AZ FIRE SEASON COMES IN A RUSH

posted by Michael Chihak

Active wildfires this week in Arizona have consumed more than 22,000 acres of grasslands and forest, and officials across numerous agencies are worried that it will get much worse.

An early prediction that this will be a quieter season than last year -- which included Arizona's biggest ever wildfire, the 540,000-acre Wallow Fire in the White Mountains -- has yet to be proven or disproven.

But of course more than 1,200 firefighters are on the lines, land managers are taking steps to minimize human-caused fires and researchers are quietly wringing their hands over whether we've learned from our past land and forest management policy mistakes and whether it matters at all because of climate change.

We'll give it all an aring on Friday's Arizona Week, with these interviews:

-- Heidi Schewel, information officer for the Coronado National Forest.

-- Don Falk, a professor in the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and the Environment. His research focuses on fire history and fire ecology.

-- Gene Beaudoin, Tucson District forester with the Arizona Department of Forestry. The department has just imposed fire restrictions on all state lands, including state parks.

-- Shaun McKinnon, environmental reporter for the Arizona Republic. He has covered Arizona wildfires for several years, including the record breaking fires of last year.

Plus an update on the latest wildfires in the state.