The Las Conchas Fire is now the largest wildfire in New Mexico's history. It has burned 123,000 acres (189 square miles) including the watershed and sacred sites of Santa Clara Pueblo.
While Los Alamos residents are returning home, the fire continues to expand to the north, threatening mountain villages occupied by Hispanics whose European ancestors arrived two centuries before the signing of the Declaration of Independence and whose indigenous ancestors were already here.
Alarmed by extreme drought conditions and the magnitude of the fires ravaging New Mexico, Governor Susana Martinez, who is prohibited by law from banning fireworks, pleads with citizens to refrain from personal pyrotechnic displays.
Late Friday aftenoon at work, I looked out my window and noticed an unusual amount of activity in the empty lot next door. Trucks were pulling up, firefighters were erecting tents, and a line had formed to pass supplies, hand over hand, to a mess tent.
Joe Reinarz' Southwest Type 1 Incident Management Team was setting up its base camp outside of my office to battle the northern rim of the blaze. A second team led by Incident Commander Dugger Hughes, had set up camp in Redondo, where my husband and I hiked on our first date, to contain the southern rim.
There was a knock on my door. Mateo de Vargas, our local Emergency Management Director, poked his head in. "Hey, Lauren, can we talk to you?" he asked. "These guys need a place to hold their daily briefings for the next few weeks and we were wondering if we could look at your conference room. This is Chris Jessop. He's with the team."
He introduced me to a tall, good looking, good humored firefighter from Show Low Arizona. "We're not sure where we're setting it up yet," Chris informed me. He had to be at least 6' 3", with sandy blonde hair. He was dressed in a forest green uniform. "We're based out of the middle school but it might be better to keep our daily briefings with the cooperators in a separate place. These are only open to representatives of cooperating agencies or other folks like private landowners whose property we're using. They're not open to the press or the public. You'd be welcome to attend even if we use a different conference room."
I liked this proposition immediately. One of the great benefits of citizen journalism is that I get to cover events from the inside.
"Sure," I said. "You guys are welcome to our room. We have only a few meetings scheduled in the next few weeks but I think you preempt them. We have video conferencing equipment you can use if you need it. I'll call up our IT guys and have them configure the jacks any way you want them, and my staff can help you make copies or run errands as well. We'd be honored to have you use our space."
"Wow!" exclaimed Chris, who, rather than sitting in a chair, had gotten on one knee in order to remain at eye level and was resting an elbow on my desk. I wondered if he would produce a ring. I decided I liked him. "People in this town are so nice!"
"We're grateful you're saving our forest," I answered. "You're the ones who are nice!"
New Mexico is living through the driest January through June on record. The six months between January and June are the best predictor of fires over the summer. This year, a strong La Niña formed in the Pacific, pushing moisture northwards causing floods. Usually, northern New Mexico weather patterns resemble those of Colorado. We get lots of snow. This year our only snowstorm was a freak, extremely brief blizzard on May 1. Carlsbad, in southern New Mexico, has seen less than half an inch of rain in 225 days. Colorado and the northern states received record amounts of precipitation. These are extreme weather formations long predicted by scientists concerned about global warming.
A century of fire suppression has compounded the problem. Without intervention, the forests in the Jemez mountains would sustain 40 to 60 large trees per acre, according to the Albuquerque Journal. A policy of suppression of even small fires has resulted in a forest packed with 1,500 to 2,000 trees per acre. Due to the drought, their current moisture content is lower than the kiln-hardened lumber sold in stores.
When an aspen tree blown over by high summer winds fell on a power line, it burst into flames. Encouraged by high winds, the fire exploded to 3,500 acres in a few hours, and producing a pillar of smoke that looked like a mushroom cloud.
Northern New Mexico is not out of the woods yet, so to speak. The loss of 189 miles of forest produces its own dangers. Without trees in the mountains, low lying communities such as Española and Santa Clara fall prey to vicious flash floods. Ash erodes into streams, fouling precious water used for irrigation and drinking. Many communities rely on hunting, small farms, and small ranches for subsistence.
But most of all, it feels like we lost a dear friend. It is terrible to wake up and know that never again in my lifetime will I ever see the forest where I camped, skied and hiked as a teenager with my boyfriend, the man who is now my husband. Hispanic, Native American and Anglo adults of my age have all expressed the same sentiment to me. We can't believe the forest is gone. We want to restore it so our children will one day see it again.
In the video below, Governor Walter Dasheno of Santa Clara Pueblo talks about what the loss of the forest means to his people. Many of the people in the audience are evacuees from Los Alamos who are sheltering at the Santa Claran, a resort hotel owned by the tribe. New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez talks about radiation monitoring and the need to refrain from lighting fireworks. She is prevented by law from banning them as are municipalities and must travel about begging groups of people not to indulge instead. Congressman Ben Lujan and officials from the Santa Fe National Forest and Santa Clara talk about reforestation. The video is too long to transcribe and have up by Independence Day. If you need a transcription, please tell me in the comment thread. I will work on it and repost the video in a future diary.
Yesterday I met with officials from Santa Clara Pueblo to discuss ways Native American Netroots can help with reforestation. The initial Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) teams have already arrived to begin planning the long recovery process. Santa Clara has lost 80% of its forested lands and the fire is still raging. More then 50% of Bandelier National Monument has burned along with significant chunks of the Valle Grande Wildlife Preserve.
I will write more about Santa Clara Pueblo's reforestation efforts in the coming days. I will also write more about the incident management teams, which are, in my opinion, a pinnacle of human achievement.
UPDATE:
There is a big smoke plume coming from what looks like the western rim of the fire. Not sure what's burning. From the naked eye in Espanola, it appears to be near Santa Clara land. I'll keep you updated.
Meanwhile here are some photos.
Chris Jessop speaking to area ranchers:
http://i339.photobucket.com/...
Plus, why trees are important...
My son, Ben and his friend, Zack, build a tree fort in our yard to shoot eachother with airsoft guns. Ben's up in the tree while Zack hoists tools up in a bucket they attached to a pulley. This is their own project. Adult intervention is limited to purchase of lumber and equipment.
Have a safe and happy Independence Day!