New 4FRI timber sale begins on Kaibab Forest

WILLIAMS, Ariz. — Staff on the Williams Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest are laying out two new timber sale projects located south of Interstate 40 between Forest Road 141 near Bootlegger Crossing and Forest Road 62 in the Garland Prairie area.

The areas to be harvested are part of the 3,347-acre Beacon Hill and Mineral Springs timber sale projects, which have been designated as part of the ongoing Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) effort.

Active forest restoration work will begin once the contract has been awarded, which is expected sometime in 2018. In the meantime, residents and visitors to the area can expect to see trees and internal boundaries marked with orange paint, which will eventually serve as visual guidance to the contractor regarding Forest Service expectations for treatment.

A portion of the tree marking operations will take place on national forest land that borders private property. Land owners in these areas may notice an increased number of Forest Service personnel and vehicles in the area over thenext few months while tree marking operations are completed.

The objectives for treating these areas are to reduce fuel loading and the potential for future high-intensity wildfires and to improve wildlife habitat and overall forest health.

The goal of 4FRI is to accelerate the pace and scale of restoration within 2.4 million acres of ponderosa pine forest in northern Arizona and to increase resilience and proper functioning. Restoring this fire-adapted ecosystem is accomplished with a suite of restoration activities from watershed maintenance and habitat improvements to thinning and prescribed burning.

Other timber sales projects around the Bill Williams Mountain area have been temporarily shut-down because of saturated soils but are expected to recommence as conditions dry out.

More information on specific information about these and other current restoration projects ongoing on the district is available from Josh Giles at (928) 635-5616

More information on the Kaibab National Forest can be found at www.fs.usda.gov/Kaibab, and regarding 4FRI at www.fs.usda.gov/4fri and on Kaibab National Forest’s Facebook and Twitter.