Beginning this week and continuing for approximately 2 months, a contractor working on Bradshaw Ranger District will be using heavy equipment to thin approximately 176 acres of the Groom Creek Mastication project.  This project is being implemented under the Bradshaw Vegetation Management Project.  The project area is located on national forest lands south of the community of Groom Creek, on the west side of Senator Highway.

The thinning area overlaps Forest Service Road 9418R and Forest Service Road 707. Impacts to roads and trails are expected to be minimal and no area or road closures are currently expected. However, we do ask the public to avoid the project area if equipment is operating.  Please do not enter areas where the heavy equipment is operating; approaching such equipment is very dangerous as the operator will not see you.

If it becomes necessary to close trails, a follow up press release will be issued and signs will be posted, but at present the trails are open. Operations will be halted to minimize impacts to the Mountain Mayhem Mountain biking event on May 20, 2023.

Mechanical thinning treatments has proven to be an effective restoration and management tool. Completion of this project will improve the health and resiliency of fire-adapted ecosystems while simultaneously restoring watersheds, rangelands, and wildlife habitat and reducing hazardous fuels that pose a threat to life and property in the Wildland-Urban Interface.

For more information, please contact the Bradshaw & Chino Valley Ranger Districts at 928-443-8000.

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