Big Idea

• 500 acres of the Sierra Prieta mastication project to be thinned
• This will involve the use of heavy equipment
• Please avoid trails in the project areas
• This is an effective hazardous fuels management tool
• Read more...

The mechanical thinning will take place for approximately 3 months

Prescott, AZ, March 7, 2022 - Beginning this week and continuing for approximately 3 months, a contractor working on the Bradshaw Ranger District will be using heavy equipment to thin approximately 500 acres of the Sierra Prieta mastication project.  This project is being implemented under the Bradshaw Vegetation Management Project.  The project area is located on national forest lands south of Thumb Butte and north of Copper Basin.  

Although no trail or road closures are expected, we do as the public to avoid trails in the project area if equipment is operating.  Please do not enter areas where the heavy equipment is operating. Approaching such equipment is very dangerous as the operator may not see you. 

Mechanical thinning treatments has proven to be an effective hazardous fuels management tool by rearranging/reducing ladder and canopy fuels to the surface to reduce the risk of crown fire, and to increase defensible space.  Completion of this project will improve the health and resiliency of fire-adapted ecosystems while simultaneously reducing hazardous fuels that pose a threat to life and property in the Wildland-Urban Interface.

The intent of the project is to improve the health and resiliency of fire-adapted ecosystems while simultaneously reducing hazardous fuels that pose a threat to life and property in the Wildland-Urban Interface. 

For more information, please contact the Bradshaw & Chino Valley Ranger District at (928) 443-8000.

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