GSFFC News:
SANTA FE — The Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition (GSFFC) supports the best-available science and is promoting a new paper titled Counteracting wildfire misinformation published by the Ecological Society of America.
This paper addresses misleading claims often made about wildfires, some of which have taken root in Santa Fe. Ensuring access to the best available wildfire science is a key function of the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition.
The Coalition was founded seven years ago to proactively address the wildfire crisis in the Santa Fe area by using the best available science paired with a collaborative approach to accelerate planning and mitigation across boundaries to increase forest, watershed, and community resilience to wildfire and climate change.
The Coalition works with a diverse array of partners and residents to work towards their mission and values. Their primary goal is to identify and implement high priority on-the ground projects that make the Fireshed and its communities more resilient to wildfire while maintaining and restoring resilient landscapes.
The devastating Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon Fire that stemmed from an unprecedented two escaped prescribed burns conducted by the Santa Fe National Forest, has unfortunately but understandably sown distrust. The Coalition acknowledges that the Santa Fe National Forest needs to take responsibility for its actions, learn from its mistakes, listen to communities and partners, and make changes so mistakes like these escapes never happen again. The Coalition also acknowledges that the necessary and effective practice of prescribed fire needs to change so that it can continue to be implemented with increased safety.
The Coalition is committed to its ongoing efforts to share information related to wildfire preparedness, mitigation, and recovery, engage in dialogue, elevate the local research that advances our understanding of forests and fire ecology, and interpret the best available forest and wildfire science.
The Coalition stands with the consensus among scientists summarized in the recently released paper by Jones and colleagues. The paper addresses misinformation about wildfire and debunks prominent examples of wildfire misinformation.
Access the paper here. Coalition representatives are available to discuss these issues further to address misinformation head-on and promote increased knowledge and understanding more broadly.
About GSFFC
The Forest Stewards Guild works to support the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition (GSFFC). The GSFFC is a coalition of public and private organizations. The GSFFC is not a subdivision of the State of New Mexico, as defined in the state’s Open Meetings Act, §§ 10-15-1 to 10-15-4 NMSA 1978. Although federal agencies participate in the GSFFC, the Coalition is not a federal advisory board and was not created by a federal agency, as defined by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5.U.S.C. app. 2, §§ 1 to 16 (2012). The GSFFC operates informally to support its partners, and is not incorporated as a non-profit, 501(C)(3), partnership, or other legal status.