The Lumber Games
With heart pounding, the teenager struggled to keep her focus on the task at hand, digging her spurs into the skinned tree, reaching the flip line higher around the trunk and pulling herself farther from the safety of the ground as fast as she could in the driving rain. Having watched her competitors drop to their fate under the slippery, strenuous conditions, Katriana Joyce tried not to be distracted as she stretched for the red finish line that marked the end of the race, 30-feet up in the air. Elsewhere in the forest, another young competitor, Casey Branning, was hoisting a heavy,...
Read MoreAn Era of Mega Fires
Helplessness. That was the feeling firefighters like Paul Summerfelt remember at the start of the record-setting fire. “You could just watch the cloud of smoke on the horizon,” Summerfelt said. “You knew it was coming and you knew it was bigger than you were going to be able to deal with.” Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests Supervisor Jim Zornes remembers seeing smoke from 30 miles away. “We knew we had a tiger by the tail but we didn’t know how big it was,” Zornes said. “I just almost fainted when we realized the potential for the fire. I...
Read MoreLost Springs on Rebound
As patchy snow crunches under his boots and icy crystals sparkle in the early winter sun, Steve Monroe hikes to a small canyon on the southwestern side of the San Francisco Peaks. This place of basalt boulders and towering pines looks like a lot of other frozen scenes in northern Arizona’s high country on a January day, except a closer look into concrete enclosures reveals movement. Water — now released only through a system of valves and pipes. Perched into the slope is Big Leroux Spring. Its perennial flow was once an important water source for American Indians, pioneers,...
Read MoreRanching, Reading and Writing
From establishing the institution, elevating it to university status, creating a world-renowned forestry school and Ecological Restoration Institute, advancing research opportunities and maintaining the vision of a premier undergraduate residential experience, the Babbitt family and Northern Arizona University have built a world-class commitment to stewardship of Arizona’s landscapes and communities. “The single most important thing that happened in the history of NAU regarding the Babbitt family was (the late) John Babbitt’s determination to bring the school to a university level,” said...
Read MoreNorthern Arizona Elk Getting The Collar
Elk are roaming around the woods with collars around their necks. In the forest near Flagstaff, elk are being outfitted to tell researchers what they and other animals need to navigate through urban sprawl, climate change and large restoration projects. For Arizona Game and Fish Department wildlife biologist Jeff Gagnon, the job of collaring an elk is somewhat like a rodeo event. Within minutes, he and a team of wildlife managers can calm a frightened animal that might weigh as much as a thousand pounds. “We fit the collar to make sure the animal has some space and isn’t being...
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