Bill Williams Mountain watershed closure to begin Wednesday, June 18

Williams, Ariz., June 18, 2025 - Due to increased fire danger and for public safety, the Kaibab National Forest has implemented a temporary area closure on Bill Williams Mountain watershed, located just south of the City of Williams. The closure is effective beginning 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, and is due to the area's susceptibility to uncharacteristically severe wildfire and the post-wildfire flooding that would potentially result.

In general, the perimeter of the Bill Williams Mountain watershed temporary closure area includes Forest Road 122 to the south, Forest Road 108 to the west, County Road 73 (aka “South Road”) to the east, and Interstate 40 to the north. Details, including a map of the closure area, will be available on the Kaibab NF website at www.fs.usda.gov/r03/kaibab.

Forest managers consider several factors before implementing fire restrictions or forest closures, including current fire danger and fire activity, local, regional, and national fire preparedness levels, expected weather conditions, availability of firefighting resources, and the economic impacts on businesses and communities. The Kaibab National Forest continues to coordinate with federal, state, tribal and local partners.

Restrictions and closures typically remain in effect until the area receives significant, widespread precipitation.

For information on restrictions and other alerts on the Kaibab National Forest visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/kaibab/alerts.

For restriction information on state and federally managed lands in AZ visit wildlandfire.az.gov/fire-restrictions. Coconino County fire restriction information can be found at https://www.coconino.az.gov/AlertCenter.aspx.

Bill Williams Mountain Area Temporary Closure Order No. 03-07-01-25-03