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Public input now sought for community wildfire plan<br>

The Greater Williams Area CWPP, which was commissioned in September 2004, is a collaborative effort between the city of Williams, Coconino County, Parks-Bellemont Fire District, Sherwood Forest Estates Fire District, Kaibab National Forest, Arizona State Land Department and concerned citizens.

“We are very pleased with the draft plan,” said Cary Price, city of Williams councilperson and a key participant in the development of the CWPP. “In this area, we have a lot of private property that is directly adjacent to forest. Wildland fire threatens us all, and we need to prepare for it.”

The area covered by the Greater Williams CWPP was defined by the city of Williams and Coconino County as the timbered area of the Williams Ranger District on the Kaibab National Forest including all private inholdings.

The goal of the plan is to provide all landowners in that area with a broad spectrum of treatment options including tree thinning and prescribed burning. The plan also prioritizes areas for treatment, thus providing community direction to land managers about how, when and where fuels reduction projects should take place.

The impetus for a local CWPP was the enactment of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act in 2003. That legislation includes incentives for land management agencies to give consideration to the priorities of local communities as they develop and implement forest management and hazardous fuels reduction projects. In order for communities to take advantage of all the opportunities offered through the Healthy Forests Restoration Act —

including access to federal funding — they must establish a CWPP.

The Greater Williams Area CWPP can be viewed on Coconino County’s Web site at www.co.coconino.az.us under “Emergency Services.” Comments can be sent to plan developer George Kleindienst at gwkleindienst@aol.com.

For interested citizens without access to a computer, the plan will also be presented at three meetings, which will all be open to the public. Meetings at which the CWPP will be presented are:

• Coconino County Board of Supervisors Work Session, Feb. 22, time to be announced, County Administration Building, 219 E. Cherry Ave., Flagstaff.

• Parks/Sherwood Forest Estates Public Meeting, Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m., Community Center, Maine Consolidated School, Parks.

• City Council Meeting, city of Williams, Feb. 24, 7 p.m., City Council Chambers at City Hall, 113 S. 1st St., Williams

For more information, please contact Jackie Denk at (928) 635-5607.


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