SFNF News:

Overview

The Glorieta Camps Prescribed Fire Project is a collaborative prescribed fire project between Glorieta Camps, Santa Fe National Forest, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), New Mexico State Forestry, and the Forest Stewards Guild.

Background

Starting in 2021 Glorieta Camps reached out to The Forest Stewards Guild to provide prescribed fire support. Working together they completed several pile burns over three winters covering 180 acres. These pile burns built fire resiliency at the camp and surrounding forests by reducing fuels and provided an opportunity to train camp staff in prescribed fire techniques.

In 2022, following the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon (HPCC) fires the USDA Forest Service – Santa Fe National Forest developed and revised prescribed fire protocols to mitigate risk.

These protocols include but are not limited to:

• Close communication with private landowners, partners, elected officials, and the public when planning and executing prescribed fire to address any questions or concerns.
• Closely monitoring on-site weather and environmental conditions including wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, fuel moistures and smoke ventilation to ensure conditions are favorable for burning and to get accurate weather forecasts.
• Prior to ignitions, confirming the readiness and availability of firefighting resources.
• The Forest Supervisor is briefed before implementation of any prescribed fire project.
• Burn plans incorporate the best available science, modeling, and drought monitoring.
• Leadership must approve any new ignitions or continued ignitions every 24 hours
• The burn plan includes contingency resources, personnel and equipment, on-site of the project area.

A long-term patrol plan must be in place and infrared sensing technology is used to monitor prescribed fires until they are declared out.

In 2023, Glorieta Camps signed an agreement with the Santa Fe National Forest to allow cross boundary prescribed burning as part of the Santa Fe Mountain Landscape Resiliency Project (SFMLRP). This project will create defensible space around Glorieta Camps’ main campus by mitigating the risk to firefighters and the public during future wildfires.

Why prescribed fire?

Implementing prescribed fire around the Glorieta Camps will provide wildfire protection to the camp property, structures, infrastructure, and surrounding communities. Introducing fire back into a fire adapted ecosystem creates a more resilient, healthy forest and can improve wildlife habitat. The decision to proceed with each project unit depends on multiple factors including weather, fuel moisture, air quality, ventilation, and resource availability.

Project Information

The Glorieta Camps prescribed fire project will reintroduce the natural process of fire to the landscape using broadcast burning of previously thinned stands. Broadcast burns are controlled applications of fire to the forest floor, under specified conditions defined in an approved burn plan, confining fire to a predetermined area.

The Glorieta Camps property totals 2,400 acres in Glorieta. The camp has thinned approximately 800 acres of forest and conducted pile burns of slash from thinning treatment on 180 acres with an additional 250 acres of thinning planned in the next few years. To further protect the camp property broadcast burning will reduce the surface fuels, prune lower branches, and reduce oak and juniper creating a fuel break that can slow the advance of wildfire, giving firefighters time to intervene.

There are three units totaling 130 acres planned for prescribed burning. Each unit will take one day to ignite, but all three units may take several days to complete. Only one unit will be done at a time which will allow crews to extinguish any smoldering material and reduce smoke impacts.

A system of hoses, pumps, and water supplies will be installed prior to ignition to protect buildings and control fire progress. After the burn, crews will extinguish burning material on the perimeter and crews will remain in place until the burn is secure. Fire personnel will patrol burn units until they are declared out. Weather will be closely monitored to identify critical weather events that will trigger additional resources to monitor the burn units. The use of thermal detection devices will aid in locating potential hot spots prior to declaring the burn out. Trails on Glorieta Camp will be temporarily closed to the public for safety during burning operations. Signs will be posted at all trailheads prior to the day of ignitions.

Timeline

• The project will be completed sometime between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30.
• Learn more Two public meetings will be held at Glorieta Camps to provide information about the project and answer any questions or concerns.

The agenda includes a short presentation followed by Q&A but the public is welcome to come and go as their schedule allows:

• Wednesday, July 31, 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Santa Fe Room
• Saturday, Aug. 17, 10 a.m. to noon – Santa Fe Room

Questions?

• Contact SFNF Public Affairs Officer Claudia Brookshire claudia.brookshire@usda.gov.