Tonto shuts down forest -
Extreme fire danger provokes full closure of Control Road
By Pete Aleshire June 17, 2011
Tonto National Forest Friday shut down most of the forested portions of Rim Country, alarmed by bone-dry, drought conditions and hot, dry winds.
The closure of the forest north of the Control Road, the Fossil Creek trailhead, and the areas along Forest Roads 583, 64 and 708 mark a dramatic response to what’s shaping up to be the worst fire season in Arizona history.
The closure also includes most of the Mt. Ord, Four Peaks and Three Bar Wildlife areas to the south, together with portions of Apache, Canyon and Saguaro lakes.
Tonto Natural Bridge State Park remains open, although most of the surrounding forest is closed.
Even in the few areas still open, fire restrictions ban campfires and most other fire-causing activities, like smoking and using power tools.
Most of the Apache Sitgreaves Forest also remains closed and severe fire restrictions remain in place in the Coconino National Forest atop the Rim. The restrictions on the Coconino forest allow campfires only in developed campgrounds.
Violations of the restrictions can provoke a $5,000 fine and six months in jail.
The closures come as 4,600 firefighters continue to battle the 487,000-acre Wallow Fire near Alpine, the largest wildfire in state history.
Forest Service officials say that a single abandoned campfire probably caused the Wallow Fire, which has scorched a 760-square-mile swath of the White Mountains, including the area around the Black River, Big Lake and a host of popular recreation sites. The fire has consumed about three dozen buildings and forced the evacuation of Alpine, Greer, Springerville, Eagar, Nutrioso and other communities.
Crews reported the fire 29-percent contained on Thursday, but were bracing for predicted wind gusts of up to 45 miles an hour.
Meanwhile, a new, 10,000-acre fire on Thursday consumed 40 houses near Sierra Vista. That 14-square-mile fire added to the woes of firefighters in southeastern Arizona, who are also still battling an earlier, 309-square-mile blaze.
The simultaneous fires have taxed firefighters to the maximum, with only scattered reserves left to cope with any fresh fires.
Forest Service officials hope the closures will reduce the number of illegal and untended campfires rangers say they discover smoldering in the wake of campers every weekend in Rim Country.
The Wallow Fire has once more underscored the vulnerability of the drought-weakened, densely stocked forests to massive fires. Crews reported flame fronts 100 feet tall and crown fires racing from treetop to treetop as they battled the massive blaze. Backfires have helped protect vulnerable forest communities, so that the Wallow Fire has consumed only about 32 homes and four cabins.
Tonto National Forest officials have closed down most of the forest to prevent a wildfire in the Rim Country.
An estimated 2,400 people from Alpine and Greer remained under evacuation orders on Thursday, although about 7,000 people from Springerville and Eagar were allowed to go home on Sunday.
The Wallow Fire has exceeded the previous record-holder, the 732-square-mile Rodeo-Chediski Fire, which in 2002 consumed 492 buildings and forced the evacuation of Show Low.
The massive blaze had provoked debate about whether the Forest Service should move more quickly to close the forests when fuels dry out.
Some residents have complained that the Apache-Sitgreaves Forests didn’t act sooner to ban all activities in the forest this year.
Forest Service officials retorted that the region received above-average snowfall and that as late as May 19, Springerville had six inches of snow on the ground.
However, a decent winter snowpack gave way to a warm, dry spring. Rim Country has received less than half the normal rainfall since January. As a result, the trees dried out quickly — still stressed from years of drought.
Forest closures pose a delicate balancing act in communities that rely heavily on tourism based on outdoor recreation.
Some Rim Country residents have criticized the delay in the closure of the Tonto National Forest, and questioned the decision to leave some areas south of the Control Road open, despite the accompanying fire restrictions.
Other residents are worried about how the closure will affect the summer tourist season, since most Rim Country businesses depend heavily on summer tourist traffic to get through the year.
Rim Country communities remain among the most fire-menaced in the nation, thanks to a once open, fire-resistant forest that has been overtaken by thickets of small trees in the past century.
Researchers from Northern Arizona University estimate that average tree densities in Rim Country have increased from 10 to 30 per acre to perhaps 800 per acre in the past 150 years, thanks to a century of cattle grazing, logging and fire suppression.
Previously, the ponderosa pine forests were dominated by scattered big trees separated by swales of grass. Low intensity grass fires burned through every five to seven years, consuming saplings and downed wood.
But when cattle grazing removed the grass, loggers cut the big trees and the Forest Service dedicated itself to stamping out forest fires, tree densities and downed wood built up on the forest floor.
The Forest Service has labored for the past five years to thin buffer zones around Payson, Pine, Strawberry, Star Valley and other Rim communities.
The expensive, hand-thinning of those buffer zones gives firefighters a chance of stopping a fire roaring in out of the thickly overgrown surrounding forest.
Work continues on roughing out a similar buffer zone around Christopher Creek and Kohl’s Ranch, with crews continuing to work feverishly along the control road this week.
Anybody can make a hike harder. The real skill comes in making the hike easier.
life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes. Andy Rooney
this morning i spoke to sitgreaves' black mesa district ranger who told me there were no plans to close off rim access to chevelon lake. she also advised that i ask same question just before july 4, to make sure nothing has changed. but, im not thinking this is going to look so good since records show that once tonto goes, so goes coconino and then sitgreaves, with the apache side's foregone conclusion for obvious reasons.
Coconino doesn't need to go and close. We've barely had fires, it isn't that dry here, we last had precip in mid-May, and it was substantial for this time of year, and things are still quite green here. Maybe the Rim district is dry, but we're doing OK in the western end of the Mogollon Rim, and fires have been non-existent.
The closure order is not yet available online, but the full press-release is there:
[edit: now available here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6255#p72378]
Release Date: Jun 16, 2011
PHOENIX(June 16, 2011) – Public safety concerns due to drought conditions, hot temperatures and increased fire danger have resulted in two temporary area closures on the Tonto National Forest beginning at 8 a.m., Friday, June 17. The two area closures are within the following boundaries:
1. All National Forest System Lands, roads and trails below the Mogollon Rim and North of the Control Road, bounded by National Forest System Road 708 at the Fossil Springs Trailhead proceeding easterly along National Forest System Road 708 to the intersection with the power line road at the Southwest edge of the town of Strawberry; following the power line corridor southerly then easterly to the intersection of Forest System Road 583 at Tonto Natural Bridge State Park; continuing easterly on Forest Road 583 to State Highway 87; then northerly following State Highway 87 to National Forest System Road 64 (The Control Road); thence easterly following the Control Road to the Intersection with State Highway 260; easterly along State Highway 260 to the Forest boundary at the top of the Mogollon Rim; and westerly along the Mogollon Rim and Tonto National Forest Boundary to the Fossil Springs Trailhead at Forest Road 708.
2. All National Forest System Lands, roads and trails within the Mt Ord, Four Peaks and Three Bar Wildlife Area, bounded by the eastern edge of Highway 87 on the west beginning at the intersection with Forest System Road 143; on the north along State Highway 87 to the intersection with State Highway 188; on the south along the western edge of Highway 188 to the Salt River corridor; on the west along the north side of the Salt river corridor including the north shores of Apache Lake, Canyon Lake and Saguaro Lake to Cottonwood Creek; northerly along Cottonwood creek to the intersection with Forest System Road 401, continuing northerly on Forest System Road 401 to the intersection with Forest System Road 143 and westerly on Forest System Road 143 terminating at the intersection with State Highway 87.
Exceptions to this closure are the RV Dump site on the west side of State Highway 188 at Cholla Bay. The Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, highways 87 and 188 are unaffected by this closure, as are all county roads.
FR143 is the Four Peaks Road, and FR401 runs from 401 south through "the rolls" to Cottonwood creek and Saguaro Lake.
And yes, from reading the above, the Pine TH is within the closure area.
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
last sunday the sitgreaves rangers staffing the visitor center near the woods canyon lake turnoff told me this was already in effect
there was no signage at the 260 trailhead, so we hiked up military sinkhole trail
at the top, on sitgreaves forest land, there was a trail closed sign on the military sinkhole signpost
since we needed to get back to our vehicle, we went on back down
the same rangers also told me on monday that eagar residents were not going to be to return because of the wind, so i don't know where they all get their information
one did say that there isn't much cooperation or communication between tonto and apache-sitgreaves
can't say this action is a surprise
i've gone up there more than once in june to find the trails closed, including those from pine trailhead
nothing on the tonto website yet
trekkin gecko wrote:the same rangers also told me on monday that eagar residents were not going to be to return because of the wind, so i don't know where they all get their information
one did say that there isn't much cooperation or communication between tonto and apache-sitgreaves
can't say this action is a surprise
i've gone up there more than once in june to find the trails closed, including those from pine trailhead
nothing on the tonto website yet
Eagar residents returned on Sunday. There is a new Pre-Evac warning for a very small part of Eagar, along the hills on its south side, but not by my house. Over 300 people refused to evacuate from Eagar, and we have decided if the call comes to evacuate again, we will sign the refusal paper and stay put. We live right in the middle of town, not near those hills. They never did turn off the water or power, anyway.
Why does it smell like smoke in Flagstaff today???
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
joe bartels wrote:Noticed last weekend going by the ranger station near Happy Jack that the meter sign was on the middle yellow "Moderate"
There was more moisture on the western rim than out east, but the yellow "moderate" still seems a little underdone.
trekkin gecko wrote:last sunday the sitgreaves rangers staffing the visitor center near the woods canyon lake turnoff told me this was already in effect
They were wrong. It was not announced until yesterday and didn't take effect until 8am today.
trekkin gecko wrote:the same rangers also told me on monday that eagar residents were not going to be to return because of the wind, so i don't know where they all get their information
Rangers are just people. They are susceptible to rumors and hearsay just like everybody else. It is always good to ask for something in writing, and confirm with a supervisor or other official. The FS is a very large organization, and is not always particularly well-managed. It can be frustrating to try to get accurate information sometimes...
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
The Coconino homepage has the danger set at "Code Orange" or "Very High". I think that has more to do with the winds this time of year. High seems adequate for the area, to me. Is there a relationship to the Terrorism color coded theme? What can we expect the death toll to rise to? Is your home tornado ready? I don't know, but I'd like to come over and look.
Pine TH is closed, interestingly the fire danger sign along 87 is barely into the yellow/moderate range. A little overreaction? Would seem so.
Got news that more closures will be announced Tuesday for portions of Coconino. Isn't it great that the forest service is so great at enforcing inept forestry policies that they will get to restrict the public from public owned land?
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, ankle-twisting, HAZmaster crushing ROCKS!!
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, shin-stabbing, skin-shredding plants!
Hike Arizona it is full of striking, biting, stabbing, venomous wildlife!
A lot of the turn-offs from 87 around Payson and Pine were roped off with closed signs and caution tape today-- Pine TH, Strawberry TH, and some I wasn't familiar with.
Yes, they have already closed everything in the Tonto NF, including everything below the rim.
In my previous post - I should say that I'm not sure where the boundary will end, I am almost positive they will be closing additional portions of Apache Sitgreaves, including areas above the rim, I don't know if Coconino is joining in on the closures or how much will be affected.
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, ankle-twisting, HAZmaster crushing ROCKS!!
Hike Arizona it is full of sharp, pointy, shin-stabbing, skin-shredding plants!
Hike Arizona it is full of striking, biting, stabbing, venomous wildlife!
I hope they don't close the Coke, sheesh. That's the only forest nearby left open. Oh, well, I guess there is the southern part of the Kaibab...which will probably close as well, the way things are going.
May I remind everyone that state lands remain open in a lot of places. That's where I went hiking last week in the White Mtns.
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
nonot wrote:Yes, they have already closed everything in the Tonto NF, including everything below the rim.
Please look at the map in this thread. MOST of the Tonto is OPEN.
Actually MOST of AZs forests are OPEN. ALL of Prescott, Kaibab, and Coconino are open. The Sitgreaves half of A-S is open.
If what nonot says above about Coconino is true, that may change this week, but so far, there has been no announcement posted/published regarding any closures on the Coconino.
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
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