A mix of dry weather, sweltering heat, and gusty monsoon winds is driving up wildfire threat across the nation – including right here in New Mexico.
All of the state's largest active wildfires have ignited in areas facing the most severe drought conditions in the entire country.
To the north, the Laguna Fire has burned more than 16,000 acres in the Santa Fe National Forest and is 45% contained, according to the latest update from fire officials.
Meanwhile, in the south, two wildfires — the Turkeyfeather and Goose fires — are burning in the Gila National Forest, having scorched nearly 20,000 acres combined. They are 0% contained.
The U.S. Drought Monitor tracks the extent and severity of drought conditions across the country each week.
Its latest map shows that a vast majority of New Mexico is experiencing some level of drought, with these active wildfires burning in areas classified as having either “extreme” or “exceptional” drought, the two most severe categories.
In response to the increasingly dangerous wildfire conditions, the National Multi-Agency Coordination Group based out of the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho raised the national fire preparedness level to level 4 on Saturday, signaling a high demand for firefighting resources and a heightened risk of large fires.
The current level is just one short of the scale’s maximum – when numerous large fires stretch firefighters to their absolute limit.
The dangerous turn in weather comes amid sharp criticisms of President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency’s sweeping federal budget cuts that are affecting both wildland firefighting staffing and response efforts.
That included staff with the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildfire Service, and other agencies who are trained to help support wildland firefighters when needed.
In a statement on Monday, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins claimed that the U.S Forest Service has hired “99% of its 11,300-firefighter hiring target,” with full staffing anticipated in the coming week.
“At USDA we are not simply waiting for fire season,” Secretary Rollins wrote. “We have instituted a series of federal actions and partnerships to properly manage national forestlands.”
Though, during a recent Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on Capitol Hill last week, Democrats were skeptical of Forest Service wildfire preparedness and firefighting staffing during testimony from Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz.
Committee members were particularly concerned about a June executive order that would consolidate wildland firefighting resources within the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture.
When asked about a detailed blueprint of this new firefighting approach by ranking member U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chief Schultz said that internal agency discussions had only just begun.
“In 90 days we will have a plan of what that will look like,” Schultz said.
Sen. Heinrich fired back, saying that he needs to know more before making any budgetary decisions.
“I’m very open to different ways of organizing how we fight fires on our National Forests and public lands,” Heinrich said. “But I need to see the plan because people’s lives and livelihoods are at stake. We have to get that right.”
Additionally, the order could potentially eliminate federal regulations for prescribed burns and fire retardant use, which have been found to pollute streams in the western United States.
Currently, a total of 102 active wildfires have burnt over 1 million acres of land across the United States.
