Opportunity to Comment on the Round Valley Firescape Project
The interdisciplinary team for the Springerville Ranger District of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests (ASNFs) are proposing to implement the Round Valley Firescape (RVFS) project on the Springerville Ranger District. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act, the Forest Service is completing an environmental assessment to analyze the potential effects of the proposed action.
The purpose of this project is to utilize active forest management to promote landscape resilience to natural and human caused disturbances, create a safer firefighting environment within the wildland urban interface, and restore landscape desired conditions (as specified in the ASNFs Land Management Plan) to promote natural fire regimes within proximity of lands to Eagar and Springerville, AZ. The need for action is to improve landscape conditions to promote resiliency to disturbances and to reduce the risk of serious threat to human life or property should a large-scale wildland fire event occur.
The proposed action would treat approximately 16,580 acres with mechanical thinning and 5,205 acres with manual thinning. In burned areas, planting is proposed on 2,382 acres. Prescribed burning is proposed for approximately 27,041 acres. Approximately 9 miles of temporary roads are assessed for use as part of this action for vegetation treatments and are decommissioned once treatments are completed. Trail maintenance is proposed for all trails within the project area. 0.51 miles of the South Fork Trail is proposed for decommissioning and will be replaced by 0.64 miles of new trail construction in a more sustainable location.
The draft environmental assessment and project maps are available on the project website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/apache-sitgreaves/projects/65243. The documents can be found by opening the “Project Documents” tab, clicking on the “Scoping” folder, and then clicking the “Draft EA Scoping Documents” subfolder. Additional information can be obtained from: Amanda Scott, Springerville District Ranger, by email at amanda.scott@usda.gov.
The RVFS project is being completed using an emergency authority as authorized by section 40807 of the Infrastructure and Investment in Jobs Act. The analysis of additional alternatives and/or addressing additional issues identified by the public comment process is not a requirement. This project is also not subject to the administrative review process.
How to file a Comment and Timeframe
We invite you to submit comments on the RVFS project. Submitting project specific written comments allows the Responsible Official the opportunity to consider your comments before completion of the final environmental assessment and signing the decision notice. Comments should be within the scope of the proposed action, have a direct relationship to the proposed action, and include supporting reasons for the Responsible Official to consider (36 CFR 218.2). It is the responsibility of all individuals and organizations to ensure that their comments are received in a timely manner (36 CFR 218.25(a)(4)).
Comments, including attachments, can be filed via the Public Comment Form below, or by mail to:
Attn: Eric Robertson, Environmental Coordinator
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests Supervisor’s Office
30 S. Chiricahua Drive
Springerville, AZ 85938
Electronically filed comments may be submitted in word (.doc), portable document format (.pdf), rich text format (.rtf), text (.txt), and hypertext markup language (.html).
Comments must be submitted within 30 calendar days following this posting. The comment period will be open from September 11th 2025 to October 10th 2025, for a total of 30 calendar days. Comments will be accepted through 11:59:59 PM (Arizona Time) on October 10th.
The Reviewing Officer may set aside and not review a comment when one or more of the following applies: (1) the individual or entity did not submit a timely and specific written comment, (2) the comment does not provide sufficient information as required, (3) the commentor withdraws the comment, (3) a commentor’s identity is not provided or cannot be determined from the signature and a reasonable means of contact is not provided, (4) the comment is illegible for any reason, and (5) the responsible official cancels the public comment process underway to reinitiate the public comment period at a later date or withdraws the proposed project or activity.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
Eric Robertson
