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Forest service continues Bill Williams restoration project analysis
Forest officials hope to thin and treat close to 15,200 acres to protect community of Williams and watershed

Ryan Williams/WGCN<br>
Smoke billows over Route 66 in Williams as the Twin Fire burns on Bill Williams Mountain in 2009. The Bill Williams Mountain Restoration project would treat 15,200 acres on the mountain to prevent catastophic fire events.

Ryan Williams/WGCN<br> Smoke billows over Route 66 in Williams as the Twin Fire burns on Bill Williams Mountain in 2009. The Bill Williams Mountain Restoration project would treat 15,200 acres on the mountain to prevent catastophic fire events.

WILLIAMS, Ariz. - The Kaibab National Forest is proposing a project to improve the health and sustainability of forested conditions on about 15,200 acres encompassing Bill Williams Mountain on the Williams Ranger District.

The Bill Williams Mountain Restoration Project is located four miles south-southwest of the City of Williams.

According to information from the Forest Service, project objectives include reducing the risk of severe wildfire, promoting forest health and improving wildlife habitat. Proposed treatments involve thinning and prescribed burning.

Williams and Tusayan Ranger Districts Fire Information Officer Punky Moore said the proposed action filed April 21 in the federal registry is designed to protect the area from catastrophic events.

"We want to thin and prescribe burn and reduce the likelihood of a large destructive fire that would impact the community and the watershed and the resources," Moore said. "That is the main objective."

Also in the proposal is the opportunity for fuelwood permits from thinning activities. This work would be done to help improve watershed conditions contributing to the City of Williams water supply.

A public meeting was held in May at the Williams Ranger Station to discuss the proposed project.

Project Team Leader Tom Mutz said public input is vital to developing such a large resource management effort

"We met with different groups that we thought would be interested including the city council and an open meeting with the public," he said. "That's how we came up with the area to look at. Plus, the Bill Williams Watershed was identified a few years ago as an area that had a high priority for treatment due to the fire risks."

Mutz said it will likely take years to treat the mountain once the project eventually moves forward.

"Just reintroducing fire in the steeper part of the mountain, that's going to have to be done in about at least nine separate burn blocks it looks like," Mutz said. "And, ADEQ regulations only allow us to do one of those a year. So, we're looking at probably at least 10 years to get through the first round of treatment. And then, we want to do maintenance burning also after we reintroduce fire. So, it will hopefully be an ongoing thing."

To date, Mutz said the public has been largely in favor of a thinning project on Bill Williams Mountain but some concerns have been identified.

"Some folks wonder how we're going to get there," Mutz said. "Some people are curious about possible soil erosion after the burning. And, a lot of that will be addressed in the analysis. We'll of course use best management practices to control erosion."

As with the development of any Environmental Impact Statement, the Forest Service will produce various alternatives to the proposed action.

With the scoping process complete and comments received to date compiled, Mutz said four alternatives have been proposed. Specialists will take the alternatives and write reports based on the information.

"Those will look at the effects on the environment and the direct, indirect and cumulative effects of the alternatives," he said.

A draft of the EIS will be released sometime in the fall followed by a second public commenting period focused on the alternatives.

"We'll take those comments and where we need to we'll revise the analysis and then we're hoping for a decision and the final EIS sometime in early 2012," Mutz said.

Before any action can be implemented, an appeal process must be instated. Forest Supervisor Mike Williams will make the final decision regarding

Copies of the proposed action and project area maps can be obtained from the Williams Ranger District or the Kaibab National Forest website at: http://fs.usda.gov/goto/kaibab/projects. Comments may be written, hand-delivered, oral, and electronically delivered for 30 calendar days following the date of publication of the legal notice in the Federal Register. Hand-delivered comments can be submitted to the Williams Ranger District office from 8a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Comments may also be submitted via email to: comments-southwestern-kaibab-williams@fs.fed.us.

Questions and written comments regarding this proposal can be submitted to Martie Schramm, District Ranger; Williams Ranger District; 742 S. Clover Road; Williams, AZ 86046; Phone: (928) 635-5600.


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