WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest will be hiring seasonal employees for the upcoming recreation season and is encouraging local residents to apply.
“Our seasonal employees are the backbone of summer operations—keeping our campgrounds, trails and recreation sites open, safe and welcoming for visitors,” said Kaibab National Forest Supervisor Nicole Branton. “These positions offer meaningful work, hands-on experience and the chance to support public lands close to home.
WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest will soon be offering fuelwood permits for the 2026 season. On the Williams and Tusayan Ranger Districts, the Forest Service will begin issuing permits January 5, 2026
On the North Kaibab Ranger District only, permit sales and firewood collection will run from May 1 through December 31, 2026.
WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest is planning prescribed fire pile burns on up to approximately 9,000 acres on the Williams and Tusayan ranger districts, pending all required approvals. We estimate this work to continue through the winter as weather conditions allow.
Pile burning is meant to treat slash, like branches, piled by thinning crews in hand piles and after the completion of timber projects, with the aim of reducing flammable fuels. The decision to proceed with each pile burn will depend on multiple factors, including snowpack, air quality, ventilation, forecast weather and wind, and resource availability. We use prescribed fire to help reduce overgrown vegetation to help protect local communities, infrastructure and natural resources from wildfires.
WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest is planning prescribed fire operations north of the City of Williams starting Wednesday, November 12, pending favorable conditions and all required approvals. We anticipate ignitions to take one to two days. We use prescribed fires to help reduce overgrown vegetation to help protect local communities, infrastructure and natural resources from wildfires.
WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest is planning prescribed fire operations on the Tusayan Ranger District beginning Friday, October 24, pending all required approvals. We estimate this work to continue through the weekend and may begin operations on the Williams Ranger District next week as weather conditions allow. We use prescribed fires to help reduce overgrown vegetation to help protect local communities, infrastructure and natural resources from wildfires.
Prescribed fires planned for the area include:
WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest is planning prescribed fire operations on the Tusayan Ranger District beginning Friday, October 24, pending all required approvals. We estimate this work to continue through the weekend and may begin operations on the Williams Ranger District next week as weather conditions allow. We use prescribed fires to help reduce overgrown vegetation to help protect local communities, infrastructure and natural resources from wildfires.
Prescribed fires planned for the area include:
WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest is planning prescribed fire operations this October, pending all required approvals. We estimate this work to continue through the fall season as weather conditions allow. We use prescribed fires to help reduce overgrown vegetation to help protect local communities, infrastructure and natural resources from wildfires.
Prescribed fires planned for the area include:
Blue Stem Project-Tusayan RD- 7,030 acres of broadcast burning.
Kendrick Project- Williams RD- 6,653 acres of broadcast burning.
Marteen Project- Williams RD- 504 acres of broadcast burning.
Pine Flat Project- Williams RD- 4,302 acres of broadcast burning.
Moonset Pit-Williams RD- 1 acre- Parks area natural debris pit pile burn.
WILLIAMS — Due to an increase in rainfall over the last several days, the Kaibab National Forest will lift all fire restrictions at 8:00 a.m. Thursday, September 4, 2025.
Fire managers continually evaluate conditions across the forest to help determine when to implement and rescind fire restrictions. The forest has received enough widespread rain to increase fuel moisture and decrease the risk of severe fire.
To help prevent human-caused fires, forest visitors should always be vigilant while visiting the forest, regardless of restriction levels.
FREDONIA — A U S Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team, led by Eric Schroder, has begun making burned area surveys of the Kaibab National Forest. BAER team assessments are rapid evaluations of post-fire conditions of the burned landscape to determine the level of risk from potential flooding and debris flow to values on National Forest System lands. If unacceptable risks are found the team recommends appropriate and effective emergency stabilization measures to reduce the risks to national forest lands and values. BAER emergency stabilization efforts are focused on the protection of human life and safety, property, and critical cultural and natural resources.
FREDONIA — The Kaibab National Forest is reducing the temporary forest closure on the North Kaibab Ranger Districts. Beginning Tuesday, August 19, western portions of the district will reopen to public access. Fire behavior on Dragon Bravo has decreased, containment has increased, and fire crews have shifted focus to suppression repair, allowing large areas of the National Forest to be reopened without compromising fire operations or public safety.
FREDONIA — On Friday, August 8, the Forest Service will reopen a portion of the North Kaibab Ranger District, which has been closed in its entirety due to the White Sage and Dragon Bravo fires. In addition, Stage 2 Fire Restrictions will go into effect for the North Kaibab and Tusayan ranger districts.
The White Sage Fire reached 4% containment as of yesterday. On the fire’s west side, crews constructed dozer line near the community of White Sage, along the northern edge of the fire’s heel. Today, firefighters will continue mop-up operations, extinguishing any remaining burning or smoldering material, felling hazardous snags, and trenching logs to prevent rolling and potential reignition.
Fire activity increased yesterday on the north side of the fire near Winter Road. Multiple aircraft conducted retardant drops to help slow the fire’s spread. Water tenders are shuttling water to fill portable tanks, each holding up to 2,000 gallons, for helicopters engaged in aerial suppression.
Over the past few days, the White Sage Fire has exhibited extreme fire behavior, with fire runs reaching 5–7 miles per day. However, yesterday’s fire growth was significantly less, with an increase of approximately 2,636 acres, thanks to the hard work of firefighters and more favorable conditions. The fire perimeter is approximately 158 miles around. Yesterday, the fire continued to spread actively, particularly through areas impacted by the 2020 Mangum Fire, where invasive cheatgrass is fueling rapid movement. The west side of the fire is holding well near White Sage and is now transitioning into suppression repair work to mitigate impacts from firefighting efforts.
WILLIAMS — Fire managers on the Kaibab National Forest will be conducting prescribed pile burns throughout the 2025 winter season as conditions safely allow. Winter is often the ideal time for crews to burn piles of slash and woody debris left over from forest thinning projects because colder temperatures and snow help moderate fire behavior and keep it from spreading beyond the piles. Approximately 2,190 acres of piles on the Tusayan Ranger District, 5,500 acres on the Williams Ranger District, with additional acres of piles on the North Kaibab Ranger District are slated for burning this season.
WILLIAMS — Fire Managers are preparing to wrap up the 2024 fall prescribed burning season on the south zone of the Kaibab National Forest this week beginning with the 3055 acre Pine Flat Prescribed Fire Project located approximately 15 miles south of Williams, followed by the 1467 acre Fireball Unit on the Three Sisters Prescribed Fire Project located 5 miles northwest of Williams on the south side of FR 124.
The National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) survey is conducted every five years and provides an estimate of how many people recreate on the forest, what activities they engage in while there, and how satisfied people were with their visit. Economic impact to the local economy is also captured in the survey. This information is useful for forest planning as well as local community tourism planning.
FREDONIA — The Kaibab National Forest (KNF) is considering authorization of a new fiber optic line between Fredonia and Jacob Lake, Arizona. The need for high-speed internet connections grows as new technologies require faster and higher-grade services. As such, the USDA Rural Utility Services Reconnect program helps rural utilities expand and keep their technology up to date by increasing bandwidth and communications capabilities. South Central Utah Telephone Association Inc. (a.k.a. SCUTA) is making high-speed internet affordable by participating in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Program and is proposing to install buried fiber optic line in rural northern Coconino County.
WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest, in cooperation with the communities of Parks and Sherwood Forest Estates will be re-opening Moonset Pit on May 4, 2024 for residents to dispose of green waste materials from private property.
The pit will be open every other Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. until September 7, 2024. Moonset Pit is located just west of the Parks community, east of Spitz Springs on the north side of old Route 66.
WILLIAMS — Fire managers will be conducting prescribed pile burns throughout the winter season as conditions safely allow. Winter is often the ideal time for crews to burn piles of slash and woody debris left over from forest thinning projects because colder temperatures and snow help moderate fire behavior and keep it from spreading beyond the piles. Approximately 5,000 acres of piles on the Tusayan and Williams ranger districts and 2,500 acres of piles on the North Kaibab Ranger District are slated for burning this season.
oconino and Kaibab national forests will temporarily close certain areas to public access beginning Friday and Saturday due to fire danger and for public safety, while all other parts of the national forests outside of the closure areas remain in Stage 2 fire restrictions.
On the Kaibab National Forest, the area of Bill Williams Mountain will be closed beginning Friday, June 17 at 8 a.m. Specifically, public access will be prohibited on all National Forest System lands, roads, and trails within the closure area, generally located between County Road (CR) 73, Old Route 66 in the City of Williams, Forest Road (FR) 122, FR 108, and I-40. This includes Benham Trail, Bixler Saddle Trail, Bill Williams Mountain Trail, Bill Williams Connector Trail, Buckskinner Trail, City of Williams Link Trail, Devil Dog Loop Trail, and Clover Spring Loop Trail. Forest Road 122 will also be closed. FR 108 will remain drivable; however, motorists cannot park off the road.
