Fuel breaks maintenance project begins on Tonto’s Payson, Pleasant Valley Ranger Districts

PHOENIX, Jan. 29, 2025 —Tonto National Forest fire specialists will be overseeing crews contracted to use hand thinning to maintain fuel breaks near eight communities on the Payson and Pleasant Valley Ranger Districts.

The fuel breaks maintenance project begins Jan. 31 near Pine, Arizona, and will continue through midSeptember. Hand thinning crews will use chainsaws and similar equipment to cut Juniper and shrubs across 5,132 acres on the two districts. This work reduces ladder fuels in existing fuel breaks and subsequently helps prevent high-intensity wildfires by removing fuel that burns quickly and hot in dry conditions.

Work will occur in the vicinity of the towns of Pine and Strawberry, Arrowhead Estates, Rim Trail Estates, Verde Glen and Whispering Pines on the Payson Ranger District and near Colcord Estates and Ponderosa Estates on the Pleasant Valley Ranger District.

This project supports Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI), a collaborative, landscape-scale initiative designed to restore fire-adapted ecosystems in Arizona.

For additional information about the above projects, contact the Payson Ranger Station located at 1009 E. Highway 260, Payson, Arizona. Or phone the station at (928) 474-7900 Monday – Friday between 8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

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