FREDONIA – Employees on the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest have once again partnered with the National Forest Foundation (NFF) to plant seedlings in the Warm Fire 2017 planting project at East Lake.

This year’s Warm Fire planting project was completed in the spring with the help of a $54,000 grant from the NFF and the combined efforts of both the USDA Forest Service and Oregon-based contractor GE Forestry. Together, this on-the-ground effort yielded a total of 76,000 ponderosa pine seedlings planted in the 350-acre East Lake project area. It also increased the overall grand total for the Warm Fire reforestation to more than 1.8 million trees planted and certified across 6,100 acres of this multi-phased reforestation effort since planting efforts began in 2008.

This year’s planting project was led by North Kaibab Ranger District Assistant Silviculturist Joseph Varnado and District Silviculturist Garry Domis. This is the sixth such project in the Warm Fire area. All six projects were made possible through more than $440,000 in grants provided to the Kaibab National Forest from the National Forest Foundation, American Forest Foundation, Salt River Project Trees for Change program, and the National Bank of Arizona’s Sustainable Initiatives program.

“The key here is survival. We are planting tomorrow’s future forest,” said Varnado. “So when we’re out here, we are looking for the best possible sites to plant. Sites with the best moisture, with the best shade, and the best protection from the elements so we can enhance the survivability of our investment and protect our future forest.”

An important component crucial to that survivability began in 2009 when cones for the reforestation effort were collected from the North Kaibab and shipped to Lucky Peak Nursery near Boise, Idaho. Seeds are extracted and stored in the forest’s seed bank until needed for a planting project.

By planting seeds harvested from cones collected on the North Kaibab and stored at the nursery, foresters are able to “ensure proper provenance for planting,” said Domis, by planting native trees back into an area when the need arises. “In the forestry world we refer to this collection, storage and planting of seedlings in an area in which they originated as the conservation of genetics,” said North Kaibab District Ranger Randall Walker. “The long-term benefits help ensure provenance and avoid contamination of the genetic pool specific to a particular geographic location and elevational band. This multi-phased conservation effort is important to helping the area recover because it results in the best phenotypic characteristics that stand the best chance of survival.”

According to Walker, some preferred phenotypic traits may include trees with dark-colored green crowns which indicates the best chance to synthesize nutrients; trees with straight form which indicates the best chance to capture sunlight; trees with branch angles that can best adapt to snow loads at a higher elevation versus a lower elevation; or trees without forks, as forked trees are more susceptible to damage by winds at higher elevations.

Regardless of location or vegetation type, foresters can theoretically collect any type of native seed and send to the nursery for storage and future planting projects. Ordering a particular species is as simple as submitting a “sow and grow” request to the nursery.

For this year’s planting project, Domis submitted a request to Lucky Peak Nursery in November 2015. The seeds were then withdrawn from the forest’s seed bank and then sown and grown on site, a process that takes approximately 12 months before the seedlings are ready for selection and shipment to the forest.

FREDONIA – Due to increasing demand and visitor use on the Rainbow Rim Trail continuing to trend upward, recreation planners on the North Kaibab Ranger District will immediately conduct an outfitter-guide needs assessment followed by a capacity analysis to determine use within the vicinity of this increasingly popular recreation site on the Kaibab National Forest.

On Feb. 1, the North Kaibab Ranger District determined the imminent need to place a hold on all “new” special-use permits for all commercial uses on the Rainbow Rim. Under the current Land and Resource Management Plan for the Kaibab National Forest, special-use permits are characterized as a partnership between the Forest Service and private businesses, academia, non-governmental organizations, or individuals in order to provide specific services to the public on forest lands. Authorization of these special-use permits supports the Forest Service mission, helps meet demonstrated public needs, and is consistent with the desired conditions for the use area.

“Our intent is to provide better service to our special-use permit holders and quality experiences for the public,” said North Kaibab Natural Resources Specialist Dan Gunn.

Under the direction of the Recreation Special Uses Handbook, Forest Service policy requires that a needs assessment be conducted to determine the public or agency need for authorized outfitting and guiding activities. The process is anticipated to take up to one year to complete. In the interim, district staff will not process any “new” outfitter-guide applications for use on the Rainbow Rim.

This will not impact operations for outfitters and guides with “existing” permit-use on the Rainbow Rim or any special-use permit holders for activities outside the Rainbow Rim vicinity, and applications for areas outside the Rainbow Rim vicinity will continue to be accepted.

“With a large increase in demand for outfitter and guide requests, we want to exercise our due diligence by re-assessing and identifying visitor needs, determining if current use for the area aligns with desired conditions and adjusting our business model accordingly,” said Gunn. “Upon completion of the capacity study, we will have the most recent data and analysis available, which will help identify a reasonable level of “use” specific to the Rainbow Rim, ensure that “use” aligns with desired conditions of the forest plan, and ensure our recreation partner’s and visitor’s needs are appropriately met while continuing to improve the overall visitor experience.”

Upon completion of the needs assessment and capacity analysis, the data collected will aid recreation planners in drafting a Rainbow Rim management plan intended to tailor a manageable pool of outfitter and guide permit holders specifically tied to the Rainbow Rim, improve management practices and public services local to the area and increase overall quality of the user experience.

For further information, please contact Dan Gunn at degunn@fs.fed.us.

FREDONIA – North Zone fire managers plan to resume pile burning in the vicinity of the Arizona Department of Transportation Maintenance facility near Jacob Lake starting as early as Monday.

Pile burning is one piece of the ongoing hazardous fuels reduction efforts of the Plateau Facilities Fire Protection Project on approximately 5,000 acres surrounding 33 structures across the Kaibab Plateau. Fire managers plan to initially target 25 acres of piles and continue throughout the week as conditions allow.

As a reminder, all prescribed fire activity is dependent on the availability of personnel and equipment, weather and fuel conditions, including winds, temperature, humidity, vegetation moisture and ventilation conditions for dispersal of smoke. All prescribed fires are subject to approval by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. For additional information on the Smoke Management Division and to view prescribed burn authorizations for any given day, visit http://www.azdeq.gov/programs/air-quality-programs/smoke-management.

In the interest of safety, visitors are reminded to always use caution when traveling in the vicinity of prescribed fires, as firefighters, fire-related traffic and smoke may all be present. Although no significant smoke impacts are expected, visitors should always be cautious when driving in the vicinity of emergency vehicles operating in the area.

As the prescribed burn season continues through the spring, notifications of upcoming prescribed fires will be provided regularly through the following sources:

· Fire Information Recorded Hotline: 928-635-8311
· Twitter: www.twitter.com/KaibabNF (Text ‘follow kaibabnf’ to 40404 to receive text messages.)
· Kaibab website “Recent News”: www.fs.usda.gov/kaibab
· Kaibab Facebook: www.facebook.com/KaibabNF