The consultant is tasked with conducting a comprehensive review of the potential for passenger rail utilizing area trackage of the Arizona Eastern Railway. This Report represents the findings of the project, including the railroad operating costs obtained from Arizona Eastern Railway in Chapter 2 and a summary of Excursion Rail operation best practices in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 presents an estimate of transit demand, together with the findings of a sketch estimate of potential excursion rail ridership and characteristics of the Arizona tourism market, Chapter 5 presents draft rail service scenarios including a proposed operating season, a fare structure, and a set of timetables for different route configurations. Chapter 6 presents draft operating pro-formas for the six candidate operating scenarios, together with the recommended scenario that resulted from the discussion that took place at the Stakeholder Workshop and the input provided to the consultant.

The Southern Gila County Community Wildfire Protection Plan was developed in response to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 for the at-risk communities and unincorporated areas in southern Gila County, Arizona, located south of the Rim Country CWPP area and the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. Public lands within the CWPP analysis area are administered by the US Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Gila District Office, Tucson Field Office; the Tonto National Forest; and the National Park Service Tonto National Monument.

The principal purpose of the Gila County Transportation Study is to identify the most critical transportation infrastructure needs within Gila County and recommend a program of improvement projects to address these needs. Transportation needs were grouped into the following elements: roadway, safety, pavement management, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and transportation finance.

Transportation excise tax money is statutorily restricted to street and highway purposes or transportation projects. Gila County demonstrated that it spent excise tax monies during calendar years 2009 through 2013 to address traffic safety and congestion issues and deteriorating road conditions. Also, in January 2014, the County completed the Gila County Transportation Study, which identified the most critical future transportation infrastructure needs and recommended projects to address those needs. We also determined that the County spent its excise tax monies solely for street and highway purposes or transportation projects as required by Arizona Revised Statutes §28-6392(B), and implemented all but one of our prior audit recommendations.

A series of small earth movements occurred along the slopes of State Route 87 at about mile marker 224 (between the Bush Highway and Route 188) throughout the winter of 2007‐2008, culminating with a landslide on Friday, 21 March 2008. This landslide buckled the southbound lanes, displaced the northbound lanes, and closed the highway for nearly a week. The mass movements occurred on slopes that were constructed with re‐vegetated, laid back slopes; soil nail walls; and rip rap‐lined channels. However, our reconnaissance mapping indicates that most, if not all, of the slope movements are located within a much larger, older landslide adjacent to, and cut by, SR‐87. No specific trigger for the landslides was immediately apparent, although a combination of factors (e.g., precipitation, groundwater levels, etc.) may have contributed to conditions for the slope failure. Headscarps of various types of landslides are present along both sides of the highway. Results from our preliminary investigation indicate that up to three other paleo‐landslides may be present in the immediate vicinity. The full extent and nature of these landslides are unknown and require further investigation to evaluate their potential to be reactivated and risk they pose to the highway.

Much of Arizona’s criminal justice system is organized and functions at the municipal and county level. Aggregating the data to describe system activity for the state as a whole can mask important differences in crime and criminal justice system activity at the local level. In this report, data available on law enforcement, court, probation, and corrections activity impacting each county are compiled to give county-based criminal justice policymakers and practitioners an overview of crime and criminal justice system activity in their county.