Payson Ranger District

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Payson Ranger District
In 2001, the Payson Ranger District began
implementation of a long-range, far-reaching,
landscape-scale fuels reduction strategy. The
achievable goal is to reduce catastrophic
wildfire danger in Mogollon Rim country, to
initiate the restoration of natural ecological
systems and watersheds, and to develop and foster
sustainable forest conditions. Since our plans
inception, we have successfully thinned more than
9,000 acres on critical, difficult, high-priority
acres on lands adjacent to communities throughout
our district. We have treated more than 26,200
acres with prescribed fire. We partnered to open
five brush disposal pits for area residents and
property owners. In fall 2004, we burned about
33,000 vegetative debris piles scattered
throughout our district (weighing a half-a-ton to
a ton-and-a-half each) and created a 330-feet
wide fuel break completely around the communities
of Pine and Strawberry.
Robust Forest Strategy
As of March 2008
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Nature's firefighters
Prevailing southwest winds in the Rim country
will push a fire to the northeast. We have
employed natures firefighters in the Oxbow area
south of Payson to reduce the live fuel loading
in the chaparral vegetation-type. What began as a
pilot program of 185 goats in April 2004,
ultimately grew to utilize 1,100 live vegetation
browsers. It is an unorthodox way to pre-treat an
area without the impact of smoke. And it is just
one strategy in our district toolbox that we
employed to reduce catastrophic wildfire danger
in Mogollon Rim country. Early in 2005, we were
invited to give a presentation in Albuquerque,
about our Payson Goat Grazing Project, at the
Quivira Coalitions Half Public, Half Private,
One West conference. The Quivira Coalition was
assembled in New Mexico to provide a positive and
non-threatening forum for ranchers, environmental
groups, and federal and state agencies to discuss
land management issues and work toward
collaborative solutions.
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BEFORE
AFTER
Ladder fuels have been removed, substantially
diminishing the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
This area can now be periodically treated with
low-intensity prescribed (RX) fire that is much
less expensive.
Too many trees vying for too few resources hasten
the decline of healthy forest ecosystems and
exponentially increase catastrophic wildfire
danger.
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A Flashpoint
for
Remarkable Cooperative Community Action
In January 2006, the Payson Ranger District was
experiencing extreme wildfire indexes that are
commonly experienced in June (historically, June
is our most dangerous month for fire ignitions).
When an abandoned campfire on top of the Mogollon
Rim spilled onto our district, we found ourselves
battling the February Fire that charred 4243
acres before it was contained. Prior fuel breaks
and prescribed burns in the area, however, were
crucially instrumental in saving the historic
Bray Creek Ranch. They also provided a key layer
of wildfire defense for the communities of
Whispering Pines, Verde Glen, Washington Park,
Rim Trail, Geronimo Estates, Shadow Rim Girl
Scout Ranch, and Camp Geronimo Boy Scout
Camp. Property owners in the communities of Pine
and Strawberry began to press our district about
reducing vegetative re-growth in a fuel break we
had created completely around those two
communities in 2004. We reluctantly informed them
that we lacked funding for the maintenance
project. Resuscitating the great American can
do spirit, property owners in Pine and
Strawberry swung into action in a truly
remarkable display of cooperative community
action. They quickly donated 78,000 in order to
help us accomplish our district fuels reduction
objectives. That ignited further citizen
enthusiasm and soon the town of Payson, Gila
County, local homeowner associations, the Tonto
Apache Tribe, the Central Arizona Board of
Realtors, and others chipped in 216,722 to help
us accomplish our district objectives for fuel
breaks. Additionally, property owners in East
Verde Park raised 40,000 for a fuel break to
protect their community. In 2006 alone, an
astounding sum of nearly 335,000 has been
donated/contributed to help us accomplish our
fuels reduction strategy. As of March 2008, a
total f 526,000 has been bestowed to help us
achieve our long-range, landscape-scale district
fuels reduction strategy. As of March 2008.
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ON THE HORIZON . . . READY TO ROLL
With the Verde, Payson, Lion,
Pine/Strawberry, and Manaco environmental
analyses (EAs) completed, the Payson Ranger
District currently has 32,000 acres ready and
available for thinning, 111,597 acres ready and
available for first-entry prescribed burning, and
9,552 acres ready and available for maintenance
prescribed burning. All of the required legal
paperwork is in order and ready, but these
projects are currently unfunded. The
Christopher/Hunter analysis area is 24,288 acres
and is scheduled to start in fiscal year 2007.
About 100,000 is needed for survey needs and the
project is currently unfunded. As of March 2008
TIMBERS ROLE When our fuels reduction team works
together with our forestry folks, the outcome is
mutually beneficial for reducing catastrophic
wildfire danger and for developing sustainable
forest conditions. When tree canopy densities are
thinned by selling and removing some of the
overstory, it makes it much more difficult for
crown fires to make a run. Other species are
thinned and the treatment process is completed
with a low-intensity prescribed (RX) burn. RX
fires behave much like a low-intensity fire that
is ignited by lightning. They remove dead, dying,
and sickly trees, reduce vegetative debris off
the forest floor, and put nutrients back into the
soil, thus making it a more fertile and vital
soil. In 2003, a salvage sale was conducted on
53 acres near the Pine Trailhead. The trees in
the area were recently killed by bark beetles. In
2004, a fuels sale of 671 acres was conducted on
areas around Bradshaw Meadow, the Pine Trailhead,
and south of Pine adjacent to the town boundary.
The sale targeted trees that were killed by bark
beetles. Another fuels sale was conducted on 193
acres adjacent to Hardscrabble Road and Twin
Buttes Road. Again, tree mortality was from bark
beetles.