Forest Restoration Initiative

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The Coconino County Flood Control District (FCD) developed a Forest Restoration Initiative to address the negative impacts of catastrophic wildfires and post-wildfire flooding. For Coconino County, wildfires and post-wildfire flooding are the great threats to the county’s residents, businesses, economy, and financial solvency. The initiative’s goal is reduce these threats by increasing forest restoration across our County, which is the only systemic way to address these severe threats. There are several actions that the County is taking to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration. We are working to cultivate forest industry that is needed to conduct the restoration work, which also will create more rural jobs, all while preserving the ecological values served by watersheds, most of which are on federal lands in Coconino County. Past management and grazing activities on National Forest lands have produced uncharacteristically dense forest conditions that are conducive to catastrophic wildfires, which can do extensive damage to the forest, watershed, soils, and wildlife. We are also working with the US Forest Service to support the adoption of new practices that will advance the pace of restoration. The FCD experienced the impacts of wildfire and post-wildfire flooding following the Schultz Fire on the east side of the San Francisco Peaks in 2010. The County and County’s Flood Control District spent about $40 million responding to and mitigating the impacts of the Schultz Fire Post-Wildfire Flooding. In 2017, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors identified catastrophic wildfires and post-wildfire flooding as the number one public safety risk for our citizens, economy and environment in Coconino County. In response, the Board of Directors (the Board of Supervisors serves as the Flood Control District Board of Directors) approved the creation of the Forest Restoration Initiative within the FCD to serve as an important facilitator, liaison and funding mechanism – linking County interests and assets with broader regional forest restoration efforts and opportunities.