Taylor Supports Four Forest Initiative

By Naomi Hatch
   “Many of you are familiar with aspects of the initiative, which I want to emphasize is still a work in progress,” said Rodney J. Ross, government and community relations administrator for Navajo County.
   Ross was invited by Taylor Town Manager Eric Duthie to make a presentation on the Four Forest Initiative at the Sept. 9 Taylor Town Council meeting. He asked that each council member sign a letter in support of the initiative that the county will send to Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, who has agreed to lend her full support to the initiative in Washington, D.C.
   “This is a new comprehensive approach to force management that includes representatives from industry, local governments, the Forest Service and environmental groups to come together to find a new way to manage our forests to avoid the kind of forest fires we’ve seen in the last few years,” Ross explained.
   Officials are putting the final touches on the initiative, which calls for change in policy to have the Forest Service dramatically increase forest thinning to three to four times as many acres as are currently being thinned in the forest.
   “Navajo County sees this as a huge issue,” said Ross. He explained that it would help to restore the forest and reduce the risk of forest fires; create as many as 600 jobs in the county, noting that one company wants to build an oriented strand board (OSB) plant in Winslow that would employ approximately 600 people; and capitalize on a historical and unprecedented agreement of stakeholders that have not gotten along for awhile.
   “Navajo County and the Board of Supervisors sees this as a very important issue for the entire region and asks for your support in signing this letter,” said Ross.
   In response to a question posed by Councilman Jared Hatch, Ross said that currently they have prescribed burns on 5,000 to 10,000 acres per year in this region in Arizona, and would expand that by 30,000 more acres a year, noting, “That’s not a firm number, but there are many stakeholders that feel that is possible and that is what needs to be done.”
   Duthie added that a presentation was made approximately two years ago regarding the economic impact of stewardship contracts throughout regions and stated, “By far Snowflake and Taylor were the chief beneficiaries of the forest stewardship contract because of the wood products.”
   Vice Mayor Debbie Tuckfield moved to sign the letter of support from Navajo County regarding the Four Forest Initiative. The motion passed unanimously.