Prescribed fire planned on Santa Fe National Forest

The Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) plans to implement a prescribed burn (debris piles) on the Cuba Ranger District starting as early as Wednesday, Feb. 15. The Deer Lake project is approximately 110 acres and is adjacent to NM Highway-126 east of Cuba between mile-markers 7 and 9.5.

Recent snowfall in the burn area provides conditions that help limit fire from spreading to adjacent vegetation. Burning will be spaced out during the month of February when conditions are favorable. Upon completion of burning operations, the burned piles will be monitored throughout the winter. Every precaution will be taken to ensure the burned piles are out before the arrival of traditional spring wind and warming trends.

“During a lengthy pause in our burning operations, we worked through the actions outlined by the Chief of the Forest Service Randy Moore in the USDA Forest Service National Prescribed Fire Review. These actions gave our fire managers and line officers improved processes such as ensuring prescribed fire plans are validated and up to date with the most recent science and modeling, to move forward in completing important hazardous fuels reduction work to help protect watersheds, infrastructure, and communities,” says Cuba District Ranger Patrick Petracca.

“The community has every right to feel hesitant about the resumption of prescribed burning in the Forest. Public trust is vital to our ability to implement prescribed fires and provide defensive zones around our communities. We are moving forward thoughtfully to demonstrate our abilities to use fire successfully as a tool on the landscape, ” Petracca said.

The Deer Lake project is just one of the many projects within the Rio Chama Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project, which spans 3.8 million acres in New Mexico and Colorado to improve and maintain water quality and watershed function and restore natural fire regimes using prescribed fire, among other goals.

Burning these piles is one step in a series of actions to reduce the risks of wildfires from threatening our communities. The trees in these areas were thinned to remove ladder fuels and help prevent crown fires. The resulting piles are being burned to remove the fuel from the ground, further reducing the risk of wildfires from spreading as well as making it easier for suppression crews to work should a wildfire occur in the area.

Smoke from burning the piles may be visible from US-550, NM-96, NM-126, NM-197, and from the communities of Cuba, La Jara and Torreon. Minimal smoke is expected to impact NM-126 and FSR-70. Appropriate signage will be used to alert motorists in areas impacted by smoke.

The SFNF manages all prescribed fires in compliance with New Mexico state regulations on air quality and smoke management. Smoke-sensitive individuals and people with respiratory problems or heart disease are encouraged to take precautionary measures. Information on air quality and protecting your health by using the 5-3-1 visibility method can be found online at the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) website. People with health concerns can also call NMDOH at 505-827-0006 for additional information. Visit Fire Adapted NM for information on the HEPA filter loan program.

Stay up to date on burning activities via the SFNF website and following the forest on Facebook and Twitter.