HikeArizona.COM

2016-06-14 perimeter http://hikearizona.com/map.php?GPS=32889

Not sure if anyone else has posted something on the Juniper Fire, but...
All of the southeastern Sierra Ancha is closed due to this being a "managed" wildfire.

Source: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOC ... 502611.pdf
UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE TONTO NATIONAL FOREST PLEASANT VALLEY RANGER DISTRICT
JUNIPER FIRE PUBLIC SAFETY CLOSURE ORDER PROHIBITIONS
Pursuant to 16 USC 551 and 36 CFR 261.50 (a) and (b), the following acts are prohibited on the areas, roads, and trails described in this order, and depicted on the attached map hereby incorporated as Exhibit A (the “closure area”), all within the Pleasant Valley and Tonto Basin Ranger Districts of the Tonto National Forest, Arizona:
1. Going into or being upon the area described in the Order. 36 CFR 261.53 (e)
2. Being on the trail. 36 CFR 261.55 (a)
3. Being on a road. 36 CFR 261.54 (e)
EXEMPTIONS
Pursuant to 36 CFR 261.50 (e), the following persons are exempt from this order:
1. Persons with a US Forest Service permit specifically authorizing the otherwise prohibited act or omission.
2. Any Federal, State, or local officer, or member of any organized rescue or fire fighting force in the performance of an official duty.
3. Persons engaged in a business, trade, or occupation in the area, who are authorized to be in the restricted area by the US Forest Service, the State of Arizona, or the County of Gila, its employees, agents, contractors and subcontractors.
AREA DESCRIBED
All National Forest System Lands, roads, and trails to the east of State Highway 288 and to the west of Forest Road 203 (commonly referred to as the Cherry Creek Road) contained with the boundary lines as depicted on the attached map and hereby incorporated in this order. State Highway 288 and Cherry Creek Road will remain open for the duration of this order.
PURPOSE
To provide for the public’s health and safety during management activities associated with the Juniper Fire.
IMPLEMENTATION
1. USFS Law Enforcement Officers will assist in implementation of the Order and serve as liaisons with Gila County and Arizona Game and Fish.
2. This Order will be effected by appropriate signs and closure notices as required by 36 CFR 261.50. This order is effective May 23, 2016 until June 30, 2016 unless terminated sooner.
3. Violations of these prohibitions is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations, imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both. [16 USC 551, 18 USC 3571(b) (6), 18 USC 3581(b) (7)].
Dated this 23rd day of May 2016, at Phoenix, Arizona
/s/ Neil Bosworth
Neil Bosworth
Forest Supervisor Tonto National Forest

I mostly agree with @Jim_H. This is a very complicated issue, and there are no easy answers. Suppressing fires leads to bigger fires down the line, but letting them all burn can lead to loss of life and loss of biologically or recreationally (is that a word?) important areas (not to mention property, but property is replaceable).

On top of all of that, you have climate change throwing a monkey wrench into the works so that conditions favorable for big fires occur more frequently every decade. Areas that support one type of habitat now may become too hot and dry for that habitat in the not-so-distant future, and fire might be an unavoidable part of a process that results in habitat transformation.

And on top of all of that, you have a Forest Service that is subject to the shifting whims of Congress, perennially underfunded, and sometimes incompetent, both at the organizational level and the level of individual employees. The Forest Service also has conflicting mandates to simultaneously cut trees, preserve plants and animals, allow recreation, serve mining and grazing interests, and prevent neighboring private property from being destroyed by fire. If you have seen 2001, you have an idea of how well things work out with conflicting mandates.

It's not clear what the best solutions are politically, scientifically, or socially. Even if you know what your goal is in terms of future forest conditions, it's not clear how we might get there and stay there. Whatever happens, though, fire is not going away in Arizona, and it will probably become more frequent and severe regardless of what we do. Nature bats last.

I serve on the Natural Resources Committee for Arizona Forward, a statewide non-profit focused on various issues. We chose for this year two key issues to carefully study, water resources (the Colorado River issues/Lake Mead, etc.) and the other is the notion of eliminating fire-borrowing. Western Governors have worked in recent years to fix the problem of "fire borrowing," which occurs when the Forest Service takes funds away from forest health and fire prevention activities to help pay the costs to fight current wildfires.

I am one of the more pragmatic members of the committee, in my opinion at least, and have challenged the USFS to better articulate their needs/concerns/challenges, and have pretty much insisted that the committee just not take conventional wisdom as our position foundations, etc. I am in no way anti-USFS at all. I have friends that are USFS in different states and frankly I almost majored in forestry, and honestly would likely love the work. But I am pro-science, pro-sound reasoning, etc.

I totally agree with you that they could do more to dispel rumors, innuendo, etc. and in general do a better job educating the public on the benefits of healthy forests, etc. The benefit of fire, the benefit of controlled burns, the ecology of fires, seed dispersion, etc. To many of the public, ANY fire=evil and that's just not the history of this planet, etc.

Fire has been used forever in a day by man way before mechanization, and of course forest fires occurred before any nation existed. It'll never go away and is part of the deal. Man's greed and power will never go away either, not at any level. However pretty the words, money talks. Around 6.8 million for this one I've been told. I cannot verify that accurately. So I am not sure that is a total or just so far, and not including BAER monies.
Years of fire suppression, must we now burn everything in a few seasons???
Funding is unpredictable, but it is predictable in a way. Justify an agencies existence, in a new and different way.
Well, I have jury duty tomorrow. Maybe I can get out of it citing this thread.

Perimeter as of 2016-06-14
http://hikearizona.com/map.php?GPS=32889