Schultz Burn Area is open and closed in spots

[Jim]

Still closed
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/nepa/f ... 0-11-f.pdf

[hippiepunkpirate]

I'll bet money that FR552 up to Lockett Meadow remains closed.

[Alston_Neal]

Dang, yesterday my wife and I were planning our fall trip to Lockett and we were wondering if it was open.
Thanks for the heads up....I guess...

[writelots]

Woo hoo!!!!

[Jim]

Unless a press release is issued which extends all or part of the closure, everything is going to open up tomorrow. No press releases have been posted to the Coconino NF website, and that will be the place to look. Mulching and stabilizing is complete, hunting season and leaf peeping season is here or just about here, and there really should not be a reason to extend the closure. FR 552 was rebuilt after the fire operations, so other than monsoon washout, it should be in good shape. Monitor the Coco today and tomorrow, if nothing pops up, it is open.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/
The Campground is closed, and probably will not open up until next summer's season at the earliest. They'll want to make sure the soil has stabilized and everything is safe before having people overnight up there, but that is an issue to be watching n May 2011.

[BobP]

Just got an email with this attached....http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/nepa/f ... 0-11-f.pdf

[big_load]

That looks like it extends the status quo until at least 12/31.

[Jim]

Too bad. It won't impact any of my plans, but I guess Lockett is out for a lot of folks. I don't know why they never posted that on their website. Seems they dropped the ball on that.

[chumley]

Hey look. They got it posted. Its dated yesterday, but wasn't there earlier this morning...
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/news/2 ... nded.shtml

[Jim]

Nice sneaky practice. If I didn't hear from fotogirl and I expected the closure to lift today and went to their website this morning and nothing was there (as it wasn't) you would think that I could drive up to lockett (though the gate is likely locked) or hike into the Inner Basin and be within my legal limits for being on public land. Instead, they were sneaky and pre-dated that to make it seem like they were on the up and up.

[paulhubbard]

"One of the greatest safety concerns within the Schultz Fire area is the hazard of dead trees falling over"

I can't believe they're closing the area because of that. Will it remain closed until all the trees fall over, or until they can go cut them all down??

[Jim]

If that was a concern, then they should have closed large areas of the forest before it burned, and there are other areas that should be closed. It is one thing to say that they want to give the vegetation a chance to recover or the soil time to stabilize, but trees falling over takes years, we still have time before they really begin to come down.

[chumley]

Previous fires across the state have been managed differently. Along the rim road, the fs has contracted with loggers to come in and cut and remove any dead trees that would land on or near the road if they fell. There were times when the road was closed during logging operations, as well as when the weather resulted in a higher danger for fallen trees blocking the road (before they were removed).

One of the concerns is that a tree that falls across the road after somebody has driven past can trap them somewhere they can't drive out of until the road is cleared. In Arizona's higher elevations, this can be especially dangerous during the cooler seasons since people traveling in cars are often not prepared to spend nights stranded in cold weather. The Lockett Meadow Road isn't really as remote as parts of the Rim Road and is normally closed at the first sign of snow anyway.

Most burn areas that I've encountered along hiking trails are cleared seasonally, but signs are posted warning backcountry visitors of the dangers associated falling trees and flash-flooding as a result of lost vegetation. The signs usually remain in place for decades!

While it hasn't been updated in a while the Shultz Fire BAER site outlines some of the rehabilitative efforts going on, and it sounds like much of the revegetation won't happen until spring.

There's quite a few press releases and some nice photos of the work that has been done to make things safer, and support the roads (and the waterline itself) inside the burn area here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/fire/s ... ndex.shtml

[juliachaos]

An update to this as of 12/17. A friend of mine mentioned a hiker who had called up the rangers asking about it, and they said Inner Basin was good to go: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/nepa/f ... 0-13-f.pdf

The order mentions that some of Inner Basin Trail is closed, but since I'm not familiar with the area, I'm not certain how significant that area is or if there's a way around it.

[chumley]

And it goes through April 30, 2011 ... and there will probably be snow in the inner basin until then anyway. The map doesn't show very well which portion of the trail is closed, and I'm not so sure that anybody will have been out there putting up new signs!

Happy snowshoeing!

[Jim]

They wouldn't get out there to enforce the closure and the car tourists are gone, so they might as well open it up.

[hippiepunkpirate]

Cool!

[Jim]

Changed the title and hopefully it all reopens for Liz and others who will be in the Flag area come May.

[Jim]

http://www.redrockcountry.org/about-us/ ... 1-01-f.pdf
I don't know if this was posted on HAZ in another location, but I'm posting it here. The Schultz area closure has been modified, and it has been extended thru April 2013. However, the funny part is, according to the map and description, Schultz Peak and the wilderness areas on the east sides of Doyle and Schultz are open to human travel. Now, those areas are steep and burned hot, but they are open. Though not specifically stated, the Waterline Trail should still be closed as it is east of the Wilderness boundary.

The area closure
includes forest land east of the Kachina Peaks Wilderness boundary and north to the Inner Basin Trail.

Otherwise, the Weatherford Trail, Inner Basin trail, and Forest Road 552 are the closure boundary in that area and are open to the public for non-motorized travel. Lockett continues to be closed. So, again, Waterline road is the exception of the closure area boundaries in that is is closed to travel, but the wilderness area adjacent to it and having been severely burned, they are open.

Anyone up for a summit of Doyle and Schultz Peak with some exploration of the higher burned areas?

[chumley]

There's no question that as the order is worded the Waterline Trail (Road) is closed. However, it might be worth some clarification from the FS since the Waterline really makes up the boundary of the Wilderness area, and all other trails that make up a border of the closure are are in fact open. But those other trails are specifically stated to be open. Then again, there are other trails that are specifically stated to be closed. And despite getting a label on the map, Waterline is not mentioned at all in the order, open or closed. Seems odd.