{"id":99693,"date":"2018-05-21T11:26:08","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T17:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/as-wildfire-danger-looms-arizona-forests-close\/"},"modified":"2018-05-21T11:26:08","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T17:26:08","slug":"as-wildfire-danger-looms-arizona-forests-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/as-wildfire-danger-looms-arizona-forests-close\/","title":{"rendered":"As wildfire danger looms, Arizona forests close"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The Kaibab National Forest with Bill Williams Mountain, background, in Williams, Ariz.<\/span>Dyan Bone\/U.S. Forest Service via AP file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coconino National Forest officials announced Friday that the San Francisco Peaks, three more large areas near Flagstaff and two others elsewhere in the forest will close temporarily to the public beginning Wednesday because of the wildfire threat.<\/p>\n

Previously, the jointly administered Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests announced Wednesday that some areas will be closed to the public, although officials haven\u2019t yet decided which ones. That\u2019s after the Kaibab National Forest on May 11 announced the closure of about 23.4 square miles centered on Bill Williams Mountain near Williams. That closure is intended to protect the watershed for Williams, a northern Arizona city that\u2019s a jumping-off point for many visitors to Grand Canyon National Park.<\/p>\n

The moves affect recreational activities such as camping, hiking and off-road vehicle use as well as thinning and other work projects in closed forest areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cForest closures of any kind are not taken lightly, as they affect many people, partner agencies, projects, permit holders, prior plans, and the public,\u201d the Coconino National Forest announcement said.<\/p>\n

Forest officials said the last full closures of the Apache-Sitgreaves and Kaibab forests were in 2002, while the adjacent Coconino National Forest last had a full closure in 2006.<\/p>\n

Campfire bans and other restrictions are in effect at national forests in most of Arizona and neighboring New Mexico, two drought-stricken states where a lack of precipitation has led to numerous fires in recent years.<\/p>\n

Arizona is already experiencing destructive wildfires. A May wildfire in north-central Arizona burned two homes and about a dozen outbuildings after an April fire about 60 miles (97 kilometers) to the east burned 33 homes and 54 minor structures.<\/p>\n

While forest closures in Arizona might result in fewer visitors to the towns within the mountains, many residents are supportive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure there\u2019s some impact there but I think we\u2019re better off to have a little bit of impact than have our town burn down up here,\u201d said Show Low City Manager Ed Muder. The city is in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, which include the Mogollon Rim and the White Mountains.<\/p>\n

Both forested regions, which include many campgrounds and lakes, serve as havens for residents of Phoenix and other desert cities looking to escape the summer heat.<\/p>\n

Apache-Sitgreaves spokeswoman Liza Simmons said forest officials plan to decide next week what areas need to be closed. The closures likely would take effect immediately, she said.<\/p>\n

What areas will be closed will depend on considerations such as fuel conditions, possible evacuation routes and likely directions of wind that would drive wildfires, Simmons said.<\/p>\n

Once closures are in effect, \u201cpeople wouldn\u2019t be able to hike, they wouldn\u2019t be able to fish, they wouldn\u2019t be able to use their OHVs (off-highway vehicles), they wouldn\u2019t be able to enter the area,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n

The Kaibab\u2019s closure of the area near Williams affects local residents, including some whose property backs up against the mountain.<\/p>\n

But the town still sees enough activity from tourists to get by, Mayor John Moore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat particular area is critical because it is our watershed, so we try to protect it,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

Forest fuels, the slope of Bill Williams Mountain and other terrain would make firefighting difficult, she said. The area also is popular with hikers and campers, as well as locals who regularly set out on trails nearly in their backyards.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, it was really critical for us to close that area to any entry or recreation use. A fire starting at the base of the mountain could lead to enormous and long-lasting impacts to Bill Williams and the watershed,\u201d Banks said.<\/p>\n

A closure of the entire forest would mean forest thinning projects, meant to reduce the risk of devastating wildfires, also couldn\u2019t move forward, she said. The work is meant to reduce the risk of devastating wildfires yet sparks from heavy equipment and chain saws could start a wildfire, she said.<\/p>\n

With a full closure, Forest Service employees\u2019 jobs would shift to making sure people don\u2019t violate a closure order, Banks said.<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaibab National Forest with Bill Williams Mountain, background, in Williams, Ariz.Dyan Bone\/U.S. Forest Service via AP file Coconino National Forest officials announced Friday that the San Francisco Peaks, three more large areas near Flagstaff and two others elsewhere in the forest will close temporarily to the public beginning Wednesday because of the wildfire threat. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[84],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-99693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99693"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=99693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}