FLAGSTAFF— Flagstaff today received a graphic demonstration climate change. While the Sun brightened up the San Francisco Peaks, it rained in Flagstaff proper.
A few lightning strikes were noticed, and this storm front appears to be moving towards Williams.
WILLIAMS — The Route 66 Street Market still growing despite the wet weather which threatens it. While we still have a rather high chance of rain, the rain seems to be holding off until the evening and night hours.
The Route 66 Street Market is located on the west end of town across the street from the Williams Memorial Park. The Market benefits the scholarship efforts of the Williams Kiwanis Club.
There remains a 40% chance of rain today dropping to 20% tonight. There is a 30% chance tomorrow during the day dropping to 10% Sunday night. The good news for drenched Williams is that the long range forecast through the week shows mostly clear and sunny through next Wild West Weekend.
The Wild West Weekend activities run June 19th and 20th and the Route 66 Swap Meet will be open and waiting for you.
WILLIAMS — Managers of both the Kaibab National Forest and Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona were recently recognized for the leadership role they’ve played in managing wildland fire across the landscape and jurisdictional boundaries for the purpose of improving forest health conditions.
From the Kaibab National Forest, former Forest Supervisor Mike Williams, North Kaibab District Ranger Randall Walker, Tusayan District Ranger James Simino, and Williams District Ranger Danelle D. Harrison were honored with the “Excellence in Line Officer Commitment to Restoration of Fire Adapted Ecosystems” award by the Forest Service National Line Officers Team. The group award recognizes the efforts made by the leadership of the Kaibab National Forest in the restoration of forest ecosystems through the use of a variety of tools including wildfire, prescribed fire, and manual and mechanical fuel treatments.
“This group award represents well-deserved, national-level recognition of the significant work accomplished on a landscape scale by these line officers and by all the employees of the Kaibab National Forest,” said Art Gonzales, fire staff officer for the Kaibab. “These individuals have provided an unwavering level of support that has allowed the Kaibab National Forest and its employees to be national leaders in restoring fire-adapted ecosystems.”
In 2014, the Kaibab National Forest treated almost 29,000 acres with wildfire managed to achieve resource objectives, including the approximately 11,000-acre Sitgreaves Complex Fire that was active for two months in an area extremely visible by local communities and members of the visiting public. Of particular note, the Kaibab’s average cost per acre of wildfires managed to benefit forest resources was about $133 per acre, versus the average cost of $2,500 per acre for wildfire with a full suppression strategy. The forest also treated thousands of additional acres with prescribed fire and various vegetation treatments.
From Grand Canyon National Park, Superintendent Dave Uberuaga was the recipient of the “Superintendent Fire Management Achievement Award” from the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service. The award is given annually to an Intermountain Region park superintendent who actively supports and is fully engaged with their unit’s fire management program.
“Grand Canyon National Park is one of the most complex programs within the agency both in terms of park and fire management,” read the letter to Uberuaga announcing his selection for the award. “The park has recognized that wildland fire is an integral part of the landscape. … Without your leadership the 2014 fire season would not have been as successful as it was.”
During the 2014 season, the park managed both the Kanabownits and Galahad fires over an extended period of time and had identified large planning areas for the potential expansion of the fires. Also noted in the award citation were Grand Canyon National Park’s mechanical and prescribed fire applications used to manage vegetation, and the Slopes Prescribed Fire project on the North Rim that was highlighted for its role in enhancing the park’s ability to better manage large fires in mixed conifer fuels in the future.
“Dave is very deserving of this recognition,” said Jay Lusher, chief of fire and aviation for Grand Canyon National Park. “He takes a hands-on approach with our fire program by making the time to interact and engage with crews on the ground during fire operations. To me, this instills confidence and camaraderie and allows for shared vision and purpose as we implement projects.”
Not only do Kaibab National Forest and Grand Canyon National Park share borders both north and south of the canyon, but the managers of each share a commitment to restoring fire-adapted ecosystems on a landscape scale and providing the leadership necessary to accomplish that important work.
The forest and park work together daily across jurisdictional boundaries on a variety of projects and even share a fire management organization on the north side. The North Zone Fire Management organization includes personnel from both the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest and the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
“Managing fire on a landscape scale and across administrative boundaries is key to building resiliency throughout the ecosystem,” said North Kaibab District Ranger Randall Walker, who was one of the recipients of the Forest Service award. “Together, we can maintain and build resilient landscapes; help protect the public, nearby communities and important infrastructure; and create a safe, effective and appropriate response to wildfire.”
WILLIAMS — A Kaibab National Forest archaeologist was recently recognized with a prestigious statewide award in public archaeology by the Arizona Governor’s Archaeology Advisory Commission.
Neil Weintraub, zone archaeologist for the Williams and Tusayan ranger districts, was named the 2015 “Professional Archaeologist” of the year by the commission for his significant contributions to the protection and preservation of, and education about, Arizona’s non-renewable archaeological resources.
“Neil’s commitment to public archaeology and education goes way beyond what is required of a federal archaeologist,” said Ann Howard, deputy state historic preservation officer and the person who nominated Weintraub for the award. “His dedication, commitment and enjoyment of sharing the stewardship message and ethic with the public make him stand out.”
Weintraub has been an archaeologist with Kaibab National Forest for 25 years. As part of his duties, he surveys National Forest lands for cultural resources, identifies and documents the sites that are discovered, and then ensures they are monitored and protected.
The Kaibab National Forest is particularly rich in historically and culturally significant resources, with more than 10,000 archaeological sites recorded on the forest. These historic properties, which Weintraub has helped locate and manage over his quarter-century-long tenure, are related to a long history of human occupation and use of the Kaibab National Forest dating back at least 12,000 years.
But it was for much more than his standard job duties that Weintraub was singled out by the Arizona Governor’s Archaeology Advisory Commission for excellence. Weintraub provides dozens of outreach and interpretive programs annually, reaching hundreds of people, including children, with his stewardship message. He also oversees many of Kaibab National Forest’s volunteer partners including Grinnell College interns, Arizona Site Stewards, rock art researchers, Passport in Time participants, and individual volunteers, who contribute thousands of hours each year toward the management, protection, documentation and interpretation of heritage resources across the forest.
“Given our challenging multiple use mission, protecting and preserving these sites would be nearly impossible if it were not for the relationships and mutual trust that have been built with our partners over many years,” Weintraub said. “We have countless examples in which permittees, seasonal employees, volunteers, local residents or others have told us about previously undiscovered sites. We investigate their discoveries by walking the landscape with them and having them help us with archaeological documentation. Forging these relationships has always brought mutual benefits, as I have often learned more from them than they do from me. Most importantly we have all those extra eyes helping us protect and preserve these ancient, fragile places.”
Weintraub’s contributions go beyond even cultural resource preservation, though, to a broader commitment to community, which Howard made sure to point out in her nomination of him. Specifically, she included Weintraub’s long-term work as a volunteer with the northern Arizona’s Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. She described how he always finds ways to get the youth involved in the program interested in Arizona’s precious past.
“Neil has a never-ceasing enthusiasm for raising the awareness of the citizens of Arizona, especially the children,” Howard said. “Making children sensitive to the fragility of our state’s non-renewable heritage resources is absolutely critical to the future protection and preservation of Arizona’s cultural resources.”
Weintraub was presented with his award in mid-May at an awards luncheon in Flagstaff as part of the 2015 Arizona Historic Preservation Conference.
WILLIAMS — The Williams City Council will meet to adopt the budget for Fiscal Year 15-16 and approve an IGA with the Arizona Department of Revenue on “Uniform Administration” of the City Transaction Privilege Tax.
The meeting will be held at the City Council Chambers at City Hall on First Street beginning at 7 p.m. The agenda items are as follows:
WILLIAMS — Williams received a heavy dose of rain overnight and into the morning which cleared up mostly by about 9 a.m. Clouds continued to roll over through about 1 p.m leaving only trace rains in their wake. Currently it is partly cloudy.
The long range forecast shows:
This Afternoon: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 71. Southwest wind 11 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. South wind 5 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 11am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 74. Light south wind becoming southwest 8 to 13 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Thursday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 47. West southwest wind 9 to 14 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Friday: A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming west southwest 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Friday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm, then a slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 50. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 77.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49.
Flagstaff enjoys about the same weather pattern with a 10% higher chance of rain throughout the reported period.
WILLIAMS — We can see by the ol’ Williams clock that Williams has moved into the 40% chance of rain forecast for this afternoon. The forecast for Flagstaff is about the same.
As of this writing, there is a 40% chance of rain this afternoon rising to 60% tonight. Flagstaff has a 50% chance this afternoon and 60% overnight. The chance of showers and thunderstorms hovers around 30% through Friday afternoon.
Ash Fork can also expect showers and thunderstorms throughout week with a 10% less chance as Williams.
WILLIAMS — Last Friday, June 5, Air Force veteran, Detective Bob McCarty, escorted Marine veteran Toran Gaal through Williams on his bicycle trek to Arlington. His mantra is, The only limits in life are those we set on ourselves.
Toran left San Diego Monday June 1 followed in the chase car by Brian Reilly with the goal of reaching Arlington, Virginia in 52-days. You can follow the ride at Toran’s web site or on Twitter.
Both men are amputees from Afghanistan, but Torin does not concentrate on that. He meets in competition, surfs, does public speaking tours and even finds time to coach basketball.
On the ride he carries two flags. The American flag; the symbol of the freedom for which he fought. The other is the Marine Corps flag which represents him—the Marine. In his continuing service to the Marine Corp, this ride is to benefit the Semper Fi Fund.