Chiricahua Regional Council Statement The Chiricahua Regional Council expresses profound concern over recent federal staffing reductions threatening our vital trail maintenance partnerships. Nationwide 3,400 workers have been abruptly fired. This represents 10% of US Forest Service personnel and the disturbing part is that the firings are disproportionately affecting Recreation staff. A troubling feature of the current…
The below report on the 2024 Youth Conservation Corps Program (Wild Arizona) is by the Douglas Ranger District and is from October 28, 2024. (most pictures deleted) Thank you to our partners at the Forest Service for helping to make this year’s YCC the best one yet. A big THANK YOU to the Chiricahua Regional…
The CRC Stewardship Program joined forces with the Chiricahua Wilderness Trail Crew, the Portal-Rodeo Hiking Group, Wild Arizona, and the Coronado National Forest to do maintenance on several popular trails. Beginning with the Greenhouse Trail, logs were removed to a point well above the Winn Falls overlook. Then shifting to areas near Rustler Park, once…
CRC’s Stewardship Program had an active 2023. Working with partner organizations, we amassed over 750 hours of volunteer time. In the winter, we installed wilderness portal signs in several Chiricahua locations, including Price Canyon, Rucker Canyon, and Cave Creek Canyon. The program organized monthly trail maintenance days for the Portal-Rodeo Hiking Group. These dedicated volunteers…
With creeks flowing and the skies promising rain, the Portal-Rodeo Hiking Group elected to spend their monthly trail maintenance day working in the canyon this May. These conditions are abnormal for this time of year and made for a pleasant few hours of clearing brush and logs from the Herb Martyr Trail. This local group…
It’s been a busy and productive Spring for trailwork in the Chiricahuas. The completion of the South Fork Trail project in mid-April was quickly followed by a week of work organized by the venerable John Sumner. A group of volunteers came from as far away as Minnesota to spend time cutting logs alongside this master…
Success is sweet. The saga of South Fork reached a new milestone in April when the crew of Wild Arizona completed the rebuilding of this classic Chiricahuan trail. Not since 2011 has it been passable to those who wanted to experience this path into our unique sky island wilderness. It’s now possible to reestablish connection…
A team of four volunteers led by John Sumner continued trail work in the Chiricahua Wilderness last week. The plan at this stage of the project was to ascend and work on the higher and more remote section of the trail. The Chiricahua Regional Council is sponsoring this multi year project to fully restore the…
June of ’22 has been kind to us in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico. An early start to the seasonal rain (aka the monsoon) has brought critical moisture and lower temperatures to our region. Coinciding with this welcome change is the arrival of a diverse group of young adults from across the country. They’re…
(This is a part of a series of gleanings from the history of CRC’s 30 years of work; additional posts available here.) In February 2021, CRC partnered with Wild Arizona and the US Forest Service on the South Fork Trail Stewardship Project. We seek to involve volunteers in habitat, spring, and trail restoration. Recent trail projects,…
