VallesCaldera.com – The independent news source about the Valles Caldera

News that the Santa Fe National Forest will implement a partial reopening of the Jemez Ranger District tomorrow under stage-1 fire restrictions caught many Jemez residents off guard. We look forward to wandering through our forest tomorrow after our recent crisis, but despite the fact that there have been steady monsoons for a week, most of us know that the quantity of monsoonal moisture we have gotten this summer has paled in comparison to prior years. VallesCaldera.com looked into why this decision was made, and we found out that officials noted that there is still “some potential” for fires, and also stated that the Jemez “hasn’t received the rainfall that we’ve needed” for the full opening that other areas of the Santa Fe National Forest are experiencing.

When asked about why the closure was lifted despite a limited total amount of rain, Mike Ferris, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, pointed out that managers “have not completely eliminated all restrictions in the forest,” with stage-1 restrictions in place throughout the district. “The area still has some potential” for fires, Ferris said, but managers “feel that there has been enough moisture and there is likely to be more moisture next week.”

Ferris also stated that firefighters are in good position to fight any blaze that might ignite, since the Las Conchas Fire is nearly contained. “With the fire at 98% containment, that places the initial attack resources in all the districts if there is a fire that is lightning-caused or human-caused,” he said.

Bruce Hill, a spokesman for the Santa Fe National Forest, also noted that the Jemez Ranger District is under more restrictive conditions than much of the rest of the forest. “What’s different about this case is we’ve been receiving rain in key areas of the forest, and the forecast shows precipitation for the next week throughout the forest,” Hill said. “The Jemez district is an exception, because it hasn’t received the rainfall that we’ve needed,” and therefore the Santa Fe National Forest did not completely remove fire restrictions in that district, unlike in other portions of the SFNF.

Some locals have engaged in idle speculation about whether pressure from local businesses led to the partial reopening, but Hill strongly denied that. “It really comes down to safety,” he said. “Safety comes first, and decisions are based upon that.”

Joy tempered with significant fear echoed throughout the Jemez Mountains today as news spread that the Santa Fe National Forest has announced that it will be partially reopening its non-burned sections of the Jemez Ranger District to the public on Saturday for the first time since the Las Conchas Fire ignited, with the exception of Paliza Campground (Jemez Falls Campground will be open on Aug. 1). The Valles Caldera National Preserve will also resume its normal summer recreation activities in non-burned areas, except for fishing.

This news comes as moist and strong summer monsoons, though several weeks late, have been unleashed upon Northern New Mexico for the last week.

Although many Jemez residents were pleased to learn that they will allowed back into their forest, the news also concerned locals who once again now have to live with the prospect of an unwitting visitor illegally setting a fire that could grow into another catastrophic conflagration. However, this is simply reality for those of us who have made the choice to live in an alpine environment surrounded by a thick forest.

Despite the fact that much of the forest will be reopened, New Mexicans should be aware that stage 1 fire restrictions will still be in effect, which means that campfires are only allowed in developed campgrounds, smoking is only allowed in vehicles, and fireworks are not permitted.

According to the Forest Service’s official press release:

PARTIAL LIFTING OF FIRE RESTRICTIONS FOR THE SANTA FE NATIONAL FOREST

(SANTA FE, NM)— The Santa Fe National Forest is lifting fire restrictions for portions of the forest effective Saturday, July 30. “The recent arrival of monsoonal rains and other changes in weather patterns have brought a welcome relief from extreme conditions,” said Forest Supervisor,  Maria T. Garcia.

The Las Conchas Fire and the Pacheco Fire areas will remain in Stage III Fire Closures. The Jemez Ranger District, portions of the Cuba Ranger District and the Valles Caldera National Preserve will implement Stage I Fire Restrictions.The Valles Caldera will resume normal summer activities excluding those which normally occur in the burned areas.  Fishing programs remain suspended until further notice.

During Stage I Fire Restrictions campfires are only allowed in Forest Service developed camp and picnic grounds where grills and grates are provided. Smoking is permitted only in vehicles, in developed campgrounds, or in areas cleared at least three feet in diameter of all flammable material.  Gas and propane stoves, lanterns or heating devices are permitted providing such devices meet the fire underwriter’s specifications for safety. Possessing, discharging or using any kind of fire work or other pyrotechnic device is illegal.

The Paliza Campground on the Jemez Ranger District will remain closed while it continues to be used as a spike camp for firefighters from the Las Conchas Fire.  Jemez Falls campground will be closed this weekend, but opened on Monday, August 1.  The Holy Ghost Campground on the Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District is undergoing facility reconstruction and remains closed.

The Las Conchas fire has created significant safety hazards for anyone entering the burned area, including threats from flash flooding, falling trees and rolling rocks.  We are placing a high priority on assessing hazards that would potentially affect the public using Forest System Roads that access private land within the burned area.

For more information on the Santa Fe National Forest, call Bruce Hill, Jr. (505) 438-5320. For the Valles Caldera National Preserve information, call (866)382-5537.  For a copy of the Las Conchas and Pacheco Fire Area Closure Orders please visit:  http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/sfe/

The Las Conchas Fire, which began a month and a day ago, is now 95% contained at 156,593 acres. The fire is mostly on patrol and mop-up status.

Camp May Road, the access road from Los Alamos to the ski hill at Pajarito Mountain (located on the eastern rim of the Valles Caldera), has also opened for the first time since the fire began. As reported by Bandelier National Monument via Facebook:

Such a surprise today, to find that the road to the Los Alamos ski area (Pajarito Mountain) was no longer posted “closed”! Driving up, there were patches of trees, both conifers and aspens, that had been severely burned, and other places untouched. In the lowest area of ski runs the dividing trees were burned badly, but up by the lodge – well, look at the photo. Camp May was much better than rumor had suggested; some burned trees, lots of green.

The Las Conchas Burn Area Emergency Response team has also initiated the long process of helping the forest heal from the largest fire in New Mexico history. It will award contracts on August 1 for aerial seeding and mulching of locations in the burn zone.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the purpose of aerial seeding is:

Aerial seeding, usually grasses but occasionally also legumes, is carried out to increase vegetative cover on a burn site during the first few years after a fire. It is typically done where erosion hazard is high and native plant seed bank is believed to have been destroyed or severely reduced by the fire. Seed is applied by fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter.

Here are the specific initial implementation plans for the BAER team:

Continue reading ‘Las Conchas Fire nearly contained; Road to Pajarito Mountain reopens’

The 141-year-old Jemez Springs Bath House tweeted a valuable piece of intelligence today that many New Mexicans might not know: The area behind the Jemez Springs Plaza is the only place where most folks are legally allowed to swim, fish, walk, and submerge themselves within the Jemez River (except for private property).

Here is the Bath House’s tweet:

Did you know that you can fish & swim in the Jemez River directly behind the Bath House until the forest reopens??? Come on up & enjoy!!!

I played around in the river at the Plaza last weekend, and the hypnotic sound of the river rushing down the red rock canyon, the cold water flowing over my feet as I walked through the muddy bottom of the river, and the passing trout that played in the creek beside us refreshed our spirit tremendously, but particularly so in the midst of the largest fire in New Mexico history. It conjured up the lines of Norman MacLean:

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

I am haunted by waters.

Good places in the Jemez like the Jemez Stage Stop, Los Ojos Saloon, the Laughing Lizard, the Ridgeback Cafe, and Amanda’s Jemez Mountain Country Store are also open for folks who come into the Jemez during this forest closure.

Meanwhile, ash from the Las Conchas Fire, which is now 90% contained, has now has inundated the Rio Grande, causing the city of Albuquerque to stop pumping drinking water from the Rio Grande:

From the Journal:

The Water Utility confirms it is ash in the Rio Grande. Plus, I went out and looked myself. It’s ugly! John Stomp, the utility’s chief operating officer, told me he is confident the water treatment plant could clean ash out, but that he decided to shut down the plant anyway just to be cautious.

Here is a video from the Weather Channel about the ashy Rio:

Meanwhile, the total number of fire personnel fighting the inferno has now decreased to 200. This is a dramatic decrease from the most intense days of the crisis, when over 2,000 professionals were battling the blaze.

The BAER team assigned to the fire has issued a document warning people about the dangers of walking through burnt forests, stating that they should be avoided for 1-2 years after the fire (however, the land will still remain dangerous for years afterward).

Here are the BAER team’s recommendations for responding to the burnt landscape.

156,593 acres of Northern New Mexico have now been torched by the Las Conchas blaze, although the inferno is now 85% contained. Its burn zone experienced moisture yesterday and today, prompting flash flood warnings. These monsoonal storms produced minor floods, and observers reported debris flow on the south end of the fire.

The wildfire has burned the following jurisdictions:

Valles Caldera National Preserve – 29,968 acres,
Forest Service – 78,928 acres
Pueblo of Jemez – 4751 acres
Bandelier National Monument – 20,854 acres
Pueblo of Santa Clara – 16,608 acres
Private land – 5,125 acres
Los Alamos National Laboratory – 93 âcres
BIA – 4 acres
Pueblo of Santo Domingo – 262 acres

The Burn Area Response Team assigned to the Las Conchas Fire has released its assessment of the resources and threats it has identified as a result of the blaze. The following is the executive summary of the document.

Continue reading ’85% of Las Conchas Fire now contained; smoldering blaze dampened by moisture, causing flash flood threat’

As containment of the 156,590-acre Las Conchas Fire grew to 75% today, officials released a map depicting the intensity of burn throughout the 244-square-mile fire zone. The map can be seen below.

The blaze is still “creeping within the interior,” of the burn zone on its 25th day, according to fire managers, who said that the “potential exists for active fire behavior in some unburned, isolated islands well within the interior of the fire,” but “the majority of the fire continues to burn at low intensity within the fire perimeter.”

Here’s what the AP had to say about the map of the conflagration’s intensity of burn:

The map shows a mosaic of color, with blotches of red on the western side and in pockets on the northern end indicating where the fire burned the hottest.

On the southeastern and northern flanks, yellow and light blue patches indicate low to moderate severity.

There are some areas of green within the fire perimeter that indicate unburned sections of forest.

Burn Area Emergency Response teams have been busy for the past week assessing the damage. They have scheduled a series of public meetings this week to share their findings and suggestions for recovery with residents in surrounding communities.

The immediate recovery effort includes preparing for flooding as summer rains hit the burn scar and wash down ash, sediment and other debris.
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Meanwhile, the National Weather Service in Albuquerque issued another round of flash flood warnings and flood advisories for the fire area Wednesday afternoon. Scattered showers were predicted to hit before midnight, and more thunderstorms were expected through Sunday.

The community meetings mentioned above that will be conducted by representatives of the BAER Team will take place at:

Wednesday, July 20th 6 p.m. in Los Alamos at Mountain Elementary School, 2280 North Road, Los Alamos, NM

Thursday, July 21st-6 p.m. in Cochiti Lake at the Cochiti Lake Community Center, 255 Cochiti Street, Pueblo de Cochiti

Friday, July 22nd-6 p.m. in Jemez Springs, at the Madonna Center, off Hwy 4 between mile marker 15 and 16, Jemez Springs, NM

Representatives from USDA Forest Service, Valles Caldera National Preserve, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), NM Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Sandoval County, Los Alamos County, Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) will be present and available to answer questions attendees may have.

This morning, VallesCaldera.com conducted an exclusive podcast interview with Dr. Bob Parmenter, the chief scientist of the Valles Caldera National Preserve. You can listen to the podcast here.

Parmenter provided a wide range of information regarding the Las Conchas Fire, including that highly burned forest areas will take up to a century and a half to recover. He also spoke of how the fire, which ignited “one acre of forest every 1.17 seconds for 14 hours,” is still burning underground as it torches through trees’ root structures. “A tree that may look like it escaped the flames just fine — 3 weeks from now can just fall over because all the roots are killed,” he said. He also stated that “a tree that looks like it might have only gotten singed by the heat and only the first ten feet or so might have brown needles, those trees could be dead in two, three, four years.”

The chief scientist also said that elk, deer, mountain lions, and most bears probably emerged unscathed from the fire, but that many songbirds, tree-nesting birds, and tree squirrels probably did not survive the inferno.

Parmenter also painted a distressing picture of the short-term future of the Jemez Mountains as he related a graduate study being conducted that has concluded that “there are many times in the past that the entire Valles Caldera burned over a two year period. So half the Preserve burned one year, and half burned the next year. And so, this type of pattern is not unprecedented either — it shows up in the fire record. So are we into the 2011 and 2012 fire season of two years and we’re going to burn the rest of the Preserve next year? It is not unprecedented.”

The interview also touched on the impacts of the cultural resources on the Caldera, firefighting operations on the Preserve, the chances of monsoons coming, as well as volunteer opportunities to restore the Caldera, and also what he hopes the fire’s impact will be on people’s opinions and behavior:

“I would hope that the trend continues for a wider acceptance of natural fire and prescribed fire as a natural ecosystem process, and that the tolerance for a couple weeks of smoke each summer, or fall if we do fall burns, or early spring if we do spring burns — that having a little smoke in the air is better than having a lot of smoke in the air, because these forests are going to continue to burn, and we either let them burn on our terms, or we let them burn on nature’s terms, and if it’s on nature’s terms, it’s very difficult to stop,” he said. ” So I would hope that, as we look back on this, that Cerro Grande, Las Conchas, and the CFLRP [Consolidated Forest Landscape Restoration Program], will all come together and have the citizens of, basically, all forested ecosystems in the west, really understand that there are natural ways to manage these forests by reintroducing fire and keeping the fuel loads down.”

The following is a transcription of key topics of the podcast:

Continue reading ‘Exclusive podcast interview with chief scientist of Caldera: Intense burn areas won’t recover for 100-150 years; Many birds and tree squirrels did not survive; Wet winter not expected; Fires in Jemez often occurred historically in consecutive years’