Public comments open for two proposed forest restoration plans

The Santa Fe National Forest is accepting public comments on two proposed forest restoration projects in the mountains surrounding Santa Fe.

Both projects will involve controlled burning and tree thinning in an effort to prevent larger, “catastrophic” wildfires and improve the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed, according to a news release from the Forest Service.

One of the projects will cover 1,825 acres northwest of Santa Fe, near Hyde Memorial State Park, the Santa Fe ski basin, the Aspen Vista picnic area and the Big Tesuque Campground. The second project will span 2,200-acres in Pacheco Canyon, adjacent to Tesuque Pueblo, the news release says.

Julie Anne Overton, a spokeswoman for the Santa Fe National Forest, said both projects “are high priority” and already fully funded. She said the Forest Service hopes to complete the work this year.

The Forest Service is using an exclusion to the National Environmental Policy Act to move more quickly with the project, according to the news release.

The Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition will spearhead the projects.

According to the coalition’s website, the area is “at great risk to high-severity wildfire,” which would create severe erosion and flooding that could “pose a serious hazard to human health and safety.”