About Us

  • About the Friends of the Kaibab Squirrel

    The Friends of the Kaibab Squirrel organization came about because of the passion and concern for the squirrel demonstrated by William D. "Bill" Hurst.

    Bill Hurst has long admired and has long been concerned about the Kaibab Squirrel. A native of southern Utah, Bill first encountered the squirrel on a visit to the Kaibab Plateau as a young man. During his professional career with the U.S. Forest Service, most of which was spent in the Intermountain and Southwestern Regions, Bill kept abreast of the policies, practices and events that affected the squirrel and its habitat. Bill's final position with the Forest Service was Regional Forester of the Southwestern Region, where the Kaibab Plateau is located, serving from 1966 to 1976. This position allowed him to exert enough influence concerning the squirrel's habitat needs and predator impacts to be reasonably assured that its needs were being met.

    In recent years however, he feels the situation has changed for the worse. Bill believes that the Kaibab Squirrel population is declining and may not survive in the long run if specific habitat requirements are not maintained and if predation both natural and human caused is not held in check. Now, nearing his 100th year, Bill is still active and alert and concerned for the squirrel.

    To assure that Bill is not alone in this effort, some of his friends joined together to form Friends of the Kaibab Squirrel. We hope to continue the work and legacy of Bill Hurst. We hope the Friends of the Kaibab Squirrel will become a group that will carry on with the work Bill has performed in behalf of the Kaibab Squirrel long after he is gone - to support and encourage those organizations responsible for the squirrel to actively redeem their responsibilities in the squirrel's behalf.

    As an organization, the Friends of the Kaibab Squirrel represents a membership that is interested in the squirrel's long term survival. FKS intends to be supportive of those Federal and State agencies that are responsible for the squirrel and its habitat and to encourage them to be pro-active in redeeming those responsibilities on behalf of the squirrel. FKS has no intention of being a "pressure group" but rather a partner with the responsible agencies to assure that management decisions properly consider habitat requirements of the Kaibab Squirrel and provide for positive population trends. FKS also wishes to be partners in this effort with other groups and organizations with similar interests.

    Click here to find out more about joining.

  • Board of Directors

    Stan Tixier
    Laurence Whelan
    Dale Jones
    Hiram "Doc" Smith
    Robert Hughes, Corporate Counsel

  • Contact Us

    If you have questions about our organization, please email us at webmaster@kaibabsquirrel.org.