Crews will be constructing fuel breaks and conducting pile burning beginning Dec. 11 as part of a project to reduce the threat of wildfire in and around th community of Catalina.
Work on the 200-acre Spirit Dog project will on state trust land east and south of Catalina, north of Tucson. The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management and Golder Ranch Fire District are doing the work.
The first phase spans nearly 10 miles. It involves hand-thinned fuel breaks that will be strategically positioned along roads bordering the southern and eastern edges of Catalina.
Fuel breaks serve to control or slow wildfires.
The project also includes the removal of invasive stinknet south of Catalina. Stinknet is a weed known to intensify wildfires and impede native plant growth.
The initial phase includes the removal of dense vegetation, including trees, shrubs and yucca on state land east of Arizona 7
Pile burning along the fuel breaks on the southeast side of Catalina will follow.
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