4 FOREST RESTORATION INITIATIVE, AES INVOLVEMENT

[rthrbhntng]

In response to the last issue on this forum the Arizona Elk Society would like to let Sportsmen of Arizona know some of the issues we are working on. As Sportsmen these are issues that the AES Board has given direction to be involved in to make sure our members collective voices are heard. We do a great job of letting our membership know about these issues but don't have an outreach program for the public. We don't profess to speak for anyone except the AES Board and members. The AES takes a lot of time to talk to all parties that are affected by the issue and then formulate our response. The issues of concern are not only commented on by the AES but many times we have a seat at the table for the issue. By having a representative at the table we can make sure that wildlife concerns are being taken into consideration. The AES works hard to use biology, science and social input as drivers of our positions.

Others ways we reach out to the public is through social media, Facebook, Twitter and our website. On the website we always have the last four issues of our members magazine, The Tracker, for anyone to read. Please take the time to learn about what we represent and consider supporting the Arizona Elk Society. We are a group of normal everyday sportsmen putting our time and energy into making sure sportsmen are part of the solution to issues that affect us.

 

ARIZONA ELK SOCIETY WORKING FOR SPORTSMEN:

The Four Forest Initiative, more popularly known as the 4-FRI project involves the four forests in Arizona with large stands of ponderosa pine and will implement projects that treat huge tracts of forested land to reduce tree density. One important thing to remember about forest fires is that to burn, they need fuel and oxygen. If we can restore fuel loads and tree densities to more closely mimic pre-settlement conditions, the risk of stand-converting fires such as the Rodeo-Chediski and Wallow fires will be greatly reduced.

One of the great features of the 4-FRI project is the high level of public involvement that the resource management agencies have allowed. There are several working groups planning different elements of this forest health project. The Arizona Elk Society has a member on the Stakeholders group, the group that is actively helping the agencies develop a plan that can be implemented quickly and in a fashion that derives the greatest benefit to forests and for the people and animals that depend on healthy forests.

One of the very important features of 4-FRI is that it blends many different sciences into a single approach to restore forest health. Silviculturists have looked at tree size and density and identified those portions of the forest where tree conditions are most prone to extreme fire behavior. Fire ecologists have used their latest tools to determine where fires would be most destructive and when blended together, the ponderosa pine stands that are at greatest risk of a Wallow-type fire are identified. Mechanical thinning and management fires are two of the primary tools that will be used to make the forest a better and safer place. To begin to make progress, the Forest Service have several approaches in place to begin to make Arizona forests healthier and less fire prone.

[ThomC]

I recently read a report on the Wallow fire that indicated that the White Mountain Apache Tribes practices of forest management stopped the Wallow fire from burning much of the WMAT forest. The BIG PROBLEM is that if you dont have the environmental groups controlling things then proper forest practices can be utilized. The WMAT does not have to pay any attention to the E groups.

 

PS I was being very polite calling them E groups. There is not much environmental to them.

[rthrbhntng]

Tom the fact that WMAT did thin and log and that that brought the fire to the ground where it could be stopped was an important one. The Arizona Elk Society and other organizations in cooperation with the AZGFD and USFS also funded projects on the outskirts of Eagar to thin the forest years ago. That was the same results. The fire went to the ground and the firefighters could stop it.