Feds plan prescribed burns in southeast New Mexico as wildfire season gets underway

Heavy smoke could be visible for the next three months throughout southeast New Mexico as prescribed burns were intended to remove fuel amid the spring wildfire season.

The Bureau of Land Management said beginning in February, it would hold prescribed burns in the Tecolote area between U.S. Highways 285 and 62/180 in southern Eddy County near the Texas State Line, with smoke visible in Carlsbad, Loving, Malaga and White's City.

The agency also announced it would conduct prescribed burns in Lincoln and Chaves counties beginning in January, around the Fort Stanton and Lincoln areas, meaning smoke could be seen from Ruidoso, Capitan, Lincoln and Alto.

Both operations were expected to continue into April, read a BLM news release, depending on weather, taking several days to complete.

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Drivers will see signs alerting them to the potential of smoke on the roadways, although the BLM said it did not expect any impacts to traffic.

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The burns were intended to reduce risks of wildfire damage to adjacent properties, while also improving watershed and habitat conditions and increasing the viability of native wildlife while reducing threats of invasive species.

“By reducing the amount of vegetation, prescribed burns mimic the natural fire cycle, and that reduces the dangers and risks associated with wildfires,” said BLM Fire Management Specialist Alex Mermigkas.

During the spring months, as temperatures warm up from the dry winter months and wind gusts increase, the BLM cautioned locals to be careful when using fire anywhere in the area.

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Wildfires can be reported by calling the Alamogordo Interagency Dispatch at 877-695-1663.

Mermigkas can also be contacted at 575-234-5718 for information on the Eddy County burn, and BLM Fire Management Specialist Dominic Bell can be reached at 575-627-0327 for details on the burn in Lincoln County.

“We are doing our part to better serve our neighbors and communities by improving forest and rangeland health,” Bell said.

Fire season ongoing in southeast New Mexico

Fires can be especially dangerous during dry periods in New Mexico, which is suffering from an ongoing drought.

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Most of Eddy County was listed in “exceptional drought” as of Jan. 30, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor – the highest class of drought the monitor records.

About 5 percent of New Mexico was under such conditions, and 29 percent was in the next class down “extreme drought,” with 70 percent of the state in “severe drought,” the monitor read.

Fire danger becomes “extreme” in extreme drought conditions, read the monitor, as livestock suffer and native trees and vegetation die.

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Federal lands could close due to fire precautions in exceptional drought, read the monitor, and burn bans increase.

There was little rain on the way that could alleviate the risk, said Vivek Shenoy with the National Weather Service’s Midland-Odessa Office.

He said February was typically a dry month in southeast New Mexico and West Texas, and that “fire season” was ongoing in the last winter and early spring.

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Carlsbad’s forecast showed a slight chance of showers Friday, and a high wind watch in place through the weekend.

This could entail western winds up 40 to 50 miles per hour, with gusts climbing to 70 miles per hour.

Gusts could blow down tree limbs, cause power outages and disrupt traffic, the warning read.

They could also cause fires, Shenoy said.

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“This isn’t usually the time when we see rain,” he said. “This is usually our fire season. What we usually see is low relative humidity and high winds that bring dry air from northern Mexico.”

Shenoy said the National Weather Service was aware of the BLM’s planned burn in the next three months, and planned to survey the area ahead of the activities for any potential risks of increased danger in the coming weeks.

He said on high-wind days, outdoor recreation should be postponed, and drivers should parking vehicles on dry grass.

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Even a dragging chain on a truck could spark a wildfire in these conditions, Shenoy said.

Prescribed burns have fiery history in New Mexico

It was a spring prescribed burn that started the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s history in spring 2022, when the Calf Canyon Hermits Peak fire torched more than 340,000 acres in northern New Mexico, displacing home homeowners in the Las Vegas area.

The second biggest, the Black Fire, also burned more than 300,000 acres that spring, believed started by people in southeast New Mexico.

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Since then, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham criticized the U.S. Forest Service for starting the burn that led to the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire, which got out of control and grew to its devastating size.

A plan for the fire was approved in 2019, and was not adjusted since for New Mexico’s extended drought conditions, the governor said in a statement.

A year later, Lujan Grisham signed into law Senate Bill 21 sponsored by Sen. Ron Griggs (R-34) of Alamogordo, which banned prescribed burns days when “red flag” wind warnings are issued by the National Weather Service.

It passed both the House and Senate unanimously before going to Lujan Grisham’s desk.

But an earlier version of the bill would have banned prescribed burns during spring months March, April and May, a time when agriculture industry leaders argued burns were needed to clear fuel and rangelands for the growing season.

Another bill passed last year provided up to $100 million in state loans to communities affected by the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire, to be reimbursed when federal relief dollars were received.

Those dollars came from the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act signed into law by President Joe Biden to provide $2.5 billion for the work, and a federal claims office was established.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: As wildfire season heats up in New Mexico, feds plan prescribed burns