The Bureau of Land Management Las Cruces District is preparing to implement three prescribed burns across Doña Ana, Otero, and Sierra Counties. Scott Brocato talked with Bill Wight, Public Affairs Officer with the BLM, about where and when the prescribed burns will occur.
Scott Brocato:
First, explain prescribed burns and their objectives.
Bill Wight:
Well, fire is a natural part of the forest life cycle. It plays a vital role in maintaining certain ecosystems. It helps clear out dead matter into ash, and that releases the nutrients, such as calcium and potassium back into the soil.
Every region in the country has fire-dependent plants or trees that have adapted to withstand natural fires. And you know, some ecosystems are dependent on fire to actually reduce the forest canopy and cultivate the forest floor. With natural fires, they burn at intervals that are appropriate to their ecosystem, so they consume the litter and the ground vegetation like the dead wood and the dead grasses. And so this basically facilitates the forest's rebirth, if you will, and that helps maintain these native plant species that are really unique here in the Chihuahuan Desert.
But prescribed burns are carefully planned, and they're led by a team of experts with specific goals and limits in mind. And it's one of the most effective tools that we have to actually help reduce the risk of catastrophic damage from wildfires on our lands and surrounding communities. And so what we do is basically, it's like a prescription. That's why we call it “prescribed” burns: it's a prescription for the land.
And so we'll go in and do hand ignition. We'll ignite it by hand and monitor it. And these are basically, we're reducing all those hazardous fuels. And particularly here in southern New Mexico, we're basically reducing the buildup that is accumulated over the years. And basically, we're disrupting and creating what's called firebreaks. And so that will actually assist in case there is a big wildfire, which we're prone to have here in New Mexico. And so a lot of the land management agencies, such as BLM, they recognize these evolving risks. And they're increasing, trying to instigate these prescribed fires into their long planning efforts. And so basically it's going to protect the community and the landscape.
Scott Brocato:
What is the process of the prescribed burn?
Bill Wight:
Well, the prescribed burn is, you have a group of about 20 to 30 firefighters that are going to--and we're now partnering with Fort Bliss Army and Holloman Air Force Base as well, their fire crews--to monitor the fire. The team meets up, they have a safety briefing, they walkout on across the land that's going to be ignited in teams, and then they take their little hand torches and start lighting it and walking back and monitoring the fire as it's moving forward. And of course, they have their left and right boundaries that they monitor as well.
We have fire engines out there because most of the fuel is consumed during this initial burn, because these are dry grasslands, so they're going to go up really quick and burn really fast. It's almost like a rapid burn when you're striking the match, you know, and trying to light the tinder. But we're going to have our fire engines, they remain on the site there to monitor it even after the fire is burned down to a certain point. And they'll monitor it to make sure it doesn't flare back up. And so you're going to see a lot of smoke. We have more smoke than we actually have fire, believe it or not, because the rains have helped us tremendously this last couple of days, and that's actually helped allow us to do the prescribed burn.
The team actually does monitor the area because they may call off the prescribed burn an hour before it’s scheduled due to a variety of different factors.
Scott Brocato:
Winds?
Bill Wight:
It could be winds, predominantly. These Santa Ana winds that we get here in the Las Cruces are not to be trifled with, believe it or not. So that is why they always monitor the weather, they monitor air quality, and all the other contributing factors before they say go.
Scott Brocato:
Let's break down the three counties (scheduled for prescribed burns), starting with Otero County. When will that take place and what areas?
Bill Wight:
Well, the event in Otero County is on Centennial Bombing Range, and this is up on near what we call McGregor Range, and we're looking about 5,400 acres of grassland. It's going to be targeted around the 9th and 10th of March. And that's located, for people that would like to know, is really about 20 miles northeast of Oro Grande. And so you're going to see smoke as you're driving along Highway 54, and it'll be visible. But it's not going to impact the highway. We just want everyone to proceed with caution when you're driving through this area. And you'll see lingering smoke even for a couple of days after the actual burn.
Scott Brocato:
And Sierra County?
Bill Wight:
Now, Sierra County is going to be on Red Rio Bombing Range on the White Sands Missile Range, and that's about 18 miles west of Carrizozo. And we're looking at about1,500 acres of grassland. And that's going to be targeted for hand ignition around the 11th of March. And once again, if you're driving along Highway 380 and Highway 54, you will see smoke visible, but it's not going to impact the highway.
Scott Brocato:
And finally, Dona Ana County.
Bill Wight:
Now, Dona Ana County is a unique little animal here. You know, everyone loves Dripping Springs Natural Area, but we have that big grassland that grows in the middle of the monument, and so it gets a little high. And those are the nice peak grasses that when they're green, the mule deer and the animals come down and eat it, but once it turns dry and dries out, it's not a food source for them, so it becomes more of a fire hazard.
So we've got about 50 acres of grassland up there at Dripping Springs. We're going to target on March the 12th.We're actually going to close portions of the trails. We're going to close Crawford Trail and also the Dripping Springs Trail that leads out to the historic Van Patten Mountain Camp. and we're going to close that to the public the whole day of the burn. The La Cueva Trail will still be open. The visitor center will still be open. You can still come up and see the monument, but check in with our hosts at the visitor center site before you go hiking.
Scott Brocato:
What special precautions should residents take, if any, of those areas during the burns?
Bill Wight:
Well, obviously you kind of want to avoid the area, number one. And don't be alarmed if you see smoke in the sky. You know, the mountain's not on fire. If you see the smoke here in Las Cruces--we really want people to be mindful of the fact there is going to be smoke. And there are risks there involved of people who have smoke inhalation issues. And so we always tell people to monitor the New Mexico Environment Department Air Quality Bureau. And that's basically, you can find anything you want about fires. It's very unique here in New Mexico: a webpage, and you'll see the press releases throughout the entire state. What we talked about will be listed there as well. You'll have links to show you a map, interactive map of how fires, wherever they are in the state, and that's nmfireinfo.com. It's a great website run by the state.
