Three State Fuels Reduction Projects Underway in Yavapai County
Prescott, AZ (5/5/2025) – The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management (DFFM) started work on three more fuels reduction projects in Yavapai County as part of the agency’s Healthy Forest Initiative (HFI) program. The HFI program embraces proactive measures to safeguard Arizona’s communities and infrastructure and improve the health of the state’s diverse landscapes.
Lynx Creek Mastication Project: Lynx Creek is a 352-acre mastication project strategically designed to decrease fuel continuity on State Trust land and reduce the threat of high intensity fire threatening the area. It also provides wildland firefighters better options to conduct safer and more manageable fire suppression operations if a fire occurs. The project is located approximately 7 miles east of Prescott, south of the Yavapai Hills community, near the Costco. Project work takes place south of and along Highway 69, east of Walker Road, and adjacent to Old Black Canyon Highway. Work is currently underway with an expected completion date of December 2025.
Lynx Creek Handwork Project: This 7-acre project coincides with the Lynx Creek Mastication project and is located north of the mastication work. DFFM hand crews will thin vegetation on State Trust land alongside Highway 69. The purpose of the project is to break up fuel continuity within the parcel of land between the highway and the community of Yavapai Hills. Project work may take up to a few months.
Opal Hills Mastication Project: Opal Hills is a 135-acre mastication project on State Trust land, designed with the purpose of reducing the connectivity of dense and hazardous fuels within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) to decrease the threat of catastrophic fire impacting nearby communities like Stoneridge, Creekside of Prescott, and Lynx Mountain View Estates. Mastication work utilizes heavy equipment to break apart and chip vegetation such as shrubs and small, woody trees. Mastication helps break up fuel continuity which then reduces fire spread and intensity. The Opal Hills project is located south of Highway 69 on the southwest edge of Prescott Valley. The project is scheduled to start on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
Residents within these project areas should be mindful of contractor traffic within project boundaries and hand crew work along the roads. As with all fuels projects, work can be delayed due to fire restrictions, fire activity or resource availability.
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For more information, contact Tiffany Davila at 602-540-1036 or by email at [email protected].
