Blessed with high altitude and a finicky growing season, Northern Arizona is often criticized as a frustrating place to grow food. In spite of these challenges, the City of Flagstaff and Flagstaff Foodlink are proud to celebrate the overwhelming success of the 2011 growing season. In just two community gardens, over 160 community gardeners raised 6,600 pounds of food to help supplement not only their diets, but those of friends, family and the local community. In addition to getting to know … [Read more...] about Growing Food, Growing Community
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Region Embracing Renewables
In many ways, Northern Arizona – and Coconino County in particular – is poised to harvest great benefits from renewable energy potential that outpaces the potential in much of the rest of the country. But the first wave of utility-scale projects has met with some resistance – and it has sent local land use planners to the drawing board. Coconino County has a draft of its new renewable energy guidelines out for review in a document called “Energy Element,” available on the web. County planners … [Read more...] about Region Embracing Renewables
Flagstaff Sno-Park Proposing Sustainable Business
Two Flagstaff natives are working with the City of Flagstaff to open a snow-play park within the city limits. John Crowley and T.J. Dana promise a first-class tubing park that will offer activities for all ages – if they can get a lease agreement and approval from the city. Plans for Flagstaff Sno-Park include gentle slopes for youngsters and “ripping fast adrenaline pumping runs” for teenagers and adults. Dana and Crowley worked with the City of Flagstaff to determine the best location for … [Read more...] about Flagstaff Sno-Park Proposing Sustainable Business
Matt Ryan Testifying in Washington D.C.
Hoping to gain federal support to allow several Coconino County residents to retain property they’ve lived on for years, County District 3 Supervisor Matt Ryan testified before the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Friday morning. Supervisor Ryan urged members of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands to approve H.R. 1038. The resolution, introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar on March 11, 2011, would allow the U.S. Forest Service to transfer up to 3 acres of federal … [Read more...] about Matt Ryan Testifying in Washington D.C.
Uranium Mining Appeal for Mine Near Grand Canyon
Conservation groups and American Indian tribes today filed an appeal in the 9th Circuit Court challenging a lower court ruling that allowed a uranium mine near Grand Canyon National Park to re-open without updating decades-old environmental reviews. The Arizona 1 uranium mine is located near Kanab Creek immediately north of Grand Canyon National Park. In 2010, conservation groups and tribes sued the Bureau of Land Management for failing to modernize 23-year-old mining plans and environmental … [Read more...] about Uranium Mining Appeal for Mine Near Grand Canyon
NAU Researchers Study Evolutionary Fish Jumping
Research sometimes means looking for one thing and finding another. Such was the case when biology professor Alice Gibb and her research team at Northern Arizona University witnessed a small amphibious fish, the mangrove rivulus, jump with apparent skill and purpose out of a small net and back into the water. This was no random flop, like you might see from a trout that’s just been landed. The rivulus seemed to know what it was doing. They hadn’t expected to see that behavior, even from a … [Read more...] about NAU Researchers Study Evolutionary Fish Jumping
Volunteers Sought on National Public Lands Day
In celebration of National Public Lands Day and to encourage a shared sense of land stewardship, the Forest Service announces another “fee free day” Saturday, September 24, along with several volunteer events. Day use fees will be waived at all standard amenity fee sites operated by the Forest Service including the Red Rock Pass. This includes access to Palatki and Honanki Ruins, V Bar B Cultural Site and approximately 300 miles of multiple-use trails. National Public Lands Day … [Read more...] about Volunteers Sought on National Public Lands Day
Lack of Pre-Developed Land Thwarting Relocation
Businesses looking to relocate to Flagstaff cannot find developed land that adequately meets their needs. “We are seeing interests out of California. One of the challenges right out of the gate is that we don’t have enough pre-developed land for them,” said Rich Bowen, president and CEO of Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona (ECoNA). “We hear, ‘We want to come, but we need to move into a preexisting building.’ They don’t have the two years that it would take to build such a building – … [Read more...] about Lack of Pre-Developed Land Thwarting Relocation
Revolutionary Road for Rangelands
We often take the landscapes around us and those who manage them for granted. But as resources become scarcer, they become more valued. Hence, the growing interest in Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). PES offers financial incentives to farmers or landowners to manage their land to provide an ecological service. And it’s a topic important enough for the United Nations – in 2005, they commissioned the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which identified specific environmental services: crops, … [Read more...] about Revolutionary Road for Rangelands
Gosar Introducing Jobs Bill
U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, is introducing a jobs bill relating to the Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act. It is estimated that HR 1904 will create 1,000 direct jobs, 5,000 indirect jobs and provide an economic impact of over $800 million for Arizona yearly for the next 25-50 years. In a video statement Gosar said, “Today I introduced a bill that will create thousands of jobs in Arizona. After months of working together with the local community the state, businesses, leaders in … [Read more...] about Gosar Introducing Jobs Bill
