Wild Arizona

What a weekend! Thank you to everyone who stopped by the Wild Arizona booth at the Flagstaff Music Festival at Heritage Square.

Between sets, we got to talk with so many of you about what’s happening to Arizona’s wild forests right now, and we left inspired. A great crowd of new volunteers signed up to join the fight, and several of you signed our petition on the spot.

Here’s why it matters: the U.S. Forest Service is moving to rescind the 45 year old Roadless Rule, the policy that protects 1.17 million acres of Arizona’s wildest forest land, including parts of the Coconino, Kaibab, Tonto, Coronado, Apache-Sitgreaves, and Prescott National Forests. If it goes through, these places open up to new road building, logging, and mining.

The public comment period was just extended and now closes October 6. Every voice counts. 📣

👉 Head to the link in our bio to submit your comment before the deadline and help us keep Arizona wild.

Heat. Rocks. Erosion. Repeat.

Our Wild Stew Field Crew spent 8 days at Sunland Vista in Tucson armoring 0.3 miles of eroding wash side trail with 14 tons of rock, plus a run in with a mysterious trickster who kept stealing our cones.

Swipe through for the highlights, then head to the link in our bio to read the full story.

What a night!

Wild Arizona was thrilled to be part of the Steamroller Printmaking event during Flagstaff’s First Friday ArtWalk, where a literal steamroller turned Aspen Street into a giant outdoor print studio.

At our table, we brought our own Keep Arizona Wild carvings and invited folks to ink and print their own postcards, then write letters to their representatives in support of protecting the Roadless Rule, which safeguards over a million acres across the Coconino, Kaibab, Apache-Sitgreaves, Tonto, Prescott, and Coronado National Forests. Nothing like combining art and advocacy to make your voice heard!

Huge thanks to Jill Sans of The HeArt Box and Jen Myhre for organizing this incredible community event, and to everyone who stopped by to print and write a postcard with us. It was inspiring to see so many people show up for public lands, through art, through action, and through community.

Back into the burn 🔥

Our Wild Arizona Wild Stew Field Crew headed deep into the Gila National Forest to clear a stretch of the Black Range Crest Trail #79, still recovering from the 2022 Black Fire. Four days, 1.9 miles brushed, 79 trees logged out, and a summit at McKnight Mountain (10,144 ft) got us one step closer to reconnecting McKnight Cabin to Mimbres Lake.

Swipe through for logs, locust, raspberries, and ridge line views 🫐

Read the full story at the link in our bio!

Thanks to the National Forest Foundation and Gila National Forest, who made this work possible!

Become a Forest Service River Ranger Volunteer!

Join Forest Service crews on two of Arizona’s most beautiful waterways, the Verde and Salt Rivers, for the volunteer season running October through April.

What you’ll be doing:

Channel maintenance
Resource monitoring
Manual invasive weeds removal

What we’re looking for:

Class III+ boating skills (packraft or ducky/IK)
Ability to perform manual labor in adverse conditions
Backcountry experience
Strong safety awareness and wilderness ethic
Positive, team-oriented attitude

Commitment and requirements:

Minimum of 2 trips per season (can be split between the Verde and Salt Rivers)
Sign up as an official USFS volunteer
Attend a pre-selection float on the Verde, September 23 or October 17
Can’t make a pre-selection float? Just provide 2 references from past multi-day trips and complete a Zoom call with our team

Ready to apply or have questions?
[email protected] | 928-821-9881
[email protected] | 928-402-6236

“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” - John Muir

Back in the Gila high country, wildfire and all.

Our field crew returned to the Redstone Trail reroute this hitch, picking up work that had been paused by the Sacaton Fire. From digging in nearly a mile of new tread to dodging thunderstorms and midnight rain, this project shows just how much planning, sweat, and adaptability goes into building a trail that lasts.

The reroute is now fully walkable and tied in to the Redstone Trail junction 🥾

Head to the link in our bio to read the full story from Conservation & Wilderness Associate Sam Baggenstos.

The Roadless Rule is under threat. And right now, your voice can help protect it.

The USDA is proposing to rescind the Roadless Rule, which protects wild, undeveloped forests from new road construction and commercial timber harvest. In Arizona alone, more than one million acres of forest are directly protected by the rule.

These forests are connected to something we all depend on: water. Roadless watersheds help protect rivers and drinking water, while fewer fires start in roadless areas than in areas with roads.

The Roadless Rule does not protect Arizona’s Colorado River allocation. But with Arizona’s Colorado River water supply already under pressure, protecting our other critical watersheds matters.

The public comment period opens TODAY and closes September 21. This is our opportunity to tell the federal government that these protections matter.

📢 Tell the USDA: Keep the Roadless Rule.

Sign the petition and learn more at the link in our bio or saveroadlessforests.com