Greater Santa Fe Fireshed response to Coronavirus

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation continues to evolve daily, the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition is keeping a close eye on the unfolding events. All members of the Coalition share an equal concern for stewardship of public health as with stewardship of our forests.  

The Coalition is seeking opportunities to carry on our work while limiting chances for the spread of the virus. For the time being, we are postponing any events or gatherings planned through mid-May and possibly further. We are exploring opportunities to offer alternative ways to engage with the Coalition, such as webinars and increased online content. As we have a better understanding of this pandemic and its ramifications in our community, we will be in touch about our modified plans and measures to support wildfire preparedness. In the meantime, please take all adequate precautions to protect yourself, loved ones, and the community as this event unfolds.  

Lastly, most of the members of the Coalition are still working remotely, please feel free to reach out if you have any concerns or questions that we can assist with.

Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Receives USDA Funding to Reduce Wildfire Risk and Restore Forest Health

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SANTA FE, NM – Feb. 27, 2020 – The Greater Santa Fe Fireshed is among 16 new projects selected for funding under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership which invests in restoration and conservation at the landscape scale.

In today’s announcement, USDA said the 107,000-acre Greater Santa Fe Fireshed, which includes approximately 65,000 acres of the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF), will receive $561,104 in fiscal year 2020 funding to mitigate the risk of wildfire, improve the health of forest ecosystems and protect water quality across multiple jurisdictions in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Santa Fe. 

“By selecting the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed for funding, the Joint Chiefs have recognized that this is a priority landscape and a model for shared stewardship,” SFNF Supervisor James Melonas said. “This funding will help us with the implementation of science-based restoration across ownership boundaries and in collaboration with our many great partners in the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition.”

“The Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition thanks the Joint Chiefs for this opportunity to make our communities and watersheds more resilient to wildfire, drought and climate change,” said Eytan Krasilovsky, Deputy Director of the Forest Stewards Guild and former chairman of the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition. “We’ve collectively made excellent progress over the past five years, and this additional investment and recognition from the Joint Chiefs’ program will help ensure that we continue to adapt this landscape to wildfire and other disturbances.”

Through the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership, the Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service will invest more than $41 million in 36 projects this fiscal year. Projects selected by the Joint Chiefs receive three years of funding.

The Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition brings together federal, state, tribal and local government agencies, non-governmental conservation and environmental organizations, business interests and recreation groups to develop strategies to restore forested landscapes surrounding the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed. The Coalition also conducts educational outreach to engage residents and help the public understand the rationale for forest restoration and other activities to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires and make communities and resources more resilient to wildfire.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Julie Anne Overton - Public Affairs Officer

Forest Service

Santa Fe National Forest

p: 505-438-5320

julieanne.overton@usda.gov

Glorieta Camps prescribed burn planned to begin as soon as Mid-February to improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk.

Santa Fe, NM –Glorieta Camps, The Nature Conservancy’s Rio Grande Water Fund and the Forest Stewards Guild plan to take advantage of favorable conditions, including moisture levels, air quality, wind direction, and weather forecasts, and initiate a prescribed burn at Glorieta Camps, west of Pecos, as early as February 18th, 2020. This burn will be implemented by the All Hands All Lands Burn Team (Burn Team), which is a fully qualified team designed to lead or support prescribed burns across a variety of land jurisdictions in the Water Fund landscapes of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado.  This burn had been planned for March 2019, but was postponed due poor atmospheric ventilation that would have caused unwanted smoke impacts on communities and roads.

Up to 55 acres of piles will be treated with hand ignitions by trained and qualified firefighters working under a burn boss within the parameters of an approved and permitted burn plan. These actions are part of Glorieta Camps long-term and science-based commitment to improve forest health and reduce the risks wildfire poses to communities, forests, and watersheds.  

Smoke and flames may be visible due to the proximity of the site to I-25 and Glorieta. Smoke will likely be visible from Pecos, La Cueva, Eldorado, and Santa Fe. Smoke may settle into lower elevations and drainages overnight but should lift by mid-morning, but lingering smoke may be present for up to one week. The Forest Stewards Guild works closely with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) and the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) to monitor air quality during and limit the severity of smoke impacts.

This prescribed burn is happening in the context of the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition landscape. The Fireshed Coalition supports a HEPA Filter Loan Program so that smoke sensitive individuals can borrow a filter for the duration of the impacts. More information is here: http://www.santafefireshed.org/hepa-filter-loan-program

·         To find out more and stay up to date, visit https://facnm.org/our-projects/all-hands-all-lands-burn-team.

·         Learn more about Fire Adapted Communities at www.facnm.org.  

 Contact:

                Eytan Krasilovsky, 505-470-0185, eytan@forestguild.org

The Burn Team is supported by an agreement between The Nature Conservancy and USDA Forest Service.  
The Forest Stewards Guild is an equal opportunity provider.###

Aztec Springs Prescribed Burn Scheduled for January

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  January 14th, 2020

Santa Fe, NM – The City of Santa Fe Fire Department Wildland Division and The Forest Stewards Guild are planning to take advantage of snowpack conditions to conduct a prescribed pile burn on city land near the municipal watershed starting January 15th and continuing on through February 21st, 2020 weather dependent.  The burn will be contingent on wind, relative humidity, temperature, and expected weather patterns and may be postponed and/or cancelled until conditions permit. Open Burning on a smaller scale will be conducted intermittently during this period to burn remote piles and assess conditions on site. This work is part of the Fire Department’s mission to reduce risk to lives and property from wildfire. It is also part of The Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition to improve the health and long-term resilience of forested watersheds and communities by addressing wildfire. 

Due to the location of the Aztec Springs Prescribed Pile Burn and its proximity to the city smoke will be visible from City of Santa Fe, State Road 475, State Road 590, and State Road 84/285. Smoke may settle into lower elevations and drainages overnight but should lift by mid-morning. Lingering smoke may be present for up to two days after ignitions are complete. For information on the HEPA filter loan program go to https://www.santafefireshed.org/hepa-filter-loan-program.

During the burn period, information regarding the project can be obtained by calling the Santa Fe Fire Department Wildland Division at 505-955-3901.

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$500 Mini Grants to support Community Wildfire Preparedness Day events available!

Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is an annual campaign that encourages people to come together on a single day to take action to reduce their wildfire risk. On May 2nd this year communities and organizations across the county will engage in a huge variety of activities including community chipper days, potlucks and discussions about reducing fire risk, planning phone trees and wildfire notification systems for your community, building go kits, etc.

To support Wildfire Preparedness Day NFPA and State Farm are offering $500 grants to fund any sort of wildfire risk reduction or preparedness activities.

Check this link below for information about applying. On the NFPA website, there are tips about how to apply and examples of past projects that have succeeded.

Applications are due on February 29th.

Wildfire Community Preparedness Day and grant application page at NFPA .

Scroll partway down the page to find the application. The official rules for the grant contest can be found here.

Also, check out our Fireshed ambassador page for more information on planning community wildfire action for your community:

http://www.santafefireshed.org/ambassador/

Here are two resources from our ambassador toolkit with ideas for community events:

Wildfire Preparedness Community Action Ideas

50 ideas for action to get you started