October 18, 2019 | Earlier this summer, the Woodbury Fire consumed 123,000 acres of National Forest land and 30 miles of the Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZT) in the Superstition Mountains. A crew of Arizona Trail Association staff and stewards recently completed a trail conditions assessment between Rogers Trough Trailhead and Roosevelt Lake. They found the trail to be passable but very hard to follow, numerous blowouts from erosion events, downed trees, and new growth in the middle of the trail tread.

October 10, 2019 | On Sunday, July 21, the Museum Fire broke out in the Dry Lake Hills area above Flagstaff. The fire ultimately charred 1,961 acres, including a significant portion of the Spruce Avenue Watershed, much of it severely or moderately burned, which means that the soil is now “fried” and will act like glass and shed water rapidly, a condition known as “hydrophobic soils” like we saw after the Schultz Fire. (Read more on page 10 of report)

October 8, 2019 | For the fifth consecutive year, Arizona Conservation Corps (AZCC) members spent the summer months at the Flagstaff Area National Monuments helping Flagstaff Area National Monuments staff with ongoing projects, and learning valuable skills. For about three months this past summer, five AZCC members consisting of indigenous young adults, assisted NPS Archeologists with stabilizing and preserving important archeological sites. The Flagstaff Area National Monuments are the ancestral lands of the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, and 10 additional tribes, so it is important to engage and educate indigenous youth, as well as the public, about the importance of these places.