Arizona News – If you’ve ever wanted to take a good look at a forest thinning project up close, pay a visit to the Arizona Capitol Christmas Tree this holiday season.
The Douglas Fir, displayed in the lobby of the Arizona State Capitol, was harvested by the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management off the Mogollon Rim Ranger District of the Coconino National Forest as part of the Roosevelt Good Neighbor Authority Project. The tree had been tagged for removal to accomplish the project’s objectives.
The Roosevelt GNA Project is part of the larger Cragin Watershed Protection Project, which plans to treat 64,000 acres of land in order to protect the municipal watershed for the Town of Payson.
In addition to protecting a vital watershed, the CWPP will also protect critical wildlife habitat, range resources and popular recreation areas used by forest visitors.
The Roosevelt GNA Project, which has been in the planning stage since 2018, is a joint effort between the Coconino NF, Arizona’s Department of Forestry and Fire Management, and Salt River Project.
These thinning treatments decrease the risk of high-intensity wildfire and subsequent post-fire flooding in the watersheds that lead to C.C. Cragin (formerly Blue Ridge) Reservoir. GNA projects provide for federal and state collaboration on federal lands to achieve common goals of fuels reduction and healthy forest work.
The tree can be viewed until Dec. 31, 2022, at which point it will be removed and disposed of.
