Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire

Despite the catastrophic impact of last year's Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak fire, which began as two planned burns by the US Forest Service, forest managers say planned burns are still essential.

The proposed funding is included in a draft omnibus spending bill that Congress could pass this week. The appropriation would be incorporated into the legislation passed earlier this year that promised to compensate victims of the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak fire for everything they lost.

An initial $2.5 billion was allocated to the compensation program. That could revitalize an impoverished region. However, the agency tasked with executing the legislation is FEMA, and many are frustrated with the agency based on its initial response to the fire.

Big wildfires earlier this year damaged the acequias that funnel water to New Mexico’s rural farms and communities. Diversion structures were destroyed, silt and debris filled many existing water channels and water flow changed paths. Monday acequia managers asked lawmakers in Santa Fe to fully fund acequia disaster response.

Victims of the Calf Canyon/Hermit’s Peak fire can now begin applying for compensation for losses caused by the largest blaze in state history. The fire charred almost 350,000 acres in Northern New Mexico last spring and summer after U.S. Forest Service prescribed burns got out of control. The federal government has accepted responsibility and Monday the Federal Emergency Management Agency opened the claims process.

Conservationists, county commissioners and residents worried about the impact of planned thinning and burning on the Santa Fe National Forest expressed their concerns to forestry officials in an online community meeting Friday.

Election Day is on November 8 and early voting is underway. In Congressional District 3 Republican Alexis Martinez Johnson is looking to unseat incumbent Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez.New Mexico in Focus Correspondent Gwyneth Doland with our media partner New Mexico PBS sat down with Leger Fernandez to discuss how she helped secure funding for Hermit’s Peak fire, her thoughts on reproductive rights and how she’s campaigning in her newly redrawn district.

Early voting is underway and in Congressional District 3 there is a rematch of sorts. Incumbent Democratic Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez faces Republican challenger Alexis Martinez Johnson, an environmental engineer who ran against her for the same seat in 2020.

Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández led a community meeting in Mora, and FEMA officials asked for patience as they write regulations for distributing the aid.

Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández will answer questions on how to apply. FEMA says it is working with local partners to develop a process.