The Four Forest Restoration Initiative, better known as 4FRI, just got a whole lot bigger with the signing of the 4FRI Charter by members of the Natural Resource Working Group. The official signing took place at the NRWG meeting on Aug. 18 at the Navajo County Show Low Complex.

NRWG started initially in 1975 and has evolved over the years to include such groups as the counties of Apache and Navajo, Eastern Arizona Counties Organization, Show Low, Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona State Land Department, Arizona Forester, Nature Conservancy and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, among many others.

Pascal Berlioux, president of the Eastern Arizona Counties Organization and co-chair of 4FRI, said the stakeholders at the July meeting were happy and grateful not only that NRWG was joining but that they were willing to do the work involved.

NRWG Chairman Jason Whiting said that despite an initial hesitancy about being accepted, the 4FRI stakeholders had been welcoming.

Members of NRWG have volunteered to be on the 4FRI steering committee, the charter revision workgroup and the second Environmental Impact Statement planning and implementation.

From The White Mountain Independent: https://www.wmicentral.com/news/apache_county/natural-resource-working-group-joins-fri/article_7f76e6dc-4d21-11e5-990f-ebd3d3a1b64e.html