In 2009, an out of control wildfire that led to the evacuation of 64 residences along with closures of schools, businesses and streets on the western edge of Williams, was a wake-up call to the town’s 3,500 residents.
Labelled the Twin Fire, the fire began as a U.S. Forest Service prescribed burn and catapulted into a wildfire because of high winds and dry vegetation. The fire required approximately 500 on the ground personnel and several air tankers to extinguish, and cost taxpayers close to $3 million.
In response to this fire and fires like the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski Fire in the White Mountains that burned 468,638 acres, destroying 465 homes, and the 2011 Wallow Fire that burned 538,000 acres and 72 buildings, the U.S. Forest Service launched the Four Forest Restorative Initiative (4FRI) in 2012 to restore 2.4 million acres of forest ecosystems in 20 years on portions of four National Forests — Coconino, Kaibab, Apache-Sitgreaves and Tonto — along the Mogollon Rim in northern Arizona.
The project was designed to not only reduce high intensity wildfires, but to restore watersheds, improve wildlife habitat, conserve biodiversity, protect old-growth and make the forest more resilient to climate change.
The first phase of the project delineated 600,000 acres of land on Coconino and Kaibab National Forests for treatment utilizing mechanical thinning, prescribed fire and other tools for restoration. The plan was for 30,000 acres to be treated per year.
From the Williams News: https://www.williamsnews.com/news/2017/may/30/treatment-continues-kaibab-despite-slow-4fri-progr/