Yes, change rules for prescribed burns

The right policy prescription can be a disaster under certain conditions — something New Mexico knows all too well. Prescribed burns to clear the forests of fuels — and to prevent searing wildfires that will obliterate landscapes — are not the issue. The issue is finding new ways of dealing with extreme conditions in our forest and wildlands. The current system isn’t doing the job.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham this week called for the federal government to change its rules about prescribed burns. She’s exactly right, and our congressional delegation should lead the charge in demanding all federal agencies managing land in New Mexico update procedures for approving and lighting burns. Part of the discussion has to be other methods of removing fuels from the forest, whether sustainable logging or targeted grazing.

In 2000, the devastating Cerro Grande Fire near Los Alamos began as prescribed burn, not by the Forest Service, but by the National Park Service. That fire, ignited May 4, 2000, and burned more than 43,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes. Twenty-two years later, it’s déjà vu. In mid-March, a prescribed burn for the Gallinas Watershed in the Santa Fe National Forest near Las Vegas, N.M., was delayed because of snow on the ground. On April 6, the burn, named Las Dispenas Prescribed Burn, went ahead, with disastrous consequences.

A report from the Las Vegas Optic on April 6 was matter-of-fact: “A prescribed burn in the Las Dispensas treatment area, in the Santa Fe National Forest north of Las Vegas turned into a wildfire Wednesday afternoon, the Optic has learned.” At that time, the fire was estimated at 100-plus acres.

The decisions that led to the go-ahead for the burn must be examined in detail. A redflag warning — meaning ideal conditions for wildland fire ignition — was in effect for much of the region that day. Conditions at the burn launch, though, were predicted to be calmer, fire managers have said.

The exact language: “forecasted weather conditions were within parameters for the prescribed burn.”

The obvious question: Just what were those parameters? Because when unexpected, erratic winds kicked up in the afternoon, the fire went rogue. Once the winds blew and sparks dispersed, the Hermits Peak Fire was born. Which begs another question: Did the U.S. Forest Service have adequate crews on hand in case the fire got out of hand?

Again, the Optic on April 6: “Fire managers have called in additional resources, including a Type 3 incident management team, very large air tanker (VLAT) and lead plane, two hotshot crews and two additional engines.”

By mid-April, firefighters appeared to have the Hermits Peak Fire well in hand, containing much of the blaze. But on April 19, the Calf Canyon fire started — its cause remains under investigation — with the fires eventually merging, helped by epic winds on April 22.

Today, more than 160,000 acres have burned and more than 160 homes and numerous structures are gone. At this time, it appears no lives have been lost, thankfully. But both the village of Mora and town of Las Vegas are threatened. Thousands have evacuated, waiting to see what, if anything, remains.

Given drought and climate change, fires will not go away, but fires caused by prescribed burns gone wrong can stop.

To that end, Lujan Grisham is insisting federal prescribed burn guidelines need reviewing. That process should begin as soon as possible. This debate is crucial to Santa Fe. We’re not burning — yet — but any of the prescribed burns planned for the watershed here could go wrong. The city has a definite interest in making fire choices less risky.

Right now, job one is putting out the fires — but that won’t be easy, and will almost certainly take weeks or months, thanks to spring winds.

Next, the community and governments must support evacuees as they wait out the fires and then when they return home. Then, create new rules for prescribed burns. Finally, investigate how this happened. Apparently, the lessons of Cerro Grande were forgotten. Now, the heartland of New Mexico is going up in smoke.