New Mexico Burning by Caren Cowan, Publisher New Mexico Stockman & Livestock Market Digest
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y the time this article appears, the numbers will have gone up, but as we approach Memorial Day Weekend, New Mexico is burning and for areas not yet on fire, we are a tinderbox. There are a dozen fires now burring across New Mexico. The worst of the fires is the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire that has burned over 312,000 acres, and has become the largest fire in the state’s history. The fire is still burning with less than half containment and high winds forecast. While there are no firm numbers, it is estimated that over 1,300 homes have burned. Some evacuees have been in shelters for a month or more. Before the Hermit’s Peak Fire, drought was compromising the water supply for rural communities like Las Vegas, New Mexico. In the aftermath of the fire, will Las Vegas have any water supply? The Hermit’s Peak/ Calf Canyon Fire started as individual fires that have burned together. The US Forest Service (USFS) started as a controlled burn with a target of 200 acres. Already there are admissions that the decision to start that fire given the current conditions was a mistake. The USFS has just admitted that the Calf Creek Fire started from a pile the agency started on fire last winter. It was never put out and flared up. Prescribed burns are an important tool for forest management when logging isn’t allowed. It is particularly important in light of a long history of fire suppression. Unfortunately histor y shows that poor decision-making on the part of USFS has s c ar re d N ew M e x ico. H ere are some examples. In 2000 the Cerro Grande Fire that burned much of Los Alamos was started with an ill-timed controlled burn. That fire took in some 43,000 acres and burned over 400 homes in Las Alamos. While the fire was kept from the nuclear storage, the estimated total damage of the fire was $1 billion according to internet reports. The White Water/Baldy Fire that burned through western New Mexico and eastern Arizona in 2012 was a “one-tree” fire that was allowed to burn, eventually scorching 297,845 acres. That fire started on May 9 and JUNE 2022
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