U.S. Forest Service

The Indios Fire, which has been burning in the Santa Fe National Forest since May 19, is not expected to grow any larger, according to fire officials. As the fire dies down along with the complexity of the situation, command of the firefighting effort changed hands Monday from a regional team to a local one.

The U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are at the center of a lawsuit put forward by several conservation groups accusing the federal government of failing to protect endangered species on the Valles Caldera Preserve.

Kim Wright, a retired nurse, volunteers with the Cimarron Watershed Alliance. A year ago she learned that the federal government was awarding more than $8 million to the alliance to help nine northern New Mexico communities better defend themselves against wildfire. Those communities are still awaiting signs of on-the-ground wildfire preparedness as fire season fast approaches.

As we’re approaching Easter weekend, officials are advising all families considering a trip to our state and national parks to be careful about what they bring with them.

Old growth forests are a natural and crucial resource for mitigating the ongoing effects of climate change because they provide clean drinking water and absorb carbon from our atmosphere.

As New Mexicans are preparing for the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, a public comment period for a proposed electrical transmission line in Northern New Mexico is gathering heat from environmentalists, who claim the 30-day deadline is too short.

Last fiscal year, the U.S. Forest Service conducted planned burns on just under 2 million acres, an agency record. In the wake of last year's Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon disaster, which began as prescribed fire, many in New Mexico are nervous when such burns come near their homes.

The wildfire crisis in the United States is urgent, severe and far-reaching. So says a Congressional committee report that came out last month, which also noted federal agencies estimate the total cost of wildfire nationwide is on the order of tens to hundreds of billions every year. And strategies to mitigate the risk in New Mexico rely on getting communities on board.

Come Sunday, if there’s no movement in Congress, firefighters will be expected to man the fire line without pay.

Over the Labor Day weekend, thousands of wildland firefighters were told they’d be receiving a 50% bump in their pay. It was welcome news since a temporary pay raise is set to expire this month. But, as it turns out, those raises were a mistake.