trail east for 8 miles.

What: Volunteers will continue Rainbow Rim trail extension project

Where: Rainbow Rim, Kaibab National Forest, North Kaibab Ranger District

When: Saturday, September 26, 9:00 am through Sunday, September 27, 12:00 pm

General Information:

  • Camping sites reserved for volunteers at North Timp Point
  • Cold breakfast provided both days & hot dinner provided Saturday evening
  • Volunteers must bring their own lunch
  • Volunteer bike ride of Rainbow Rim trail on Saturday afternoon (3 to 6pm)

RSVP required:

Please click on email links below to RSVP, and please include the number of volunteers that may be joining you in the body of your email. For example: “I’m responding to your National Public Lands Day Rainbow Rim Volunteer Event invitation, Sept. 26 through Sept. 27. Please add myself (+ 2) to your list.” Or “Regretfully, I will not be able to attend your event. Thank you.”

Military veterans give North Kaibab trails a facelift

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kaibab-veterans-1FREDONIA — The Forest Service’s most recent 2015-2020 Strategic Plan contains four outcome-oriented goals, one of which is to “Deliver Benefits to the Public.” Last week, recreational staff from the North Kaibab Ranger District (NKRD) of the Kaibab National Forest partnered with the Arizona Wilderness Coalition (AWC) and military-veteran volunteers to once again work toward meeting that goal by working together to maintain trails within and near the Saddle Mountain Wilderness.

Since the recent June release of the new Strategic Plan, the district’s staff has taken this challenge seriously by implementing various projects throughout the summer that would help meet this strategic goal. In addition to this most recent AWC Veterans Saddle Mountain Wilderness project, other summer projects on the district include: trail, sign, and building maintenance performed by students from the local Youth Conservation Corps, trail maintenance on the Rainbow Rim performed by volunteers from the American Conservation Experience and the International Mountain Bicycling Association, and prescribed fire prep work on the Tipover East prescribed fire burn unit performed by inmate fire crews from the Arizona State Forestry Division, who completed approximately 30 acres of thinning and hand piling fuel reduction work.

kaibab-veterans-2“For my veteran brothers and sisters, this trip was a good chance to push reality and stress aside and enjoy one of this country’s treasures, meet other veterans and make some new friends,” said U.S. Army veteran Bill Losh.

During the Saddle Mountain Wilderness project, AWC coordinator Brian Stultz and NKRD coordinator Denise Carpenter, jointly hosted ten U.S. military veteran volunteers to three days of trail maintenance and hiking followed by four nights of rest and relaxation, campfire bonding, and evening dinners consisting of burgers, pastas, fresh salads and three much-loved dutch-oven entrees cooked by Stultz.

“The cord is cut,” said Mind, Body and Resilience trainer Nick Manci, who instructed yoga and trauma release classes throughout the week. “I felt a disconnect to my world back in Phoenix. My time in the forest with no communication with anyone outside of our camp and the trail time, yoga, trauma release and meditation all played a role in my reemerging with nature. I’m once again reminded of where I’ve come from and where to find solace and peace. It took four days. I’ll return to the city tomorrow a little different man. I am thankful for my time here on the Kaibab Plateau.”

“I especially enjoyed the beauty and quiet seclusion of the wilderness,” said U.S. Marine Corps veteran John Morgan. “There was nothing but friendly and professional folks running this program, and plenty of time to myself. I think the volunteer program is a major plus and would do it again if asked.”

Throughout the week, volunteers dispersed camped in a water-and-electric free environment alongside Forest Service Road 611 just a few miles from the three trailheads. Each day, the crew started with morning yoga, breakfast and a short hike before the work of cutting trees and trail brushing began.

“I have shed a lot of military skin in the eight years since I got out,” said U.S. Marine Corps veteran Jeff Glessing. “Reconnecting with veterans who get it was a great treat for the weekend. We were able to speak freely about our experiences, connect over common ground and speak in acronym-filled sentences without having to decipher it for our audience.”

Throughout the days, the veteran crew worked alongside NKRD and AWC personnel. All told, they improved about 3.5 miles of the North Canyon Trail, clearing a 10-foot by 12-foot wide corridor to accommodate pack horses, and an additional 1.6 miles on the Saddle Mountain Trail. All maintenance work was done with hand tools such as the crosscut saw, bow saw, pruning saw, grub hoe, and loppers.

“It’s kind of like performing plastic surgery for the trails,” said Carpenter, a seasoned and certified crosscut sawyer. “Trail work requires many various kinds of hand tools and, to be safe and productive, trail workers must know how to select the best tools for the job and be skilled at using them. Productive trail work depends upon knowing your way around sharp tools, working together as a team and having a constant awareness of surrounding hazards, and this crew did remarkably well for their first time doing this type of work together.”

Since this particular trail maintenance was done on trails leading into and within Saddle Mountain Wilderness, the crew was prohibited from using motorized equipment within the wilderness due to the Wilderness Act of 1964 in order to provide wilderness protections for future generations.

“When everything was said and done, we were greatly supported by the AWC and USFS, who proved very knowledgeable and were willing to answer all kinds of questions about forestry, land management and ecology,” Glessing added. “We had a shared experience that is difficult to find once you leave the military. It was fun and I’ll be looking forward to my next AWC trip; hopefully, just around the corner.”

Fire management actions wind down on Kaibab Plateau

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FREDONIA — Over the last six weeks, wildland firefighters worked to establish, reinforce and hold the line around the established 3,915-acre planning area on the Burnt Complex. On Aug. 5, they successfully achieved this management goal. Earlier this wildfire season, firefighters also successfully managed the Locust Fire, which consumed more than 3,227 acres of excess pine litter and dead-woody debris on the forest floor.

“Collectively, I can safely estimate both these wildfires removed approximately 5 to 10 tons-per-acre of excess fuels from the forest floor, making these portions of our forest healthier, more resilient to future wildfires and overall safer for those visiting the forest,” said North Zone Fuels Specialist Dave Robinson.

Objectives for a lightning-caused wildfire can call for full suppression, allowing the fire to take its natural course, or a combination thereof. This decision can be challenging because it includes a number of complexities that must be taken into account when planning such an operation. Such complexities can include but are not limited to landscape, terrain, and weather but also public health risk and values at risk, such as historic landmarks, power lines, communication towers, local businesses and privately-owned properties in or near the location of the wildfire, also referred to as the Wildland-Urban Interface or the transition zone between unoccupied land and human development.

When conditions are right and deemed appropriate to manage as identified by the Kaibab National Forest Land and Resources Management Plan (LRMP), management action objectives often include returning fire to a fire-adapted ecosystem, reducing accumulated fuels on the forest floor; recycling of nutrients into the soil; enhancing wildlife habitat and protecting the area from future high-intensity wildland fires.

Robinson adds that in addition to reducing fuel surface loads on the ground, it is also necessary to open the tree canopy and reduce understory tree densities in the planning area, resulting in a mosaic of patches and corridors of trees and diversity of distribution and abundance of different plant and animal communities and species within the area covered by the LRMP. On the Burnt Complex, this was accomplished by reducing the number of pole-sized trees, according to Robinson; a term used to describe trees 6 inches in diameter or less.

Robinson, who works for both the Kaibab National Forest and Grand Canyon National Park in fuels management, added that “wildfire is a commodity that we can’t afford to live without. So we do our best to manage these naturally-caused fires by manipulating the fire and keeping it at the low-and-slow intensity we want so nature can run its course. This natural disturbance process allows fire to reduce excess fuels, lessen the risk of future high-intensity wildfires, and allow fire to return to the ecosystem safely and effectively in an environment that needs fire to remain healthy.”

Both the Burnt Complex and the Locust Fire continue to be in monitor and patrol status, and fire managers are asking forest visitors to avoid entering the recently burned area as interior fuels may still be putting out heat and smoke.

“Successful management of these lightning-caused fires starts with communication and information. Firefighter and public safety is always the most important consideration as part of that process,” said North Zone Fire Management Officer Ed Hiatt. “We want our visitors to understand that even though a recently burned area may look like a safe place to explore, it isn’t. There may be fire-weakened tree hazards overhead or stump-hole hazards on the ground, which can cause serious injury, so it is always best to be aware of your surroundings, be on the lookout for such hazards and use extreme caution if hiking or camping in the vicinity.”

Burnt Complex update

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Kaibab National Forest Service photo

FREDONIA — As smoke from the Burnt Complex started to become visible from the communities of Kanab and Fredonia at about 4 p.m. yesterday, firefighters continued to receive positive results on this managed fire, which is located approximately 34 miles south of Fredonia and 5 miles southwest of Big Springs.

The Burnt Complex is located within the southern portion of the 28,060 acre Burnt Corral Vegetation Management Project area and has increased in size at steady pace since its discovery on July 5. The complex continues to be managed under Incident Commander Dave Veater in order to reduce accumulated fuels on the forest floor, recycle nutrients into the soil, and protect the greater area from future high-intensity wildland fires.

Fire Name/Date Started: Burnt Complex; the Burnt Fire was discovered on July 5, and the Corral Fire on July 9.

Location: Both the Burnt Fire and the Corral Fire are being managed as the Burnt Complex within the previously established 3,915-acre Burnt Fire planning area. The complex is bound by Forest Service Road (FSR) 228 on the north, FSR 274 on the south and west, and FSR 22 on the east.

Cause/Fire Behavior: Lightning/Moderate.

Size: Approximately 441 acres.

Fuel Types: Pine, down woody debris and duff (material on the forest floor consisting of decomposing needles and other natural materials).

Closures: Currently no road or trail closures are in effect or anticipated; however, hazard signs are posted, and motorists should exercise caution.
Resources Committed: 2 Type II Wildland Fire Modules, 1 Type-3 engine, 2 Type-4 engines, 1 Type-6 engine, 1 dozer, 1 Type-2 Initial Attack Crew, 1 Water Tender, 24 overhead; 62 personnel total.

New start discovered in Burnt Complex Fire planning area

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burnt-comples150713-01a FREDONIA — While conducting planning area prep work for the Burnt Fire, North Zone fire personnel discovered a new lightning-caused wildfire on July 9, which has been named the Corral Fire. The Corral Fire point of origin is located approximately one mile south of the Burnt Fire point of origin.

Located within the already active Burnt Fire planning area boundary, both wildland fires are being managed in an area that has previously been deemed safe for firefighters to manage. This forest type has been identified by the Kaibab National Forest Land and Resources Management Plan, also known as the Kaibab forest plan, as appropriate for management actions.

Under the Kaibab forest plan, management of naturally-caused fires enables both forest and fire managers to reduce the risk of high severity fires, improve the resiliency of the forest’s natural ecosystems in the face of climate change, and increase the quality and quantity of important wildlife habitats within the Kaibab National Forest.

“If deemed safe to manage, these lightning-caused fires can be our most effective tool to restore the landscape and to return fire to fire-adapted ecosystems,” said North Zone Fire Management Officer Ed Hiatt. “By allowing fire to perform its natural role across the landscape, we can achieve the desired conditions outlined in our forest plan – to protect our surrounding communities, infrastructure, heritage resources, and recreational settings from severe wildfires.”

Together, both fires will be managed as the Burnt Complex within the previously established 3,915-acre Burnt Fire planning area. Both the 24-acre Corral Fire and the 85-acre Burnt Fire are bound by Forest Service Road (FSR) 228 on the north, FSR 274 on the south and west, and FSR 22 on the east.

Today fire behavior is active, which means that fire is spreading on the ground through duff, litter, and other fuels. Fire managers do anticipate smoke to lightly impact driving conditions along FSR 22. Currently, there are no road or trail closures in effect; however, hazard signs are posted, and motorists are reminded to be extremely cautious when driving in the vicinity and around firefighters and working equipment.

Since the Fourth of July weekend, North Zone firefighters have responded to nine lightning-caused fires across the North Kaibab Ranger District, five of which occurred on July 8 and are listed below:

  • Willis Fire – lightning caused and located just east of LeFevre Overlook. Approximately .10 acre in size. Action taken: none, currently in monitor status as it received rain several times during the day.
  • Highway Fire – lightning caused and located on a northwest slope between AZ Highway 89A and FSR22. Approximately .10 acre in size. Action taken: air support responded, took suppression action, and the fire is contained.
  • Lakes Fire – lightning caused and located on FSR 217, one mile in from AZ Highway 67. Approximately .10 acre in size. Action taken: suppressed, contained and controlled.
  • Murrays Fire – lightning caused and located along AZ Highway 67 near mile-marker 588. Single tree burning next to road edge. Action taken: suppressed.
  • Point Fire – lightning caused and located along AZ Highway 67. Two miles south of the Murrays Fire. Single tree burning near roadway. Action taken: suppressed.

North Kaibab Ranger District considers managing second wildfire

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FREDONIA — Continued lightning activity on the North Kaibab Ranger District throughout the Independence weekend resulted in another wildfire on the Kaibab Plateau that North Zone fire managers are considering managing in order to improve forest health.

The Burnt Fire is located within the southern portion of the 28,060 acre Burnt Corral Vegetation Management Project area off of Forest Service Road 228A and has grown to approximately 1 acre since its discovery on July 5. Earlier this week, North Zone fire managers and forest resource specialists met to discuss the appropriate management strategy and develop a planning area boundary of 3,915 acres.

When deciding whether a particular wildfire is appropriate to manage to meet resource objectives, fire managers analyze the availability of fire personnel and equipment, terrain, weather, potential smoke impacts, cost, and potential resource benefits, and then make a recommendation to the line officer with input from all forest resource specialists. During this consultation, resource specialists consider all factors in order to provide the line officer with an overall big picture so that a decision can be made to manage the fire for resource benefit or suppress.

“The goals and objectives of the Burnt Corral project are to improve forest health and vigor while enhancing habitat conditions by making them more resilient to change in the event of wildfire or other climatic condition changes such as drought,” said North Kaibab District Ranger Randall Walker. “Management of this fire is in alignment with our forest plan, with the goals and objectives of the Burnt Corral project, and with the expected ebb and flow of monsoonal activity. Our goal is to reduce fuel loading, promote wildlife habitat, and treat approximately twelve percent of the Burnt Corral project area thus increasing that resiliency.”

Today, local resources are working on preparing the planning area and coordinating dozer line construction with fire archaeologists to protect cultural resources, timber stands, wildlife, and water catchments.

“Successful management of wildfire caused by lightning will help reduce the risk of future high-intensity wildfires to surrounding communities,” said North Zone Fire Management Officer Ed Hiatt. “But we encourage homeowners living in the wildland-urban interface to continue to fireproof their private property.”

Tusayan Ranger District to manage the Jar Complex for resource benefit

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forestTUSAYAN — The Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest is managing the Jar Complex fires in order to improve forest health and meet other natural resource objectives.

The Jar Complex is made up of three separate fires, the largest being the 16-acre Mason Fire located just southwest of Camp 36 Tank about 4 miles south of Grandview Lookout Tower. The other two fires comprising the Jar Complex are the Lost and Shale fires, each about one-tenth of an acre in size. The Lost Fire is located about 6 miles south of Tusayan, a quarter mile east of Highway 64, and 5 miles north of Red Butte. The Shale Fire is about a mile southeast of the Lost Fire just west of the junction of forest roads 2703 and 2703A.

The planning area within which the Jar Complex fires will be managed is about 18,600 acres in size. Much of the area is ponderosa pine forest that has seen various forms of treatment over the last several years from other managed fires, prescribed burns and various kinds of mechanical treatments.

While the Tusayan Ranger District has received some light precipitation over the last few days, growth potential for the fires, especially the Mason Fire, remains high. Fire managers expect the Mason Fire to continue relatively rapid growth over the next few days, so smoke will be visible from Tusayan, Highway 64, Grand Canyon National Park and Highway 180. Smoke is expected to be pushed toward the northeast due to prevailing winds, so it could also be visible from Cameron and Tuba City.

Goals of managing the Jar Complex for resource benefit include reducing fuel accumulations, improving wildlife habitat, restoring fire to a fire-adapted ecosystem, and enhancing overall forest health.

“These fires are excellent candidates for managing to achieve resource objectives due to their locations and the fire effects we are seeing so far,” said Josh Miller, fuels assistant fire management officer for the Tusayan Ranger District. “Despite a little bit of rain, the Mason Fire remains active on all sides, and we expect it to grow tens to hundreds of acres over the next few days.”

The forest service is currently managing the Locust Fire treating 3227-acres. They are also managing the Smith Fire near Love’s and the Keyhole fire north of Keyhole Sink.

All fires are natural caused.

Locust Fire update: June 27, 2015 at 8 pm

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forestFREDONIA — When the Locust Fire was first discovered on June 15, fire managers met to discuss plans to manage the fire for the benefit of forest health and determined a planning area boundary that would be limited to 3,282 acres in size.

Today, the lightning-caused Locust Fire on the North Kaibab Ranger District near Fredonia, Ariz., reached 2,160 acres, resulting in improved overall forest health, wildlife habitat and community safety in an area that was deemed safe for firefighters to manage wildfire in a forest type identified by the Kaibab National Forest Land and Resources Management Plan as appropriate for management actions.

“We are extremely pleased with the progress of the Locust Fire and the resource objectives that were accomplished to date, including managing this fire in a safe and effective manner in which every firefighter returned home safely,” said North Zone Fire Management Officer Ed Hiatt. “By allowing fire to play its natural role in the forest, we are able to actively build resiliency, improve forest health and help reduce the risk of future high-severity fire in the area.”

Based on a 4-year average, the North Kaibab Ranger District has about 80 lightning-caused fires annually.

“When conditions are right, it is always nice to know that the community understands why we do what we do,” said North Kaibab District Ranger Randall Walker. “When we have the opportunity to make a significant and positive impact in the management of the Kaibab Plateau landscape, it is always good to know that we have positive community support, and today we are pleased with the results our firefighters have achieved over the last 12 days.

Management of the fire is expected to transition from the current Type 3 Team under command of Incident Commander James Pettit, Williams Ranger District Fire Management Officer, Kaibab National Forest, to a Type 4 Team under the command of Incident Commander Justin Perkins on Tuesday. Over the coming days, the local Type 4 Team will continue to monitor and patrol the area while the majority of resource support will start to demobilize and return to their home units.

Forest managers would like to remind the general public that the Rainbow Rim remains open for recreational use. However, the roads within the Locust Fire planning area boundary remain barricaded and motorists are asked not to enter this 3,282-acre area until further notice. The Locust Fire planning area is bounded by Forest Service Road (FSR) 214 on the north, FSR 206 on the east, FSR 293 on the south and FSR 250 on the west.