Standing before the Coconino County Board of Supervisors, Flagstaff District Ranger Matt McGrath outlined plans for six forest restoration projects designed to treat nearly 12,000 acres west of the Peak.

Three of these efforts have active funding from the Coconino County Flood Management District or federal funds. Most of the forested area included in the plan is east of Highway 180, between the highway and the base of the mountain peak.

The 12,000 acres represent just over half of the 21,500 acres in the Rio de Janeiro watershed surveyed by the county.

“This is a tough job,” said County Supervisor Patrice Horstman, whose 1st District is the hardest hit. “That's why it's so important that we, the commission and the county, continue to partner not only with the Forest Service, but also with conservation organizations and other organizations to get the job done.”

County Flood District Administrator Lucinda Andreani said the effort is just the first step in efforts to address fire and flood risks in northwest Flagstaff. However, the areas selected for these planned treatments are “priority acres that need to be thinned the earliest.” These are actually priority acres. So we're really excited to move forward. ”

McGrath said the plan is to complete these treatments within the next three to five years, with some of the contracts to do the work completed this spring.

In fact, the same day McGrath appeared on the Board of Supervisors, the Forest Service announced one of its contracts, called East Wing, to mechanically thin about 2,600 acres.

The conservation group, which has worked with the Forest Service and Coconino County on other restoration projects, including Mount Bill Williams, has already committed to two of the projects. The projects, named Little Wing and Hock, cover approximately 2,053 acres.

Another 4,800 acres southwest of Highway 180 will be processed using more traditional timber contracts because the value of timber in that area appears to be slightly higher, McGrath said.

But instead of the company paying the Forest Service for the contract and the wood it cuts, McGrath said the company pays in-kind for biomass removal work over the same acres.

This leaves 2,680 acres of land called Derfer further north, but funding is currently lacking.

And perhaps more importantly, there are an estimated 1,200 acres of land associated with Leroux's project. The project is located on the side of San Francisco Peak, adjacent to forested areas on both sides of Snowbowl Road.

The site had already been targeted for forest treatment as part of the first phase of a four-part reforestation initiative. But those treatments never appeared.

Additionally, the terrain in this area is quite difficult and includes steep slopes, cliffs, and small canyons. That likely means that traditional mechanical forest processing may no longer be possible in some locations, and helicopter logging may be required instead.

But new treatments will come with a higher price tag and require additional environmental approvals, which McGrath says they're still waiting on.

While such permits are known to take years to process, investigate and achieve, he said he was confident that would not be an issue in this case.

Officials said they expect work on these acres to begin by 2025 and expect the cost to treat these acres alone to be between $13 million and $18 million. .

Finally, the Fort Valley Experimental Forest, managed by the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station, also needs treatment. However, given the bureaucratic and scientific implications of forest processing in the region, such work could be years away.

Not all of these areas are actually within the Rio de Flag watershed. But McGrath said they represent areas within and outside the watershed that still pose a risk to its health. Given the region's prevailing winds, a fire starting west of the peak and outside the watershed could easily burn the western slopes of the mountain.

“A fire in one of these areas on a windy day is the worst-case scenario,” he said.

A county study released last week determined that such a fire could have a devastating impact on flooding in Rio de Flag.

According to Northern Arizona University's Economic Policy Institute, damages from the fire and associated post-fire flooding could reach $2.8 billion. The fire could increase Rio de Flag River flow by up to six times in Flagstaff and up to 31 times in areas such as Fort Valley, according to JE Fuller Hydrology & Geomorphology.

Of the 21,500 acres surveyed in the study, approximately 45,000 acres are within the Kachina Peaks Conservation Area. Forest treatment within natural areas will be significantly more difficult.

The planned treatment will act as a kind of buffer between the natural area and the rest of the forest.

An important aspect of this plan is the removal of biomass along with the mechanical thinning process. This biomass can be anything from felled small-diameter trees to branches and pine needles to fallen and dead trees that have accumulated over many years.

Such material is often left as cut piles within woodlands or simply left on the ground. However, it can still serve as an important source of fuel in the event of a fire.

Once mechanical thinning is complete and the biomass has been removed, forest managers conduct scheduled burns to keep that part of the forest healthy.

But that won't be possible until this work is completed, McGrath said.

“There's no way any kind of broadcast can comfortably get through there at this point.” [prescribed] It will burn you in that area. But once we remove the trees, a lot of that will probably start happening this calendar year…and then we can go in with a prescribed fire,” he said.

The effort is made possible in part because the county is transferring funding from the federal government in hopes of drawing more of the same amount for priority areas.

County Forest Restoration Manager Jay Smith said the flood district plans to spend more money than originally planned – $5.6 million this year – on forest restoration efforts on Mount Bill Williams.

It has become the county's top priority in forest restoration. But as that project continued, attention shifted to the area west of the Peaks.

Because the county sent money to the Bill Williams Project, federal funds that would have otherwise gone there are now being directed to the Coconino National Forest to enhance restoration efforts around the Coconino Mountains, Coconino National Forest Co., Ltd. Forest Supervisor Aaron Mayville said.

Mayville said this will allow the forest to direct $11 million toward the effort, which will be supplemented by about $2 million from the flood district.

With funding from the county and the federal government, there should be enough money to complete forest restoration work on an estimated 8,200 acres of the 12,000 acres planned as part of the first phase.

The plan was well received by regulators on Tuesday, with some officials saying the effort shows the importance of partnerships between agencies at different levels of government.

“I would like to reiterate that it is partnerships that are making this possible. We thank everyone for their efforts and look forward to continuing our partnership,” said Jerónimo Vázquez, Chairman of the Board. Ta.

“This landscape is recognized as one of the most important landscapes in this country. Indeed, funding has been a priority. We have secured their commitment to enable them to accomplish this work. We want it to continue, and Coconino County is putting the money where their needs are and working with the Forest Service to do that,” Horstman said.

Horstmann added that the planned work shows the importance of continued federal funding for forest restoration and said he will continue to lobby elected leaders in Washington for that funding. Ta.

Supervisor Lena Fowler emphasized that point.

“If Congress doesn’t pass a budget, it has a direct impact on our region,” Fowler said.