Wildfire Wednesdays #117: Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program

Happy Wednesday, Fireshed folks.

The Southwest’s delicate ecological balance is increasingly disrupted by the devastating force of high severity wildfires, wreaking havoc on landscapes, homes, and lives. In recent years, the frequency, intensity, and impact of wildfires have grown, highlighting the urgent need to implement effective mitigation strategies. The Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) Program was introduced in 2022 as a tool to assist communities across the US grappling with a growing threat. This innovative initiative is about more than funding; it represents a united desire, from Washington D.C. to our own backdoors, to create and bolster resilience against the fires that threaten our homes and environment. In this week’s Wildfire Wednesday, we delve into the basics of the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program, exploring its significance, objectives, and the transformative impact it aims to have on wildfire management.

Today’s Wildfire Wednesday features:

• An introduction to CWDG

• Round 1 awards and insights

• Application tools & data

• Round 2 announcement

• Upcoming opportunities

-Alyssa

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What is the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program?

An overview

The Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) Program is a comprehensive approach to building community, ecological, and structural resilience and preparedness in the face of wildfires. Administered by the USDA Forest Service, this program stems from the recognition that safeguarding communities against wildfires requires a multifaceted strategy. It aims to empower local communities, organizations, and agencies to forge partnerships that foster cooperation and shared expertise in order to create and implement wildfire protection plans.

The primary objectives of CWDG are twofold: to enhance community preparedness and to mitigate wildfire risks. This is achieved through a range of focus areas that address different aspects of wildfire defense:

1. Community Engagement: The program encourages active participation from residents, local authorities, and fire departments. By fostering a culture of collective responsibility, communities are better equipped to identify vulnerabilities and devise strategies for prevention, early detection, and evacuation.

2. Fuels Reduction: One pivotal component of wildfire management is reducing the amount of flammable material that can serve as fuel for fires in both urban and rural areas. The grant program supports projects such as vegetation management, thinning, controlled burns, and creating defensible spaces around homes and critical infrastructure.

3. Education and Outreach: Knowledge and a shared understanding of needs and objectives are the cornerstone of an effective wildfire defense. CWDG prioritizes educating communities about fire-safe practices, evacuation procedures, and the science of wildfires. Public awareness campaigns and workshops play a pivotal role in creating informed and prepared communities.

The CWDG initiative heralds a transformative shift in wildfire management. It nurtures collaboration among diverse stakeholders, blending traditional wisdom with current technological and scientific advancements. By focusing on both immediate action and long-term resilience, the program fosters a sense of ownership, ensuring that communities are not just recipients of assistance, but active participants in their own safety. 

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Round 1: Autumn 2022

Awards and Insights

In a significant stride towards bolstering community wildfire resilience, the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program's inaugural funding round has yielded promising outcomes. A total of 100 projects have been approved for funding, with an impressive allocation of $197 million dedicated to these initiatives. The program's wide reach is evident, as it spans across 22 states and extends support to 7 tribes, fostering a collaborative approach to wildfire mitigation. Notably, within this diverse landscape of projects, New Mexico stood out with five applicants successfully securing funding. These projects include:

1. Colfax Collaborative Wildland Urban Interface Project ($8.8 million)

2. Flying Horse Ranch Fuel Break Project ($1.8 million)

3. Exercise and Project Implementation of Community Wildfire Protection Plan ($235k)

4. Sandoval CWPP Update ($63k)

5. Community Wildfire Mitigation in the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed ($1.3 million)

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Application tools & data

Assistance evaluating risk for Round 2 applicants

"Wildfire Risk to Communities" is a user-friendly website developed by the USDA Forest Service to aid communities in comprehending and decreasing their vulnerability to wildfires. This platform, established at the directive of Congress, offers interactive maps, charts, and resources to support informed decision-making. Utilizing the most up-to-date research insights, the website identifies and assesses wildfire vulnerability, equipping communities with the necessary tools to manage and mitigate these risks. The data used in the project is drawn from consistent sources like LANDFIRE for vegetation and fuels, the National Weather Service for weather information, and the U.S. Census Bureau for community data. Notably, wildfires and significant disturbances that happened after 2014 are not yet included in the data.

The website is primarily designed for community leaders such as elected officials, planners, and fire managers. It provides a broad perspective on risk across regions, states, and counties. While accessible for exploration online, the data can also be downloaded as GIS raster layers which enables more in-depth and personalized analysis. The website is intended to be used to compare risk among communities rather than within them and is not suitable for evaluating risk at the local, neighborhood, or individual home level.

An important feature is the CWDG tool, which allows users to specify a specific region or community and generate eligibility criteria data for their CWDG application. Applicants can cut and paste the risk information directly from the Wildfire Risk to Communities site into their application, increasing their likelihood to be selected for Round 2 funding by increasing their alignment with the application terms.

Workshop tips for applicants - recording available

In July 2023, FACNM and the New Mexico EMNRD Forestry Division held a series of workshops to assist potential Round 2 applicants with their proposals. Topics included:

• Lessons Learned from Round 1

• CWDG Process Updates

• EMNRD Forestry Division Compliance, Procedures and Resources

• Cycle 2 Application Review

A recording of one such workshop, held in Santa Fe, is available for viewing on the FACNM Facebook page.

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Round 2: Summer 2023

Request for Proposals now open

The second round of CWDG Program funding is open for applications until October 31, 2023!

Eligible entities include local governments in wildfire-prone areas, Tribes, non-profit organizations, state forestry agencies, and Alaska Native Corporations. There are two proposal categories: 1) Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Development/Revision, and 2) CWPP project implementation. Priority will be given to applications representing high-risk areas, low-income communities, and those impacted by recent disasters. Funding limits range from $250,000 to $10 million per project, with potential for up to $250 million in total funding. Funds matching is required, with waivers available for specific cases.

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Upcoming Opportunities

Webinars

• 10 August at 12pm MDT: Monitoring and Removal of Invasive Grasses for Restoration of Dry Desert Systems.
  In this webinar, a panel of scientists and practitioners will discuss a number of management techniques and research questions being utilized or tested in an effort to reduce the presence of introduced grasses and restore the historic fire regime in dry desert systems such as the Sonoran. This information can be used to improve current practices and help develop new approaches to slow the invasive grass-fire cycle in the southwestern US.

Conferences

• 4-8 December 2023: 10th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress
  Hosted by the Association for Fire Ecology in Monterey, CA, this event will include workshops, field trips, and three full days of presentations, discussion groups, and networking opportunities around the theme Igniting Connections: Celebrating our fire family across generations, cultures, and disciplines.

Wildfire Wednesdays #116: Seed Funding for Community Fire Preparedness

Happy Wednesday, GSFFC community!

Whether you’re a FACNM Leader, a seasoned FireWise community member, or are just learning about what it means to be fire adapted, figuring out where to start on the journey to community wildfire preparedness can feel pretty daunting. From the risk assessments to community organization to funding, there are a lot of details to work out.

In spring of 2023, FACNM began offering seed funding to FACNM Leaders and Members through a novel Microgrant Program. Individuals or Organizations could apply for up to $2,000 to buoy their community fire preparedness efforts - convening educational gatherings, enabling on-the-ground risk mitigation work, developing grant proposals to secure long-term funding, and more. In total, five applicants were chosen as award recipients and carried out a wide range of events, all of which aid in the development of Fire Adapted Communities.

Applications for a second round of funding for the FACNM Microgrant Program will be opening soon! To apply, ensure you are a registered FACNM Leader (click here to learn more) and visit the Microgrant webpage in mid-August to fill out the application form.

Today’s Wildfire Wednesday features:

• Reports from the field: FACNM Microgrant success stories

• Upcoming opportunities

Be well and stay cool,
Rachel

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Reports from the Field: FACNM Microgrant Success Stories

Hazardous fuels removal - hauling and chipping:
The Overlook Homes Association and La Barbaria Canyon

In May, nineteen residents from The Overlook Homes Association and La Barbaria Canyon participated in their first annual National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day. The event was jointly coordinated by Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition Ambassadors Ute Haker, Chris Schaum and Pam Ryan. Leading up to the Preparedness Day, community leaders engaged in educational outreach to other community members which focused on the concept of creating defensible space through vegetation removal, thinning, and home hardening.

The HOA received financial support from FACNM in the form of a Microgrant, as well as logistical support from Chris' Tree Service and the Forest Stewards Guild. Additional funding from Coalitions and Collaborative (COCO) AIM made it possible to offer residents, at no cost to them, both green slash disposal in a dumpster which was set on-site and slash chipping and hauling. The majority of material collected consisted of bagged needles, leaves and pinecones as well as ponderosa, pinion and juniper branches.

Participation between the two communities was evenly divided with a total of 4.25 tons of green waste collected over a period of 6 hours. All of the participants joined hands across the canyon in the true spirit of community to make this National Wildfire Preparedness Day a resounding success!   

Education and information exchange through in-person learning:
Wildfire Research Center (WiRē) and City of Santa Fe Fire

The City of Santa Fe Fire Department partnered with the Wildfire Research (WiRē) Center – a non-profit that works with wildfire practitioners across the western United States – to develop locally-tailored, evidence-based community wildfire education efforts so that communities can live with wildfire. Together, they conducted two data collection efforts: a rapid wildfire risk assessment of 965 residential properties, and a household survey sent to the owners of those same properties. The findings from this study are helping the City of Santa Fe Fire Department professionals better understand local wildfire risk and actions needed. These findings can also help residents know more about their property's risk and what actions they can take to reduce their risk.

WiRē Center was the recipient of a Fire Adapted Communities New Mexico (FACNM) Microgrant, which provided funding for space in which to hold in-person meetings with the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition and members of the Fireshed Ambassadors Program. In-person meetings enable more meaningful conversations among our collaborators, which leads to deeper understanding of the results of our project and how the data can be leveraged to inform programmatic improvements and more effective use of local resources. In the meetings supported by FACNM, WiRē presented on the results of our data collection efforts in Santa Fe to the Fireshed Coalition and its Fireshed Ambassadors tasked with public engagement, providing actionable information about wildfire mitigation.

These meetings were a catalyst for potential future projects. As a direct result of meeting with the Fireshed Coalition, they are considering a path toward a Fireshed-wide WiRē project. Some Fireshed Ambassadors expressed surprise at WiRē’s survey results and stated that those would inform how they interact with neighbors in the future. FACNM’s Microgrant support enabled the City to build momentum and generate ideas for how these data can be used to support wildfire adaptation in Santa Fe.

WUI fuels reduction demonstrations:
High Desert HOA - Fire Preparedness Committee

The Fire Preparedness (FP) Committee of the High Desert Residential Owners Association (HDROA) in Albuquerque, NM sponsored an education event through a unique and family-friendly hazardous fuel thinning demonstration in a communal arroyo comparing “goatscaping” with manual vegetation removal by landscapers. The goal of the project was to show how appropriate fuel reduction can be done to alter the path of a wildfire in a dense arroyo to protect homes. In 2018, the community experienced a 7-acre arroyo wildfire that engulfed everything in its path stopping only at residential property walls. Ten homes were damaged. The question was when, not if, we have another fire, how can the fire be directed to meet its combustion needs by protecting defensible spaces around homes and creating combustion sources away from homes.

High Desert received a Microgrant from FACNM with three goals in mind:
1. Secure approval from the City of Albuquerque to thin understory fuels in a 3-acre portion of the City Park.
2. Arrange an 8-hour period of goat and sheep grazing in a portion of the 3-acres, followed by 8 hours of manual fuel removal on another day for comparison.
3. Organize and publicize an educational event in the City’s Park with fire personnel and related environmental agencies for the High Desert residents that would allow direct interaction of the public with the animals and members of the FP Committee to explain the demonstration.

Approximately, two dozen community members attended the educational event. Officers of the HOA, ABQ Fire Rescue (AFR) Wildland Fire, FACNM, and ABQ Water Authority manned information tables and were on-site to answer questions. Lessons learned for both community members who attended the event and FP Committee Members included:

• Goats do a great job of reducing fire risk where there are fine fuels like grasses, but do not change the fire behavior potential in arroyos dominated by shrubs and woody plants.

• The paramount focus for fire preparedness of homes near arroyos needs to be fire hardening of the home within 0-6 feet of the exterior - in the Defensible Zone.

• The secondary effort needs to be on reducing fuel in the Intermediate zone (6-30 feet) between a structure and the arroyo.

• Into the Extended zone, 30-100 feet into the arroyos, reducing the available fuel and creating natural fuel breaks will change the fire behavior by slowing the movement of the fire and its intensity, thus also reducing embers.

Learn more about creating defensible space around your home in Wildfire Wednesdays #109 and #109B.

CWPP updates:
Cimarron Watershed Alliance, Inc.

The Cimarron Watershed Alliance, Inc. (CWA) is a collaborative watershed stakeholder nonprofit based in Colfax County, NM. CWA’s mission is “to strive for and maintain a healthy watershed for all residents through collaborative community activities involving all stakeholders with an interest in water”. 

In line with their mission, CWA led the effort to develop the first Colfax County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) in 2008 as well as the subsequent Update in 2022. In late 2022, members of CWA identified gaps in, and a subsequent need for updates to, the 2022 Colfax County CWPP, particularly in regard to pre-identifying fuels reduction projects.

In early 2023, CWA received a FACNM Microgrant to support this 2023 CWPP update effort in the form of two Colfax CWPP meetings in Cimarron and Eagle Nest.  The Microgrant provided food for the meetings as well as technical advisory support from the Forest Stewards Guild for the updates themselves.

Representatives from the County, state and federal agencies, local landowners and managers, municipalities, and NGOs were in attendance at both meetings. Attendees were able to share and discuss their high priority projects and projects that are on the properties they manage or that directly affect them.  They were also able to collaboratively discuss projects that were a high priority within the county, those that affected everyone. In the end, CWA was able to come away with a larger list of wildfire protection priorities and projects within the County.  

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Upcoming Opportunities

Webinars

• 10 August at 12pm MDT: Monitoring and Removal of Invasive Grasses for Restoration of Dry Desert Systems.
  In this webinar, a panel of scientists and practitioners will discuss a number of management techniques and research questions being utilized or tested in an effort to reduce the presence of introduced grasses and restore the historic fire regime in dry desert systems such as the Sonoran. This information can be used to improve current practices and help develop new approaches to slow the invasive grass-fire cycle in the southwestern US.

Conferences

• 15-17 April 2024: After The Flames in-person conference and workshop
  A first-of-its-kind Conference and Workshop devoted to post-fire recovery. Attendees will represent individuals, organizations, and agencies impacted by wildfire and responding to the post-fire impacts, as well as experts in the arena of post-fire recovery. Sign up for Coalitions & Collaboratives’ newsletter to stay up-to-date on conference details. 

Learning Exchange: Field Tours

• 26-28 September 2023: Stewardship in Action - A Tribe’s Nature-based Approach to Watershed Restoration
  The Natural Areas Association (NAA) is hosting a Stewardship in Action Field Workshop in Espanola, New Mexico on the lands of the Santa Clara Pueblo. It will highlight an innovative and iconic case study in public and private collaboration on sovereign tribal lands following a series of catastrophic wildfires. Learn more by visiting FACNM’s Events page.

Local Job Opportunities

• Luna Community College: Director of Wildfire Resiliency Training Center
  Wildfires are growing worse every year - both bigger and more frequent. To combat the devastation, we need more people with the skills and expertise to mitigate the dangers and implement recovery for lands, forests, water and communities. Luna Community College is opening a Wildfire Resiliency Training Center. Apply for the Wildfire Resiliency Training Center Director position by contacting Dr. Day at 505-454-5378 to discuss the Center and the position in greater detail.

Partner workshop opportunity: Stewardship in Action, Sept. 26-28, 2023

The Natural Areas Association (NAA) is hosting a Stewardship in Action Field Workshop in Espanola, New Mexico on the lands of the Santa Clara Pueblo, September 26 - 28, 2023. Rising from Ashes: A Tribe’s Nature-based Approach to Watershed Restoration will highlight an innovative and iconic case study in public and private collaboration on sovereign tribal lands following a series of catastrophic wildfires. By collaborating with federal agencies and other partners to incorporate indigenous knowledge and values into the recovery planning process, the Santa Clara Pueblo is working to achieve long-term, sustainable resiliency of the watershed. Learn more about the tribe’s journey. 

The purpose of this Stewardship in Action Field Workshop is to share what was learned by the Santa Clara Pueblo and their many partners and to engage land and water management practitioners from tribal nations, federal and state agencies, and nonprofit organizations from around the continent to exchange information and leverage success to benefit local communities. 

The agenda features both indoor presentations and field experiences. Sessions will explore:

• public and private collaboration on sovereign tribal lands,

• process-based restoration and watershed resilience,

• forestry and fire management,

• sediment stabilization,

• native plant restoration,

• indigenous knowledge,

• nature-based solutions, and

• preparing for future climate impacts by working together.

NAA’s field workshops are small by design to provide ample opportunity for peer-to-peer sharing. While the experience will be “priceless,” registration for this three-day workshop, including transportation to field sites, breakfast & lunch each day, a networking reception, and supplemental resources, is $329 per person. Visit the webpage to view the agenda and event details. Scholarships are available.

Participation is first come, first served - and capacity is limited. Interested participants should register or email mmcgintyklos@naturalareas.org to express interest and temporarily reserve a spot. 

Wildfire Wednesdays #115: Sources of up-to-date wildfire information

Howdy, Fireshed Folks:

The crackling of dry leaves underfoot echoes through the forest, accompanied by the distant rumble of thunder. The smell of smoke wafts on the breeze, a stark reminder of the potential danger lurking just beyond the trees…

In the face of wildfires, staying informed could mean the difference between escape and chaos. In this week’s Wildfire Wednesday, our newest blog contributor, Alyssa, will showcase how to stay up to date with the ever-changing wildfire landscape. From technology-driven solutions to the power of community engagement, we delve into the strategies and resources available to ensure that, in the face of uncertainty, we remain connected, informed, and prepared.

Today’s Wildfire Wednesday features:

•  Emergency Alerts

• NMFireInfo

• InciWeb

• Fire Restrictions map

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Emergency Alerts

The Alert Santa Fe notification system is a comprehensive communication system implemented in the city of Santa Fe, designed to quickly and effectively deliver important information to residents and visitors. It aims to enhance public safety and provide critical updates during emergencies, severe weather conditions, and other significant events. The system utilizes various communication channels to reach a wide audience, including mobile devices, landlines, email, social media platforms, and outdoor warning sirens.

The Alert Santa Fe system allows users to register their contact information, preferences, and geographic locations to receive tailored notifications based on their specific needs and interests. This customization ensures that individuals only receive relevant alerts pertaining to their area of interest or potential hazards. The system can issue alerts related to emergencies such as wildfires, floods, hazardous material incidents, and public health emergencies. It can also provide information about traffic disruptions, utility outages, and community events.

Through the mobile application or web portal, users can receive real-time alerts, view interactive maps with incident locations, and access additional resources and instructions during emergencies. The system leverages the latest technology to deliver notifications rapidly, ensuring that residents stay informed and can take appropriate actions to protect themselves and their loved ones.

NMFireInfo

The NMFireInfo website is a dedicated online platform that provides information about wildfires and other fire-related incidents in the state of New Mexico. It serves as a central hub for sharing up-to-date information, news updates, and resources related to fire incidents and fire management efforts.

Managed by various agencies and organizations involved in fire management, including federal, state, and local entities, the NMFireInfo website offers a comprehensive overview of fire incidents occurring within New Mexico. The website provides detailed information on the location of fires, fire size, containment status, and any evacuation notices or road closures in effect.

In addition to incident-specific updates, the website offers resources and educational materials to help residents and visitors understand fire prevention, preparedness, and safety. It provides guidelines on creating defensible space, fire restrictions, and other measures to mitigate the risk of wildfires.

The NMFireInfo website serves as an essential communication tool, allowing incident management teams to share information with the public, media outlets, and other stakeholders. By providing timely and accurate information, the website helps promote public safety and awareness during fire incidents.

InciWeb

InciWeb is an online incident information system that provides comprehensive and up-to-date information about wildfires, prescribed burns, and other incidents in the United States. It serves as a centralized platform for sharing incident-related data, including fire status, containment efforts, evacuation notices, and resource management.

Managed by the U.S. Forest Service, InciWeb offers a user-friendly interface where incident management teams, government agencies, and the public can access detailed information about ongoing incidents. The platform features incident-specific pages that contain maps, news updates, photos, videos, and other resources related to the incident.

InciWeb plays a vital role in facilitating communication and coordination among various agencies involved in incident response, including federal, state, tribal, and local organizations. It serves as a valuable tool for incident commanders to share situational awareness with stakeholders, media outlets, and the public, ensuring transparency and promoting safety.

By providing real-time information on fire behavior, containment strategies, road closures, and evacuations, InciWeb helps residents and visitors make informed decisions regarding their safety and well-being. It also serves as a repository of historical incident data, allowing researchers, analysts, and emergency management professionals to study and learn from past incidents.

Fire Restrictions map

The Southwest Area Fire Restrictions website is an online platform that provides information on fire restrictions and related regulations in the Southwest region of the United States. The website serves as a central resource for accessing up-to-date information about fire restrictions, closures, and other regulations implemented by federal, state, tribal, and local agencies.

Managed by fire management authorities in the Southwest Area, which includes states like Arizona, New Mexico, and portions of Texas and Oklahoma, the Fire Restrictions offers a user-friendly interface that allows visitors to access the latest information regarding fire restrictions in specific locations.

The website provides a comprehensive overview of current fire restrictions, including details about prohibited activities, such as campfires, outdoor burning, and the use of fireworks. It also highlights any specific regulations or closures in effect for national parks, forests, and other public lands.

Through interactive maps and search functionalities, users can navigate the website to find information relevant to their desired location. The dashboard includes additional resources, such as fire prevention tips, educational materials, and links to local fire management agencies for further guidance.

The Southwest Area Fire Restrictions website plays a crucial role in promoting fire safety and prevention by providing accurate and updated information to the public, recreational users, and land managers. It helps ensure compliance with fire restrictions, reduces the risk of human-caused wildfires, and supports the effective management of fire-prone areas in the Southwest.

Staying up to date on wildfire information empowers individuals and communities to take proactive measures, collaborate with authorities, and contribute to mitigating the devastating impacts of wildfires.

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Upcoming Events and Learning Opportunities

Workshops

July 17 and 21, 2023: Community Wildfire Defense Grant Workshops

NM EMNRD - Forestry Division will hold two workshops to help potential CWDG grant applicants review the lessons learned from the first cycle of this program and learn about changes to current processes. This workshop is intended to help strengthen applications in real time, whether applications submitted in the first round did not get funded or individuals are still thinking about submitting an application. Participants should bring their latest revision of their application for review or their project ideas which have not yet been fleshed out into an application so Forestry Division can provide direction and helpful tips for success. 
If you are unable to attend either of the in-person meetings and would like to have your application reviewed, you can reach out to Abigail Plecki, Community Wildfire Defense Grant Coordinator, and set up a time to meet virtually (505-231-3086 | abigail.plecki@emnrd.nm.gov).   

To join online on the 17th, click here.

To join online on the 21st, click here.

Webinars

July 25, 2023, 12:00-1:00pm: Increasing Post-Wildfire Planted Seedling Survival
Join the Southwest Fire Science Consortium as Chris Marsh with UNM’s Earth Systems Ecology Lab discusses how consideration of climate trends, microclimatic conditions, topography, and local vegetation influence planted seedling survival and can be used to guide reforestation planning in the Southwest.

Resources in the News

Following the East Coast’s inundation of wildfire smoke from blazes burning in Canada, National Public Radio (NPR) published an article on lessons from the West for dealing with wildfire smoke. While this may be old news to many, the refresher is always worthwhile.
Read it here.

Wildfire Wednesdays #114: The Importance of Returning Fire to the Landscape

Happy Wednesday, and happy official start of summer, FAC NM community!

Our last Wildfire Wednesday issue, #113, introduced the idea of building landscape resilience (ability to maintain ecological function after a disturbance) through large-scale collaborative land management projects. A common theme was that land managers use forestry treatments such as thinning and prescribed fire to support landscape resilience by creating a diversity of forest structures on the landscape. Local research has shown, time and again, that using targeted forest thinning followed by the intentional return of fire to treat an overly thick and unhealthy forest is the most effective combination for establishing landscape resilience in fire adapted ecosystems. Prescribed burning is a key element in guiding watersheds and forests to be more diverse in species, age, and spacing, and better prepared for wildfire, pests, disease, and other disturbances.

Today’s Wildfire Wednesday features:

• A review of the use of intentional fire

• Success stories in your backyard

• Upcoming events and announcements

Take care,

Rachel

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Use of Intentional Fire

A natural history

Many forests across North America but especially in the West “grew up” with fire. Over hundreds of thousands of years, as these landscapes formed, fire was present and endemic plants and animals evolved to be resilient to wildfire (or in some cases, to require it for their reproduction and survival). We refer to these ecotypes as fire adapted forests.

Communities of the Southwest have, in the past, been fire adapted as well. As we discussed in Wildfire Wednesdays #107, humans and our ancestors have been intentionally using fire for more than 400,000 years. Indigenous communities around the world have used fire in ceremony and management of hunting and plant cultivation, and Euro-American colonizer-settlers used fire to clear land around their communities. This use of fire, mimicking or working in tandem with naturally ignited wildfires, kept forests relatively thin and diverse with a mosaic of open meadows, thick groups of trees in drainages and other topographic features which acted as refugia, and less dense forest along slopes and ridgetops. Fire also maintained a diversity of tree ages and plants which grew under the forest canopy or along streams and rivers.

After a century of treating forests as a commodity which needed to be protected from “bad” fire, including demonizing and sometimes criminalizing indigenous and other traditional use of fire, folks across the West have begun to reevaluate this relationship. While farmers and ranchers more or less continually used fire to maintain their land, even when fire suppression was the national policy, it wasn’t until the late 1900s to early 2000s that we saw the reintroduction of fire to forested environments through prescribed and cultural burning. Ryan, Knapp, and Varner (2013) write:

“In North America, recognition of the ecological benefits of prescribed burning was slow in coming and varied geographically. Fuel accumulation and loss of upland game habitat occurred especially quickly in productive southern pine forests and woodlands and ecologists in the southeastern US promoted the use of fire in land management from early on. In spite of their convincing arguments, fire in the southeastern US (and elsewhere) was still frequently viewed as incompatible with timber production due to the potential for injury to mature trees and the inevitable loss of tree seedlings.”

Reclaiming our relationship to fire

Scientific, managerial, and, to an extent, public perception has shifted dramatically over the past 20+ years as we have come to understand what many before us inherently knew: that fire is an integral process for maintaining the integrity, stability and beauty of our biotic communities.

Figure adapted from Tenya et al., 2019

Burning small and burning often in a way which restores forest heterogeneity (diversity of species, age, and type) effectively reduces the density and connectivity of trees within forests and the prevalence of dense forests across landscape. This in turn reduces the severity of subsequent wildfires and makes them easier to manage.

An annual average of 6+ million acres are treated in the U.S. using prescribed fire. According to New Mexico’s 2020 Forest Action Plan, “nearly 5 million acres of forested land need treatment — thinning, prescribed burns or weed management — on a rotating cycle to create resilience to fire. That works out to 300,000 acres a year, a target that the state isn’t even close to reaching” (Searchlight NM, 2022). Despite the challenges and risks, prescribed fire and other means of reintroducing fire to the landscape will need to be part of the solution to this backlog.

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Success Stories Close to Home

The Zuni Mountain Collaborative

This story comes to FAC NM from US Forest Service employee Shawn Martin, Silviculturist with the Cibola National Forest.

Map of the Zuni Mountains Landscape with US Forest Service managed lands highlighted in green.

Where it began
Toward the end of the 1990’s, the Cibola National Forest (CNF) and its partners began to take more interest in managing the Zuni Mountains area as a cohesive landscape. Beginning in 1999, the Forest implemented several projects clocking in at a few hundred acres - the Bluewater Creek Improvement Project, followed by the Bluewater Creek Restoration Project and Bluewater Road Realignment in 2002. Between 2001 and 2003, CNF and Pueblos of Acoma and Zuni applied for and received three Collaborative Forest Restoration Project (CFRP) grants; the Forest Stewards Guild and Mt. Taylor Manufacturing received two more CFRP grants in 2009 and 2010 focused on capacity building, increased forest restoration, and wood utilization.

An integral requirement of these federal grants is collaborating with external partners - with members of nearby communities, local nonprofits and businesses, and various landowners or managers in the area - while planning and implementing the funded forest restoration project. Years later, in 2011, when the landscape applied for a long-term Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) grant for the Zuni Mountains, these same concepts necessitating collaboration and cooperation would apply.

Scaling up
Over the next few years, wildfires across the Southwest and in the landscape, such as the 2004 Sedgwick Fire, began burning hotter, longer, and more acres. These events reinforced the need to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration treatments, invest in ways to utilize wood and establish a forest restoration economy, and create fuelbreaks to protect nearby communities from wildfire. The CNF began surveying larger and larger chunks of land to comply with the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and funding through the American Restoration and Recovery Act created a new instrument to implement forest restoration activities. Following receipt of 10-year CFLRP funding in 2012, low-intensity prescribed fire was reintroduced with the implementation of the Carbon, Fossil, and Copperton burns.

Map showing the landscape approach to mechanical thinning in the Zuni Mountains. Thinning began in the southeast portion of the CFLRP boundary (in red), chosen due to ease of access and proximity to the communities of Grants, Thorough, and more.

Map showing the landscape approach to prescribed burning in the Zuni Mountains. Prescribed fire generally followed mechanical thinning by a few years, reducing the amount of dead woody material on the ground which is generated by this thinning. In the mid 2010s, firelighters began to increase the size of their burn blocks to treat larger areas.

Prioritizing fire
The 2020 Puerco NEPA decision expanded restoration opportunities beyond just thinning burning to include watershed, wildlife, and range improvements.  Treatments have always been prioritized around building and maintaining a restoration economy, so most thinning has been centered around treating overstocked and even-aged stands that were easily accessible and economically feasible for the MTM mill.  Prescribed fire has generally followed behind forest thinning, but large areas which are either inaccessible for mechanical thinning (wilderness, far from a road, thinning would be too expensive) or are already prepared for the reintroduction of fire (previously thinned or burned, did not experience the same level of historic fire exclusion) have been identified as “burn only”. 

In prioritizing which areas to treat with prescribed fire, managers first considered existing mechanical thinning project plans which they could follow with fire as a secondary treatment. The next logical step in prioritizing prescribed fire treatments was to work out from or expand on that foothold of initial burns. Land managers knew that, in this part of the Southwest, the dominant wind (direction in which the wind blows the majority of the time, having to do with larger atmospheric patterns) came out of the southwest and blew to the northeast. The CNF designed the next decade of treatments, therefore, to a) follow existing road systems for ease of access and b) create a “catcher’s mitt” of restored forest which was treated by thinning and/or prescribed fire and could intercept a wildfire, stopping its forward progress or reducing its severity before it burns into nearby communities to the northeast. Such treatments have proven efficacy, such as the 2013 Rim Fire on the Stanislaus National Forest, just east of California’s Yosemite National Park.

“Even if a previous fire doesn’t stop the subsequent fire, [research] shows that areas recently burned by low to moderate severity fire re-burned at similarly low to moderate severity… In this way, each new reduced severity fire becomes a potential anchor that could be used to limit the spread, moderate severity, and potentially lower the daily smoke emissions of a subsequent fire.”

- Dr. Leland Tarnay, FAC Learning Network, 2018

Medio Fire, 2020

In late August 2020, treatments associated with the Pacheco Canyon Forest Resiliency Project played a consequential role in mitigating the forward progress of the Medio Wildfire burning in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 11 miles northeast of Santa Fe, NM. These treatments, especially prescribed burns adjacent to a historic fire scar, contained the wildfire and prevented it from burning into and devastating the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed (the source of up to 40% of Santa Fe’s drinking water). Visit the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition webpage or click on the factsheet or video below to learn more about this success story.

Midnight Fire, 2022

The Midnight Fire burned through a section of the Carson National Forest near El Rito in June, 2022. Fire crews and incident commanders feared that the blaze could grow as big or fast as nearby fires (this was burning at the same time as the Hermit’s Peak - Calf Canyon Complex), but previous prescribed burn projects and managed fires helped stymy its forward progress and reduce the burn severity. The region's previous fire and forest thinning acted as "building blocks" to slow the Midnight Fire. Click the image to the right to read more about this success story in a September article by the Albuquerque Journal.

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Upcoming Events and Learning Opportunities

Workshops

July 21 and 27, 2023: Community Wildfire Defense Grant Workshops

NM EMNRD - Forestry Division will hold two workshops to help potential CWDG grant applicants review the lessons learned from the first cycle of this program and learn about changes to current processes. This workshop is intended to help strengthen applications in real time, whether applications submitted in the first round did not get funded or individuals are still thinking about submitting an application. Participants should bring their latest revision of their application for review or their project ideas which have not yet been fleshed out into an application so Forestry Division can provide direction and helpful tips for success. 
If you are unable to attend either of the in-person meetings and would like to have your application reviewed, you can reach out to Abigail Plecki, Community Wildfire Defense Grant Coordinator, and set up a time to meet virtually (505-231-3086 | abigail.plecki@emnrd.nm.gov).   

Webinars

July 25, 2023, 12:00-1:00pm: Increasing Post-Wildfire Planted Seedling Survival
Join the Southwest Fire Science Consortium as Chris Marsh with UNM’s Earth Systems Ecology Lab discusses how consideration of climate trends, microclimatic conditions, topography, and local vegetation influence planted seedling survival and can be used to guide reforestation planning in the Southwest.

Resources in the News

Following the East Coast’s inundation of wildfire smoke from blazes burning in Canada, National Public Radio (NPR) published an article on lessons from the West for dealing with wildfire smoke. While this may be old news to many, the refresher is always worthwhile.
Read it here.