Coconino National Forest Closure..

[coueskiller]

Coconino National Forest Closes Friday

For Immediate Release

June 19, 2006

Contact: Forest Closure Info Center - 928-226-4601


Flagstaff, AZ - As fire danger increases across the Southwest the Coconino National Forest will close to public access and use Friday, morning, June 23 at 8:00 a.m..

Effective Friday, the Coconino National Forest will close to public access. Conditions have warranted closure of the entire national forest. Closures in the past have proven to be an effective means of reducing the number of human-caused fires.

?While campfire and smoking restrictions have been effective in terms of minimizing the number of fires, we are at the point that we cannot afford the risk of any human-caused fires,? says Coconino Forest Supervisor Nora Rasure. ?Several recent fires have exhibited extreme fire behavior, including the Woody and Brins Fires. We are not only concerned about the risk to communities and natural resources, we are concerned about the potential difficulties evacuating recreationists from remote areas should a wildfire start.?

Included in the Coconino closures:

All campgrounds, day use picnic areas and cabins on the forest.
All trails on the Coconino National Forest.
All lakes, including Lake Mary, Ashurst Lake, Kinnikinick Lake, Blue Ridge Reservoir, Stoneman Lake.
Cinder Hills Off-Highway Vehicle Area north of Flagstaff.
St. Joseph?s Youth Camp near Mormon Lake.
Arizona Snowbowl Skyride.
All National Forest System Roads will be closed, but all interstates, state and county roads through the Coconino National Forest will remain open.
Sedona and Flagstaff still offer many summer attractions and activities. Private campgrounds and the campground at Fort Tuthill County Park near Flagstaff will remain open with campfire and smoking restrictions. All Forest Service offices and visitor centers will be open. The closure will be lifted when sufficient precipitation is received to adequately reduce the risk of wildfire to a manageable level, and hot, dry weather conditions are not forecast to continue.

For further information about closures and restrictions in the Coconino National Forest, call
928-226-4601 or toll-free 1-877-864-6985 between 6:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M. Information is posted on the internet at www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino.



CLICK HERE for Forest Order

 

[Roy]

Better pray for rain! - That's pretty harsh.

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)

 

[nochawk]

Dang... I was wanting to go to Stoneman lake next weekend...

Nate

 

[HullinPhx]

I hate to see it have to come to this, but it is needed!!!

John

 

[DonVathome]

Just curious, what elk units are in this area?

 

[HullinPhx]

all of the good ones, except 1 and 27

 

[caelkhnter]

This is the right thing to do, I just wish it was done sooner. Especially in light of the ever growing Brins Fire see report:

Date: June 19, 2006, 5:00 p.m.

Update on Brins Fire Evacuations and Closures

Evacuations: The evacuation order for the following communities continues:

Oak Creek Canyon from Midgely Bridge to the fish hatchery in Sterling Canyon (this includes homes, businesses and Forest Service campgrounds)
North end of Soldiers Pass Road (everything north of Casa Contenta)

Upper part of Jordan Road (everything north of Navahopi)
The evacuations will be re-evaluated following today's operational period.

Evacuation Center Locations:

Big Park Community School
25 W. Saddle Horn Road
Oak Creek Village, Ariz.
(This location is for people evacuating south of Slide Rock.)

NAU Field House
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Ariz.
Corner of Knoles Drive and McCreary, next to the University Union
(This location is for people evacuating north of Slide Rock.)

Closures:

U.S. Highway 89A is closed through Oak Creek Canyon. It will remain closed through this afternoon. The closure will be re-evaluated following today?s operational period.
Trail/Road Closures Related to Brins Fire:

Forest Road 152 off of Dry Creek Road (access road into Vultee Arch) is closed. (The county road known as Dry Creek Road is open.)

All trails off of Forest Road 152 are closed. Those trails are: Brins Mesa, Devil's Bridge, Secret Canyon. Also, the road to VanDeren Cabin is closed.

The North Urban Trails System is closed. That system includes Jordan Trailhead, Soldier Pass Trailhead, Sugarloaf Trailhead, Thunder Mountain Trailhead and all trails connecting from those trailheads.

Kelly Canyon Road west of I-17

The south end of Woody Mountain Road (Forest Road 231) where it intersects with Forest Road 535

Forest Road 237 at Kachina Village
(NOTE: Some of these road closures are related to smoke impacts.)

 

[Roy]

A few weeks ago I was flying back to Texas from Utah and the first leg went from SLC to Phoenix. We flew right over the ditch and there on the north rim (looked to be pretty remote area) was a one tree fire - slow smoker that you could see plainly - probably a lightning strike that had been smoldering for a while then ignited. It was probably a miracle that the whole thing didn't go up then.

UTROY
Proverbs 21:19 (why I hunt!)