Statewide Strategy for Restoring Arizona's Forests
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Statewide Strategy for Restoring Arizona’s Forests Sustainable Forests, Communities & Economies Arizona’s Forests Land cover characterization in the Statewide Strategy The 11 major land cover classes in Arizona, mapped on the facing page, are comprised of between one and 23 of 77 vegetation subclasses. For each class, we used a geographic information system to identify the dominant subclasses (by total area) within each major land cover class: 1. Aspen is dominated by Rocky Mountain aspen forest and woodlands; 2. Barren is dominated by Colorado Plateau mixed bedrock canyon and tablelands; 3. Grassland is dominated by semi-desert and inter-mountain grassland and steppe vegetation; 4. Mixed-conifer is dominated by Rocky Mountain montane dry-mesic mixed-conifer forest and woodland; 5. Other is characterized by developed areas and agriculture; 6. Pine-oak is dominated by Madrean encinal and pine-oak forest and woodland; 7. Pinyon-juniper is dominated by Colorado Plateau and Madrean pinyon-juniper woodland; 8. Ponderosa pine is dominated by Rocky Mountain ponderosa pine woodland; 9. Riparian is dominated by North American warm-desert riparian mesquite bosque, woodland, and shrubland; 10. Shrubland is dominated by Sonoran paloverde-mixed cacti desert scrub and Sonoran-Mojave creosotebush-white bursage desert scrub; 11. Water is characterized by open water features. i Statewide Strategy Subcommittee of the Governor’s Forest Health Oversight Council Co-Chairs Ethan Aumack Thomas D. Sisk Project Coordinator Jean Palumbo Committee Members Jesse Abrams Thomas Klabunde Bob Broscheid McKinley-Ben Miller Glen Buettner Kirk Rowdabaugh Steve Campbell Todd Schulke Wally Covington Matt Skroch Dave Egan Edward Smith Pete Fulé Diane Vosick Steve Gatewood Victoria Yazzie Herb Hopper Governor’s Forest Health Advisory Council Governor’s Forest Health Oversight Council Co-Chairs Co-Chairs Ethan Aumack Honorable Tom O’Halleran Wally Covington Diane Vosick Members Members Bob Broscheid Alexious C. Becenti Sr. Steve Campbell Steve Campbell Carl Edminster Rob Davis Don Falk Honorable Joe Donaldson Deb Hill Heather Garbarino Tom Klabunde Steve Gatewood Robert Lacapa Mark C. Herrington Scott Paulsen Benjamin Hershey Molly Pitts Dallas Massey Sr. Kirk Rowdabaugh Jack Metzger Matt Skroch Michael Neal Edward Smith Erica Rosenburg Michael Taylor Kirk Rowdabaugh Richard Van Demark Todd Schulke Beth Zimmerman Rob Smith Darrell Willis ii Governor’s Forest Health Advisory and Oversight Councils Statewide Strategy for Restoring Arizona’s Forests June 2007 iii Please use the following citation when referring to the Statewide Strategy for Restoring Arizona’s Forests: Governor’s Forest Health Councils, State of Arizona. June 2007. The Statewide Strategy for Restoring Arizona’s Forests. Aumack, E., T. Sisk, and J. Palumbo, editors. Published by Arizona Public Service, Phoenix, AZ. iv Contents Acknowledgments vi Letter from Governor Napolitano vii Executive Summary ix Part One 1. The Vision 1 2. Purpose of the Statewide Strategy 3 3. Key Strategies and Recommendations 5 Part Two 4. The State of Arizona’s Forests 19 5. The Policy Context for Restoration 23 6. Economic Considerations for Restoring Forest Health 29 7. A Collaborative Foundation for the Statewide Strategy 35 Part Three 8. Restoring Forests and Protecting Communities: A Landscape Approach 39 9. Arizona’s Forested Landscapes 41 Arizona Strip 43 Basin and Range 53 Central Highlands 63 Chuska Mountains 75 Kaibab Plateau 85 Northeastern Woodlands 97 Sky Islands 107 Western Mogollon Plateau 117 White Mountains 131 10. Appendix 1: Recommendations and Action Items 147 v Acknowledgments We developed the Statewide Strategy for Restoring Arizona’s Forests with the assistance of many people from across the state. In particular, we would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals and groups: • Gary Christopherson and Stephen Yool for supplying us with WALTER images • Cathy Covington for working with White Mountain Apache Tribe on the White Mountain landscape analysis • Haydee Hampton and Brett Dickson of the ForestERA project at Northern Arizona University for their assistance with the Azforests.org website and for providing us with maps of Arizona forests and clarification of vegetation characterization • Steve Fluck of the Grand Canyon Trust for providing us with landscape analysis maps for all of the Statewide Strategy landscapes • Jeff Whitham, Yavapai County GIS, for providing maps of the Central Highlands landscape • Lori Faeth, Senior Policy Advisor for Natural Resources, Agriculture & Environment, for her guidance and assistance in developing the Statewide Strategy • Michael Neal and APS for printing the Statewide Strategy document and the Executive Summary • Alexious Becenti Jr., forester for the Navajo Nation, for his assistance with the Northeast Woodlands and Chuska Mountains landscape analyses • Arnold Taylor, director of the Hopi Natural Resources Department, for his assistance with the Northeast Woodlands landscape analysis • Taylor McKinnon for his assistance with the writing of the draft • Prescott Area Wildland Urban Interface Commission for their assistance with the Central Highlands landscape analysis • Natural Resource Working Group for their assistance with the White Mountain landscape analysis • The Forest Health Advisory and Oversight Council Members for providing feedback on the Statewide Strategy documents and for participating in the public meeting process • Those individuals who attended the initial Statewide Strategy two-day workshop in May 2006 • Those individuals who participated in the breakout groups for the Governor’s Forest Health Summit in March 2006 • All the people who attended the Statewide Strategy public meetings in May 2007 Funding for the Statewide Strategy was provided by the Ecological Restoration Institute-Northern Arizona University, the ForestERA project at Northern Arizona University, the Grand Canyon Trust, and the Giles W. and Elise G. Mead Foundation. Photo Credits We gratefully acknowledge the following individuals and organizations for providing photographs for the Statewide Strategy report: • George Andrejko, photographer, Arizona Game and Fish Department • Steve Campbell • Bob Celaya, State Land Department • Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University • Steve Gatewood, Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership • Grand Canyon Trust • Jean Palumbo, Northern Arizona University • Wade Reaves, Arizona Bureau of Land Management • Matt Skroch, Sky Island Alliance • Kurt Wetzstein, Prescott National Forest vi vii viii Executive Summary Background In 2003, Governor Janet Napolitano created the Forest Health Advisory Council and the Forest Health Oversight Council in response to the escalating number, frequency, and intensity of unnatural wildfires threatening Arizona’s forests and communities (Executive Order 2003-16). The Councils were directed to develop scientific information and policy recommendations to advise the Governor’s administration on matters of forest health, unnaturally severe forest fires, and community protection. Council membership was designed to be inclusive to maximize opportunities for collaboration and defuse the controversy surrounding forest management. Initially, the Oversight Council’s policy recommendations were reactive—responding to year-to-year circumstances. However, members quickly realized that success would demand a proactive multi-year, integrated set of actions designed to maximize efficiency and effectiveness of treatment activities. In 2005 the Councils established a subcommittee to begin work on a 20-year strategy to restore forest health, protect communities from fire, and encourage appropriate, forest-based economic activity. The actions identified in this document are a product of that subcommittee’s work, and represent a starting point for on-the-ground implementation of a statewide strategy. Encouraging adoption and implementation of the actions specified here by the entities responsible for their execution is a critical next step. Fortunately, Arizonans have repeatedly demonstrated support for restoring forests. It is our hope that this document provides the road map and inspiration to get us there. Critical findings Arizona’s forests are an invaluable asset in need of increased attention and public investment. The diverse array of native forests and woodlands, from the cottonwood bosques hugging our river courses to the subalpine firs cloaking our tallest peaks, forms a stunning panorama across the state, providing recreational and aesthetic resources, surface and ground water, wildlife habitat, and many other benefits to every resident. These forests contribute to our quality of life, enhancing the unique character of our state that attracts a creative workforce and fuels our economic success. But an assessment of forest health reveals that Arizona’s forests are in need of attention and improved stewardship. The reality of climate change, drought, and the increasing threat of destructive wildfires and insect outbreaks to our forested watersheds challenge us to examine our approach to forest management and take bold action to restore the resilience and health of Arizona’s forests, and protect forest values for future generations. Unhealthy conditions across many of Arizona’s forests developed gradually during the past century due to a combination of factors, including human land uses, fire suppression, and climate change. Despite Fire Regime Condition characteristics of forests across