Santa Josefa (Aurora) Airstrip

The closure was due to economic reasons tied directly to the decline of the logging industry in the region. The airstrip was primarily built and maintained by and for logging companies, most notably the Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines (PICOP). As PICOP faced severe financial decline and eventual collapse, and as the government imposed stricter forestry regulations, the large-scale logging operations that necessitated the airstrip were shut down. Without its primary user, the airstrip lost its purpose and was no longer financially viable to maintain.

The site is completely defunct as an airfield. High-resolution satellite imagery of the coordinates shows a clearly defined but dilapidated runway. The strip is heavily overgrown with grass and other vegetation, and parts of the former runway and surrounding areas have been converted into agricultural land, most likely for palm oil plantations or other local crops. There is no remaining aviation infrastructure, and the land has been fully repurposed for agriculture.

The Santa Josefa (Aurora) Airstrip was a private, utilitarian airfield with no history of public commercial passenger service. Its significance was purely logistical for the dominant industry in Agusan del Sur during the latter half of the 20th century: logging. It served as a vital link for transporting company executives, critical personnel, high-value spare parts for heavy machinery, and for performing emergency medical evacuations from remote forest concessions. It was an essential tool for the corporate operations that shaped the economy of Santa Josefa and the surrounding areas for decades.

There are no known or published plans, discussions, or prospects for reopening the Santa Josefa Airstrip. Its original economic driver (large-scale logging) no longer exists in the area. The region's transportation needs are served by the national road network and larger, established regional airports such as Butuan Airport (BXU). Given its remote location, private origins, and the complete degradation of the runway, any effort to reopen it would require a total reconstruction and a new, compelling economic justification, neither of which is apparent.