A plan to thin Arizona forests is moving forward. The Four Forest Restoration Initiative is going to be accelerating in the next few months, despite some shifts in control.
A subcontractor on the project dropped out last week. Steve Gatewood is a member of the project steering committee. He says Good Earth Power is the primary contractor on the project.
"They are going to be able to accelerate over this next year, but they simply haven’t. And part of that is because of resources available, but all the pieces are in place now for them to accelerate," Gatewood said. "I think that the next several months will tell a lot about their intent and capacity to make all of this happen."
The 10-year contract proposed to clear 30,000 acres each year, but two years have passed so far, and less than 4,000 acres have been cleared.
Gatewood said this delay was due to a combination of elements, including a lack of local infrastructure and bad weather.