May | 2025

Monthly News & Updates from DFFM's Specialized Forestry Programs

This month's feature: the Arizona Forest Legacy Program

What is a Forest Legacy Conservation Easement?

Image: This 160-acre inholding within the Kaibab National Forest was protected in 2023 through the Forest Legacy Program. Surrounded by public land, this forested property helps preserve scenic views, wildlife habitat, and landscape connectivity in northern Arizona.

Arizona’s forests provide clean water, wildlife habitat, scenic beauty, and space for outdoor recreation. As these lands face increasing pressure from development and fragmentation, the Forest Legacy Program helps ensure they remain forests for future generations. Funded by the U.S. Forest Service, the Forest Legacy Program is implemented in Arizona by the Department of Forestry and Fire Management (DFFM). By working with willing landowners and local partners, this program supports voluntary, long-term land conservation.

A Forest Legacy conservation easement is a permanent, legal agreement that limits certain types of development on private land to protect its working forest values. Landowners retain ownership and can continue traditional uses such as ranching, timber harvest, forestry, or recreation, while ensuring the land’s natural values are protected forever.

Image: A working cattle operation on a potential Forest Legacy project site demonstrates how the program supports rural livelihoods and traditional land uses while conserving Arizona’s forest landscapes. Photo credited to A. Morin.

Arizona collaborates with counties, towns, and other public entities to secure and manage lands for long-term conservation purposes. These local governments are committed to long-term stewardship and see forest conservation as part of their broader community goals, ensuring meaningful and locally driven conservation. The Forest Legacy Program is about partnership—bringing together landowners, local leaders, and agencies to conserve the places that matter most. Together, we’re helping keep Arizona’s forests working, open, and healthy for future generations. Contact Matthew Jewell, DFFM’s Forest Legacy Program Manager, or visit our website.

Image: Local students participate in summer camp activities on a forested property that may soon be protected through the Forest Legacy Program, helping ensure continued public benefit and outdoor education for generations to come. Photo credited to N. O'Meara.

Resources, Reads and Engagement

Happening this Weekend!

DFFM Tree Measuring Workshop in Tucson, AZ

Arizona's Magnificent Tree Program recognizes those trees throughout our state that stand apart from the rest!

Join this workshop at the University of Arizona Campus Arboretum to learn about what it means when a tree is designated a Champion, Heritage, or Witness Tree. You will gain hands-on practice using professional forestry tools to measure tree height, canopy, and trunk circumference.

This workshop is open to the public and requires pre-registration as space is limited. You can register here.

What to bring: Be prepared for warm weather! Our learning space is indoors, but we will move outside to walk around and measure trees that are part of the Campus Arboretum. Please bring water, comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and anything else you might need to remain comfortable during the hands-on portion of the morning.

See flyer for further details!

View Flyer and Register Here

Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week is May 18-25, 2025

Protect the places you love! Emerald Ash Borer has not been found in Arizona, but has been identified in the neighboring state of Colorado. Check out this webinar series to stay informed on this invasive insect spreading westward, including effective communication framing for social media.

Check out and Register for the Webinar Series

Image: A tamarisk leaf beetle in the larva stage.

2024 Tamarisk Beetle Map

The tamarisk beetle (Diorhabda spp.) is a biological control agent introduced in 2001 to target invasive tamarisk (Tamarix spp.).

RiversEdge West has published a Tamarisk Beetle Map each year since 2007 with beetle presence and absence data submitted by observers across the southwestern US and Mexico. In 2024, they received 199 observations of tamarisk beetles and 63 absence observations. Observations were submitted by partners in 7 states plus Mexico. Check out the map and learn more using the button below.

View the Beetle Map

AZ DFFM 2024 Wildland Fire Report

Each year, AZ DFFM produces a report on Wildland Fire Conditions and Information. This includes total fires, the number of acres burned, and a projected outlook for 2025.

New Guide Helps Communities Find Funding For Open Space

The Center for Creative Land Recycling and WRT, a team of urban planners and landscape architects, partnered to create a guide designed to address a lack of financial strategy and institutional capacity, the top concerns communities have when approaching park development. This guide includes tips, examples, helpful resources and case studies to inspire and propel your park, land reuse, and/or brownfield projects to completion.

Check out the Guide

Grants

DFFM Invasive Plant Grant - Funding for the prevention, control, and eradication of nonnative invasive plants in Arizona - Deadline: May 28, 2025

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Acres for America - Funding for projects in the United States that conserve important large-scale habitats for fish, wildlife, and plants through voluntary land acquisitions and perpetual conservation easements- Deadline: May 20, 2025 for pre-proposals

Events

May Webinars and Classes

May 8: The Future of Tree Inventories: AI, LiDAR and Smart Urban Forest Management - learn about the practical applications and implementation challenges of new technologies advancing municipal tree management.

May 14: Soil Solutions for Water Scarcity - Hear from successful ranchers and scientists about practical strategies to improve soil health and what that means for drought resilience, profitability, and the health of working lands and watersheds.

May 15: Building a Wildfire-Resilient Future: Markets, Biomass, and Partnerships Webinar Join experts from ASU, 4FRI initiative in Arizona, and leading wildfire programs as they explore how public-private partnerships and emerging biomass markets can support forest restoration, climate resilience, and rural development.

May 19: Impacts and Management of Emerald Ash Borer Learn about how this invasive pest has changed forests across the nation, and the management options to mitigate the impact and preserve ash species.

May 23: ACTC Spanish Course: Proper Tree Care for Tree Workers and Municipal Workers Participants will learn the essentials of the proper tree care for the trees that make up the community's green infrastructure -Nogales, AZ

Save the date: August 5-7, 2025 Invasive Plant Short Course for land managers in the southwest - Sante Fe, NM

Upcoming Conferences:

May 9: Desert Horticulture Conference - Tucson, AZ

May 20 - 21: Shared Borders, Shared Water: Working Together in Times of Scarcity - Tucson, AZ

Save the date: August 15th - Southwest Horticulture Annual Day of Education - SHADE Conference - Glendale, AZ

Community Events:

May 8: Phoenix Heroes: Giving Trees A Voice, Film Premiere shares stories and firsthand accounts from community members impacted by the Community Canopy Grant Program in Phoenix - Phoenix, AZ

Weekly on Saturdays: Nature Play for kids at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum - Superior, AZ

May 10: DFFM Magnificent Tree Measuring Workshop invites tree lovers to learn how to measure trees so that they can nominate the magnificent trees in their communities! - Tucson, AZ