In the wake of last year’s record-breaking wildfire season, the New Mexico Legislature and the federal government injected money into the state to help communities recover and prevent future fires.
That includes funds appropriated in the state budget, state and federal bills aimed to support communities affected by the fires and money from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act.
State officials are putting that money towards new hires, training and grants to help meet a need they see as only growing in coming years.
State Forester Laura McCarthy told the Legislative Water and Natural Resources Committee on Monday that the money that has come in so far has allowed them to accomplish more through training and hiring, from doubling the Forestry Division’s office capacity with 8 new employees to adding over 40 new firefighters.
“Which is huge for us,” she said. “We've never seen anything quite like that.”
She added five New Mexico communities are also set to receive over $11 million total from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for wildfire defense projects.
Combined federal and state funds have also allowed the state to train almost 2,000 people in municipal, county and volunteer fire departments.
The funds are also going to several recovery efforts, including seed bank and collection at New Mexico Highlands University’s Reforestation Center. Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs for Forestry and the Reforestation Center Joshua Sloan with the center said the state will need about 10,000 pounds of seed over the next couple of decades to offset damage caused by wildfires.
“You're probably not used to thinking in terms of pounds of tree seed, but you can take my word for it–that's a lot,” he said.
As hundreds of recovery plans come together for landowners in the footprint of the Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon Fire, there’s already a high demand for them.
This coverage is made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and KUNM listeners.
