Contributed Photo: Tonto National Forest firefighters are scheduled to begin a 3,760-acre prescribed burn today roughly 25 miles north of Globe.
By Carol Broeder
GILA COUNTY – Beginning today, smoke may be visible near Carol Springs Mountain, as Tonto National Forest firefighters and San Carlos Apache Tribe crews begin a 3,760-acre prescribed burn, about 25 miles north of Globe.
From Thursday, Oct. 26 through Friday, Nov. 17, firefighters will treat 2,500 acres within the Carol Springs north block and 1,260 in the south block of the Globe Ranger District.
The operation is part of the Tonto’s Timber Camp prescribed fire plan to treat 7,360 acres in the project area of the San Carlos Apache Tribal Forest Protection Act (TFPA), according to an Oct. 18 press release from the National Forest Service.
For the safety of firefighters and the public, motorists are urged to use extreme caution while driving U.S. Highway 60, as fire specialists anticipate possible smoke impacts from mile markers 272 through 288. Each day, burning will cease by 3 p.m., to reduce smoke impacts to Highway 60.
For additional information, contact the Globe Ranger Station, 7680 S. Six Shooter Canyon Rd., in Globe.
Or phone the station at 928-425-7189 Monday through Friday between 7:45-11:45 a.m. and 12:30-4:30 p.m.
For the latest news and information about the Tonto National Forest, follow along on Facebook @TontoNationalForest or on X @TontoForest.
Additional Information Timber Camp Prescribed Fire Plan
Along with contractors, a Forest Service hotshot crew from the Pacific Southwest Region conducted mechanical thinning in the north and south blocks from Sept. 27 through Oct. 11.
In preparing for the prescribed burn, they removed ponderosa pine, oak, and juniper.
The Timber Camp prescribed fire plan falls under the overarching, cross-boundary San Carlos Apache TFPA project, aimed at treating national forest system lands and adjacent tribal ancestral lands in Arizona as part of the USDA Forest Service 10-year strategy addressing the wildfire crisis.
The Forest Service and San Carlos Apache Tribe have worked collaboratively, developing landscape-scale strategies in the TFPA project area to restore forest health and reduce the risk of wildfires along the boundaries of the Tonto, Apache-Sitgreaves, and Coronado National Forests, adjacent to tribal ancestral lands.
Mechanical thinning and fire operations in this area are part of the USDA Forest Service’s wildfire crisis strategy, reducing wildfire risk to people, communities, and natural resources while sustaining and restoring healthy, resilient fire-adapted forests.
Treatment goals include improving plant and wildlife habitat to increase biodiversity for wildlife corridors, clean water, and flood control.
Prescribed fires also help protect culturally significant native foods and plants; improve timber stands and recreational opportunities and reduce the threat of invasive species on the landscape.
