Arrival of monsoon leads to reopening of Lincoln National Park
The closure of Lincoln National Forest was lifted Friday by the U.S. Forest Service allowing visitors to enter the park's 1.1 million acres of public land in southeast New Mexico.
The national park was closed May 25 as officials feared the ignition of wildfires amid extreme heat and drought which increased the fire danger.
"All three districcts of the national forest received substantial rain over the last two weeks which significantly lowered fire danger," a news release from the Forest Service read.
The National Weather Service Midland/Odessa station predicted more rainfall for the region as southeast New Mexico received the first rain of the monsoon.
Some areas of the forest received up to 5 inches of rain in June.
"Average rainfall in the summer months ranges between 7.6 and 13.9 inches depending on the location, so the rain we've gotten is significant," said Lincoln National Forest Fuels Specialist Josh DuBoise.
The chance of precipitation for southeast New Mexico ranged from 30% on Saturday to 40% through Tuesday of next week.
Despite the rain, most of the region encompassing Lincoln National Forest ― Eddy County, Otero County and Lincoln County ― remained in severe or extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
However, forest officials also announced a loosening of fire restrictions as all three districts within the forest were upgraded to "moderate" fire danger.
"The ongoing rains have actually increased moisture levels to above-average for this time of year, which is why we decided to reopen the forest and lift fire restrictions," DuBoise said.
Within Lincoln National Forest all fire restrictions were lifted, said Laura Rabon, spokesperson for the Lincoln National Forest.
"We are back to business as usual," Rabon said. "There are no fire restriction in place at this time."
Rabon said visitors to the national park - especially in the areas scared by the McBride and Nogal Canyon Fires - should be vigilante about another threat: flooding.
"We typically see flooding in burn scar areas, so McBride Fire and Nogal Fire, which both happened in April in Smokey Bear District have the highest chance of flooding," Rabon said.
"It's part of living in the Southwest. Flash floods are a reality and so it's very important for visitors to be aware of their surrounding and be aware of the weather."
The forest has signage up reminding visitors of the threat, she said, and is planning measures to mitigate and rehabilitate parts of the national forest impacted by wildfire.
New Mexico reopens state parks
Increased rains also led to the re-opening of four New Mexico State Parks which were temporarily closed to the public also because of fire danger.
Cimarron Canyon, Fenton Lake, Hyde Memorial and Monzano Mountains state parks will allow visitors to enter beginning June 24.
Camping is not allowed in those parks until June 27.
Morphy Lake and Pecos Canyon state parks remained closed to the public as both were impacted by the Calf canyon/Hermits Peak Fire.
In all New Mexico state parks smoking, campfires, open burning and fireworks are banned.
Jessica Onsurez can be reached at jonsurez@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JussGREAT.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Arrival of monsoon leads to reopening of Lincoln National Park
