[crgeorge]

Hi all,

Amy Racki from The Tonto National Forest asked me to forward this along.

SUNFLOWER ADMINISTRATIVE SITE FLOOD PROTECTION VOLUNTEER PROJECT

• Date: June 16 and 17, 2012

• Time: 7AM Start (9AM for those who arrive late)

• Location: Sunflower Administrative Site. The Sunflower area is 21 miles south of Payson and 34 miles north of Phoenix metropolitan. The project site is accessible by passenger vehicle.

• What: There is unprecedented flooding potential in the area because of the recent Sunflower fire which burned almost 20,000 acres. The forest is seeking hundreds of volunteers to fill and place up to 25,000 sand bags in and around the Forest Service Sunflower Administrative Site, which has cultural and historic significance, and is a treasured memory for many forest visitors. The Sunflower Administrative Site is a collection of historic buildings and structures that once served as the Forest Ranger District office and work center back in the early 1900’s.

• Number of volunteers needed: 100+ volunteers each day

• Who: Anyone that would like to help that is 16 years or older

• What to Bring: Wear gloves, closed-toe shoes, wear sun protection (hat, long sleeve, sun screen), bring water and snacks. Lunch will be provided.

Directions: From Phoenix, take the Beeline highway (87) north toward Payson. Just past mile marker 222 is a sign for the Sycamore exit to the left and Mt. Ord exit to the right. Take the turn to the left

Sign-up at: www.voaz.org click calendar

Contact: Mesa Ranger District, Amy, 480-610-3300

Chad

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Additional Info from the website:

Jun 16 - Jun 17 SIGN UP - Open
Sunflower Fire Rehabilitation - Sunflower Administrative Site Flood Protection - Payson, Phoenix
This project is one of the initial rehabilitation and mitigation projects within the Sunflower Fire closure area. There is unprecedented flooding potential in the area because of the recent Sunflower Fire. The Forest is seeking hundreds of ADULT volunteers daily to fill and place up to 25,000 sand bags in and around the Sunflower Administrative Site, which has cultural and historic significance, and is a treasured memory for many forest visitors.

The Sunflower Administrative Site is a collection of historic buildings and structures that once served as the Forest Ranger District office and work center back in the early 1900’s. The Forest is seeking hundreds of volunteers daily to fill and place up to 25,000 sand bags in and around the Sunflower facility on June 16 and June 17, 2012 from 7AM to 3PM each day. Volunteers who arrive late will be briefed at 9AM.

Volunteers should wear closed-toe shoes, long pants/long sleeve shirts, wear sun protection/hat, water, and bring gloves. Lunch will be provided. ADULTS only please.

The Sunflower area is 21 miles south of Payson and 34 miles north of Phoenix metropolitan. The project site is accessible by passenger vehicle. Please invite your friends and family that are age 16 and older. Volunteers will meet at the Sunflower site at 7AM. From Phoenix, take the Beeline highway (87) north toward Payson. Just past mile marker 222 is a sign for the Sycamore exit to the left and Mt. Ord exit to the right. Take the turn to the left across the divided highway and proceed down the paved road for 4 miles.

See you there!

Difficulty Rating: Moderate Minimum Age: 16 Age Group: All Ages Max Group Size: 30 Volunteers Needed: 150 Contact Person: Amy Racki (480)-610-3300

[dzJeepChic]

George [doesn't know it yet] and I are in. We love this area and we want to help. Thank you Chad for posting here, will re-post to the OffroadPassport facebook page.

I am urging all able bodied Offroad Passport members to help. Anything we can do to save this historical area will be worth our efforts.

Thank You Chad for posting here!
Diane

[dzJeepChic]

George and I are signed up for Saturday 9:00 AM briefing.

[JKGoose]

I'm signed up for Sat too.

[Jklee]

I am truelly confused? Isn't this the same organization that's closing everything off? I don't mean to offend with my ignorants but I am not sure who is on our team and who isn't? It seems the lines are blurred or there is a grey area but why would we help the people that end up closing the area.

[theksmith]

I am truelly confused? Isn't this the same organization that's closing everything off? I don't mean to offend with my ignorants but I am not sure who is on our team and who isn't? It seems the lines are blurred or there is a grey area but why would we help the people that end up closing the area.

i hear you. i have certainly never seen a call like this go out from the Forest Service here in AZ to save an OHV trail that might be in danger of being closed due to lack of maintenance or erosion.

i mean look at FR42, that popular trail was closed due to a wildfire. a few years later there was a run with the FS to determine if it could be re-opened. all i remember coming from that was the determination that it would take a lot of money to fix the trail to what the FS deemed appropriate in order to re-open it, so apparently they didn't bother - "not in the budget" probably. however, i'm sure if there was a FS coordinated call for "100+ volunteers each day" to help "repair" it, we'd probably make some damn good progress.

i certainly don't mean to diminish the importance of an effort to save something of historic value. i would just like to see the same enthusiasm applied to the struggle for OHV enthusiasts to be able to enjoy our public land treasures.

[dzJeepChic]

I am truelly confused? Isn't this the same organization that's closing everything off? I don't mean to offend with my ignorants but I am not sure who is on our team and who isn't? It seems the lines are blurred or there is a grey area but why would we help the people that end up closing the area.

i would just like to see the same enthusiasm applied to the struggle for OHV enthusiasts to be able to enjoy our public land treasures.

I agree with both of you - it is confusing. First off, Tonto National is closing trails because of a mandate from the federal government to implement a 'travel management' program (reference the video jklee posted recently). Many of the decisions and trails closed made a lot of sense to me on paper, but theksmith reported that the area east of the beeline around saguaro lake is messed up. That's all implementation of the 'travel management' program.

In their defense, Tonto has been a great ranger district to work with through the years as far as their leniency when trail markers were confusing, openness to questions about trail status, and efforts to keep trails open. Tonto is literally in my backyard, and I feel some alegence with them.

I literally cut my 4x teeth on the Sunflower Mine Trail. When I first read the call for help, I thought it was out on the trail; however George set me straight when he pointed out that this is down the old hwy from the airdown spot. It's near where you pop out if you do the powerline road from bartlett lake. Nevertheless, I still feel that I want to help however I can; to be a good guy among the 4 wheeler crowd whether it sets a good example for us as a group or not. I think that if equal numbers of OHV users turn out to help alongside the anti-OHV users, we might at least maintain some voice in decisions. (I tend to be an optimist).

Diane

[dzJeepChic]

You probably already heard this but just in case, here's the story on how the fire started in the 1st place. It was pure stupidity: http://www.kpho.com/story/18937074/s...elor-party-fun

[dzJeepChic]

Sweet! Tonto did a nice little write up about the sandbag project and Offroad Passport was mentioned in the 'Thanks'

Sunflower Sandbag Project
On June 16 and June 17, 2012 more than 100 volunteers participated in the Sunflower Administrative Site Flood Protection Volunteer Project. Volunteers filled and placed 11,000 sand bags in and around the historic buildings and structures to help protect the site from unprecedented flooding potential. A reflection in time of the Sunflower Administrative Site is provided below.



You can keep up to date on the flood potential at http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/psr/DSS/sunflower.php


Thank you kindly to all the volunteers that participated in this project!!! Many individuals and groups participated including TRAL, Sonoran Desert Botanical Research, Arizona Game and Fish, AZLCA, AZ Krawlers, Arizona Trail, Hike Arizona.com AZ 4 Wheelers, Cooperstate Cruisers, AZTTORA, Offroad Passport, APCA, VOAZ, AZ Classic Bronco, AZTLCA, Arizona Outdoor Heathens, Arizona Landcruiser, Boeing, and Honeywell 4 wheelers.



Link here to Enjoy the photos!

[dzJeepChic]

I got a follow-up email from the Tonto Ranger District:

Dear Sunflower Sandbag Project Volunteers,

The sandbags are holding…

Volunteer Sandbag Project Update - Sunflower Admin Facility
On June 16 and 17, 2012 more than 150 volunteers helped place more than 10,000 sandbags at the Tonto National Forest, Sunflower Administrative Facility located within the Sunflower Burn area to protect historic structures from flooding. Since then the peak water flow to date in the Sunflower area was approximately 8,000cfs. There was a steady flow of black water (ash) for a while after the first storm. The concrete barriers that lined Sycamore Creek adjacent to the Sunflower Administrative Site were knocked over. There has been no major water flow near the house or generator area due to barriers and topography. The barn received quite a few feet of water external to the structure which just about topped the sandbags. There was no flooding inside the barn so the sand bag flood-proofing has held up so far! We will likely need to do some follow up work to maintain the flood control structures in the future. Thanks so much to the volunteers that participated in this project!
To see photos of after flood event visit: http://www.mrdvolunteers.org/sunflower.html Then click “photos for 8/17/12… HERE”
To track water flow in the Sunflower Burn Area: http://156.42.96.39/alert/Google/sunflowerfire.htmlv


I think that's awesome!