Valles Caldera, Bandelier fire restrictions to lift

Valles Caldera National Preserve and Bandelier National Monument are lifting fire restrictions as of 8 a.m. Monday, the National Park Service said in a news release over the weekend.

The Park Service cracked down on recreational use in both parks earlier this year due to extremely dry conditions throughout Northern New Mexico and predictions of a potentially severe fire season. By early May, visitors were no longer allowed to light fires anywhere in the parks, could smoke only inside cars, and were prohibited from driving off-road, among other things.

By the beginning of June, intense fire danger prompted the agency to close the backcountry areas in both parks and suspend recreational activities such as biking, fishing and horseback riding at Valles Caldera.

On Monday, backcountry areas reopen in each park.

Fire did strike at Valles Caldera when the San Antonio Fire started more than a month ago, due to a lightning strike in midJune. That fire grew to about 416 acres, according to the Incident Information System of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group.

That fire is entirely contained, Valles Caldera Superintendent Jorge Silva-Bañuelos said in the news release, but public access is restricted to that part of the park’s north rim.

“Even though the monsoons have begun, we’re still in drought conditions,” Silva-Bañuelos is quoted as saying in the news release. “We ask that visitors continue to take appropriate precautions while enjoying our national parks and national forests.”