Upper Rio forest restoration projects delayed as federal signatures and wildlife constraints hold up work

At a joint Flagstaff City Council and Coconino County work session on April 14, county staff said multiple forest restoration projects in and near the Upper Rio de Flag watershed are on hold while partners finalize agreements and federal reviews. “Very importantly at the bottom of this slide is currently all projects are held up by the administration waiting on signatures for agreements,” county staff member Jay said, describing a suite of projects planned or underway.

The projects affected include fiscal‑year 2025 investments the presenters said total about $5,864,000 from the flood control district, with earmarks including roughly $2.8 million for Bill Williams Mountain, a little over $2 million for the Hawk Little Wing area and about $1 million for the Durford project. Staff also told the board that FY2026 requests would include about $2.8 million for Bill Williams Mountain and $2.4 million for the LaRue project.

Why it matters: the work is intended to lower wildfire and watershed risk for Flagstaff-area communities by reducing fuel loads and restoring historic open-forest conditions. Staff said the hold-ups stem from missing signatures on agreements with partners including The Nature Conservancy and the National Forest Foundation and from internal backlog at grant offices. Jay told the meeting the county would present the delayed projects the following day to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

Project details and schedule - Wing East/Wing West: staff said James Perkins Timber Harvesting is about 58% complete on one unit and that Wing West, a roughly 5,000‑acre unit, was awarded to a contractor that would begin work the week of the meeting. - Hawk/Little Wing: staff said the Hawk Little Wing unit had been revised after wildlife findings. Jay said they “found some Mexican spotted owls” and reduced the Hawk Little Wing acreage to about 2,043 acres from roughly 2,300 to avoid longer seasonal restrictions. - LaRue: staff said some very steep slopes will require tethered logging rather than helicopter work, a change that staff estimated could reduce costs from roughly $20,000 per acre (helicopter) to about $6,500 per acre (tethered logging), saving “millions of dollars.”

Signatures, federal reviews and timing Staff described a multi‑level review pathway for agreements: U.S. Forest Service Region 3 review, potential Washington‑office review and USDA review for some documents. Jay said the National Forest Foundation and The Nature Conservancy expect to have an RFP ready and that TNC wanted that RFP out by April 21; staff cautioned timelines remained uncertain because of backlogs in grants and agreements offices. When asked whether a joint letter from the council and board could help, Supervisor Fowler suggested it could be considered if staff determined it would add priority.

Community wildfire planning and homeowner risk mapping County and city staff also reviewed two complementary community wildfire protection plan efforts: a countywide CWPP (led by the Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership and the county) and a Greater Flagstaff CWPP managed by the city and its partners. County staff said the contractor SWCA aims to compress a typical 18‑month CWPP schedule to about 12 months to speed implementation. Staff noted federal funding sources for planning and implementation include the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, and they cited the Fix Our Forest Act as legislation that could continue funding channels from USDA to state and local implementers.

Staff described parcel‑level vulnerability modeling and an assessment tool they are testing. Neil (city staff) said the model—developed with a scientist supported by the Moore Foundation and Colorado State University—identifies structure‑level wildfire vulnerability and can be rerun to measure the effects of targeted mitigation. He described a commercial assessment package, WUI from a company whose parent is Madronas, that the city uses for one‑on‑one homeowner assessments. Neil said the program is intended to build parcel‑level data to show how neighborhoods can move from higher to lower risk, and to support homeowner education and potential insurance discussions.

Insurance and outreach Multiple officials linked the parcel assessments to insurance questions. Neil said insurance companies currently make underwriting decisions using large ZIP‑code or model data and that parcel‑level, verifiable mitigation records could help communicate reduced risk, but he cautioned there are no guarantees because reinsurance markets and other national factors also influence coverage decisions.

Implementation risks and next steps Staff repeated that the primary near‑term risk to starting work this season is delayed agreement signatures and limited contractor availability for certain treatments (for example, helicopter availability for steep slopes). They said staff will continue to push regional and national reviewers, that RFPs could go out quickly once agreements are executed, and that some lower‑slope, base‑of‑mountain treatments could proceed even if steep‑slope contracts slip to next year.

Speakers cited in this article include Jay (county staff presenter), Neil (city staff), Supervisor Fowler (Coconino County supervisor), Supervisor Vasquez (Coconino County supervisor) and Chairwoman Begay (board chair).