Western Outdoor Times - Times Spent Outdoors: Priceless!

PHOENIX—February 28, 2019—The USDA Forest Service will temporarily closure Granite Reefon the Lower Salt River, for two days next week, to remove Giant Reed and Salt Cedar near the banks of the recreation area. The parking lot will be closed to allow workers with chain saws to cut vegetation and load it into trailers to remove it from the area.

Work is being done during the week to limit the inconvenience to our recreating public. The work will open up the area for fishing and watercraft users, as well as reduce the spread of this invasive reed. There is a small gravel lot, north of Granite Reef, commonly called Tubers Landing, where vehicles can park to access the Salt River during the project.

The mission of the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world. Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13 billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those same lands provide 30 percent of the nation’s surface drinking water to cities and rural communities and approximately 66 million Americans rely on drinking water that originated from the National Forest System. The agency also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.)