forest restoration

This is the fourth winter since the Kayenta Coal Mine closed and left Hopi residents without a reliable source of heat for their homes. Many tribal members have switched from coal to wood to keep warm, but the transition hasn’t been easy. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports, nonprofits have stepped up to help.

The second phase of the thinning project recently resumed north of Flagstaff after a seasonal hiatus.

The Interior Department will allocate more than 10 million dollars in federal funds to reduce wildfire risk on about 10,000 acres in Arizona.

A new study from Northern Arizona University shows thinning and regular prescribed burns can help ponderosa pine forests survive both drought and wildfire. The work took place at a thirty-year-old research site on the Fort Valley Experimental Forest north of Flagstaff. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with ecologist Andrew Sánchez Meador about the findings.

Grant applications are being accepted by the National Forest’s Coconino Resource Advisory Committee for forest health and restoration projects. Improvement projects are mainly done on federal lands within Coconino County, including the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests and sections of the Prescott and Apache-Sitgreaves Forests.

A new study from The Nature Conservancy says thinning ponderosa pines can save trees in the long run. The research modeled what will happen to northern Arizona forests as the climate grows hotter and drier. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with lead author Lisa McCauley about how the results relate to the nation’s largest restoration project, the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI).

Forest thinning operations continue this week on the Prescott National Forest. Forest Service officials say crews are conducting mechanical thinning projects in the Camp Wood area on the Chino Valley Ranger District.

The U.S. Forest Service has released an environmental review that paves the way for more thinning projects and prescribed burns in northern and eastern Arizona.

The “Wood for Life” program supplies firewood from recently thinned forests to homes on the Navajo Nation. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny reports, it’s now expanding from Arizona to Colorado.

Institutes in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico received 20 million dollars to research the nation’s forests and learn the best methods for reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. The money comes from the recent Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with Andrew Sánchez Meador of Northern Arizona University’s Ecological Restoration Institute about the project.