Category Archives: arizona

Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona expanded

New lands are open for exploring | Albuquerque Journal News

The Petrified Forest National Park has announced that 14,650 acres of park expansion lands are now open.

The lands were acquired by the park from the Bureau of Land Management (4,800 acres) and by purchases from willing private sellers (9,850 acres) since the Petrified Forest Expansion Act was passed in 2004.

One of the areas newly opened is Billings Gap, which is a route between mesas that contains fossil remains of approximately 220-million-year-old clam beds. The park staff have already found interesting paleontological finds in this area, which can be accessed on foot. There are no established trails in this wide, open terrain but route information and maps are available on the park’s website (www.nps.gov/pefo) or at the park’s visitor centers.

The park is about 80 miles west of Gallup off I-40.

New lands are open for exploring | Albuquerque Journal News

Free entry to all national parks on Monday | ABQJournal Online

Free entry to national parks on Monday | ABQJournal Online

By Journal and wire reports | 9 hours ago

On Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, visitors can enter Bandelier National Monument, as well as other national parks and monuments throughout the United States, free of charge.

Monday’s holiday is the first of nine days in 2014 when all National Park Service sites will open their gates to visitors without charging entrance fees.

Fee-free day waivers apply to entrance fees, commercial entrance fees and transportation entrance fees only. Other fees such as camping, tours and concession fees are not waived.

Free entry to national parks on Monday | ABQJournal Online

Poll Shows Residents of NM and AZ Overwhelmingly Support Restoration of Mexican Gray Wolves in the Wild | New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

Poll Shows Residents of NM and AZ Overwhelmingly Support Restoration of Mexican Gray Wolves in the Wild | New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

  • 87% of voters in both states agree that wolves are a “vital part of America’s wilderness and natural heritage.”
  • 8 in 10 voters agree that the FWS should make every effort to prevent extinction.
  • 82% of Arizona voters and 74% of New Mexico voters agree there should be a science-based recovery plan.
  • Over two-thirds of voters in both states agree with scientists who say there are too few Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico and that we need to reintroduce two new populations of wolves in suitable habitat in the states.
  • Poll Shows Residents of NM and AZ Overwhelmingly Support Restoration of Mexican Gray Wolves in the Wild | New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

    Grand Canyon elk go from attraction to menace — wolves can make a difference

    We wiped out the elk and wolves in this area. Then we brought back elk. Time to let the wolves restore balance, just as they have done in Yellowstone.

    Grand Canyon elk go from attraction to menace

    Elk, once a rare sight at the national park, now regularly jam up the park’s roads, graze on hotel lawns and aren’t too shy about displaying their power, provoked or not. They’ve broken bones and caused eye injuries in the most serious circumstances, and give chase to the unsuspecting. …

    Elk brought in by train from Yellowstone National Park helped re-establish the Arizona populations after the state’s native elk became extinct around 1900.

    They’re now too close to the Grand Canyon’s most popular areas for comfort.

    Grand Canyon elk go from attraction to menace

    Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project – Home

    A Wolf Awareness Relay Hike in the path of natural dispersal from the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area to the Grand Canyon

    paseo-del-lobo-trail-map-2-thumbThe Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project is excited to host our second wolf advocacy campaign relay hike from July to October 2013 that will follow a natural dispersal corridor, connecting the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (where Mexican gray wolves currently live) to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon (where we are advocating for their return). Mexican wolves are capable of traversing hundreds of miles, and need room to roam in order to establish a metapopulation structure to preserve remaining genetic diversity.

    Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project – Home

    NM EPHT: Environmental Conditions – Wildfire Smoke in the Four Corners area

    Follow the link for the latest versions of these maps.. mjh

    NM EPHT: Environmental Conditions – Wildfire Smoke

    NOAA Southern Rockies (New Mexico and Arizona) Wildfire Smoke Forecast

    Smoke concentrations in micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m**3) are represented as
    light brown (low concentrations) on the left-hand side of the Legend across the top
    of this map to red (high concentrations) on the right-hand side.

    Current New Mexico Wildfire Smoke Map

    back to top

    NOAA U.S. Wildfire Smoke Forecast

    Smoke concentrations in micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m**3) are represented as
    light brown (low concentrations) on the left-hand side of the Legend across the top
    of this map to red (high concentrations) on the right-hand side.

    Current Wildfire Smoke Map

    back to top

    NOAA Wildfire Smoke Data

    NM EPHT: Environmental Conditions – Wildfire Smoke

    Photos of Arizona’s Wallow Fire [note: New Mexico is burning, too, just smaller fires]

    Aerial imagery of the Wallow Fire in Arizona | Google Earth Blog

    Started on May 29, the Wallow Fire, located near the Arizona and New Mexico border, had already burned 389,000 acres when Landsat captured a stunning aerial image of it on June 7.

    arizona.jpg

    Smoke from the fire has affected air quality as far north as Wyoming and as far east as Georgia. The U.S. Geological Survey and NASA cooperate closely in managing the Landsat program and we have them to thank for images such as this.

    To view it yourself in Google Earth, simply download this KML file.

    Aerial imagery of the Wallow Fire in Arizona | Google Earth Blog

    As usual, Boston’s The Big Picture has some great photos, although I hate scrolling to see them.

    Arizona wildfire rages on – The Big Picture – Boston.com

    2 Fire crew members sharpen their tools as they prepare for a back burn operation in Eagar, Arizona. A raging forest fire in eastern Arizona has scorched an area the size of Phoenix, threatening thousands of residents and emptying towns as the flames raced toward New Mexico, June 8, 2011. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press) #

    Arizona wildfire rages on – The Big Picture – Boston.com

    June 2011 Arizona fires seen from space | Earth | EarthSky

    Three images taken from space of the Wallow North fire in Arizona in June 2011 show the fierce magnitude of this event.


    June 2011 Arizona fires seen from space | Earth | EarthSky [via Arizona Hiking]

    Arizona Wallow fire: Are wildfires getting worse? – By Jeremy Singer-Vine – Slate Magazine

    Are large American wildfires becoming more common?

    Yes, at least in the West, home to most of the nation’s largest wildfires.

    Arizona Wallow fire: Are wildfires getting worse? – By Jeremy Singer-Vine – Slate Magazine [via dangerousmeta]

    SP Crater, Northern Arizona : Image of the Day

    SP Crater, Northern Arizona

    The San Francisco Volcanic Field lies not near the city of the same name but in northern Arizona. Covering 1,800 square miles (roughly 4,700 square kilometers), the volcanic field consists of volcanoes and lava flows, including SP Crater. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-color image on April 17, 2010.

    SP Crater, Northern Arizona : Image of the Day

    History of the Sinagua written in the red rocks of ruins

    History of the Sinagua written in the red rocks of ruins 

    Oct. 24, 2008 12:00 AM
    The Arizona Republic

    Palatki Red Cliffs Heritage Site is a nice place to explore when the sun is out and the weather is nice. It might be even better on a stormy day.

    "It’s really beautiful when it rains here," Coconino National Forest ranger Terrilynn Green said. Waterfalls spill over the cliffs, but the ruin, sheltered by an overhang, remains dry.

    Because of this, Palatki (a Hopi word meaning "red house") is fairly well-preserved, although it never has been rebuilt and the site hasn’t been excavated, Green said. …

    The hike to the ruin is about a quarter-mile. Some might find it challenging, but anyone in good physical condition should have no trouble.

    To the left of the visitor center, another trail, also about a quarter-mile and with a gentle grade, leads to an overhang containing rock art and the remains of an old homestead.

    About 2.5 miles down the road from Palatki is another ruin, Honanki. The site is watched over by Pink Jeep Tours Co., which signs in visitors and take clients to the ruin, pointing to various symbols on the rock.

    Honanki has more walls standing than Palatki does, and it may have been one of the largest Sinagua population centers in the Verde Valley. Archaeologists believe it was one of the places the Sinagua went after they left Palatki.

    There were more than 60 rooms on the ground floor, perhaps as many as 72 when additional stories are taken into account. The site was abandoned around 1300.

    Some of the rock art is obvious; some of it is visible only in the right light. Archaeologists say they find something new every time they look at the site.

    History of the Sinagua written in the red rocks of ruins

    Coconino National Forest – Palatki Ruins

    Tuzigoot – Ancient Sinagua Ruins in Arizona

    Read Adventurous Wench’s brief account of Tuzigoot, in Arizona south of Flagstaff and not far from Montezuma’s Well and Castle — worth a visit.

    Not far from Sedona, Arizona, lie the ruins of Tuzigoot, an ancient Sinagua town that was abandoned centuries ago.

    Tuzigoot – Ancient Sinagua Ruins in Arizona

    AW also has some cool Mayan photos:
    Flickr: Adventurous Wench’s Photostream

    [updated 10/28/08]
    This marsh and park are in sight of Tuzigoot but miles away by road.

    Arizona Hiking: TAVASCI MARSH

    TAVASCI MARSH Dead Horse Ranch State Park Situated in the backwaters of the upper Verde River, Tavasci Marsh is a bird watcher’s paradise.

    Results of poll on feelings about wolves in NM, AZ – Las Cruces Sun-News

    peace, mjh

    Results of poll on feelings about wolves in NM, AZ – Las Cruces Sun-News

    By The Associated Press

    Article Launched: 06/16/2008 12:03:33 PM MDT

    ALBUQUERQUE—A look at results from a poll of 1,000 residents of New Mexico and Arizona, half in each state, about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 10-year-old program to reintroduce the Mexican gray wolf on public lands in the two states.

    —Sixty-seven percent of Arizonans and 57 percent of New Mexicans favor giving wolves greater protection under the Endangered Species Act; 14 percent of Arizonans and 25 percent of New Mexicans oppose the idea.

    —Fifty-one percent of Arizonans and 49 percent of New Mexicans believe livestock grazing is good for the environment; 16 percent of Arizonans and 19 percent of New Mexicans disagree.

    —Sixty-two percent of Arizonans and 53 percent of New Mexicans support letting wolves migrate to suitable habitat in the states; 17 percent of Arizonans and 24 percent of New Mexicans oppose migration.

    —Sixty percent of Arizonans rate their overall feelings about wolves as positive; 13 percent are negative and 22 percent are neutral. In New Mexico, 48 percent have overall positive feelings, 19 percent are negative and 26 percent are neutral.

    —Sixty percent of Arizonans and half of the New Mexicans surveyed want ranchers to be required to remove or render inedible the carcasses of cattle that die of non-wolf causes—something environmental groups have pushed for.

    —Fifty-one percent of Arizonans and 48 percent of New Mexicans support reimbursing ranchers who volunteer to give up their grazing leases.

    A portion of the poll calling for respondants to state the first thing that came to mind when thinking about wolves found:

    Arizona:

    —21 percent: beautiful animal

    —14 percent endangered species

    —12 percent wild

    —6 percent dangerous

    —4 percent kill livestock

    —13 percent don’t know or won’t say

    New Mexico:

    —9 percent endangered species

    —7 percent beautiful animal

    —6 percent wild

    —4 percent kill livestock

    —3 percent dangerous

    —13 percent don’t know or won’t say

    ———

    Information from poll done in April and May by Research & Polling Inc. of Albuquerque. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

    Results of poll on feelings about wolves in NM, AZ – Las Cruces Sun-News

    Arizona Trail Association, Working to build, maintain and promote the Arizona Trail.

    Arizona Trail Association, Working to build, maintain and promote the Arizona Trail.

    The Arizona Trail is a continuous, 800+ mile diverse and scenic trail across Arizona from Mexico to Utah. It links deserts, mountains, canyons, communities and people. Currently 94% of the trail is complete.

    The Arizona Trail Association’s mission is simple: build, maintain, promote, protect and sustain the Arizona Trail as a unique encounter with the land.

    Arizona Trail Association, Working to build, maintain and promote the Arizona Trail.