Crews to Potentially Implement Prescribed Fire Near Canjilon

Release Date: 

Contact(s): Zach Behrens


Taos, N.M., May 3, 2024— Working in consultation with meteorologists, Carson National Forest fire crews are looking at opportunities to implement a prescribed fire east of Canjilon as early as the middle of next week. Ignitions will ultimately depend on weather and site conditions, which if unfavorable, fire managers will postpone to another season, possibly fall.

“We are fortunate to have had recent rain, and chances of a little more, but we’re still watching the weather very carefully,” said District Ranger Angie Krall. “If we are able to move forward, this is a critical project to complete.”

When a future wildfire reaches an area after treatments are completed, the fire behavior will likely be modified to a less intense, more manageable surface fire.

Montoya Prescribed Fire

The 899-acre Montoya Prescribed Fire is part of the Canjilon Wildland Urban Interface Project, a collaborative project over 10 years in the making to reduce the risk of wildfire to the communities of Canjilon and Placita Garcia and the watersheds they depend on. The unit is directly adjacent to Canjilon’s east side (review the map). 

To reduce the risk, Forest Service staff and partners have invested over $10 million in forest restoration in the area since 2011. Many adjacent private landowners, with the assistance of the state, are contributing by thinning and applying prescribed fire on their own properties.

Treatment Can Work

Firefighters on the 2022 Midnight Fire near El Rito saw its behavior change from severe to light in a manner of minutes when it entered an area that was previously thinned and pile burned, followed by the lightning caused Francisquito Fire, which crews managed so it could play its natural role in the ecosystem.

“It went from 100- to 300-foot flames to 2- to 3-foot flames in a matter of minutes just because of the fuel treatments there,” said firefighter Chris Farrar in a short documentary about the Midnight Fire.

Methods and Monitoring

Fire crews will implement an understory burn. In this type of burn, crews apply fire broadly throughout an area under the forest canopy. Grasses, leaf litter, downed branches, brush and occasional single trees or stands are fully burned.

The Montoya Unit is primarily in ponderosa forest, which is a fire dependent ecosystem. Wildfires here are naturally frequent and low severity, burning on average every 14 to 24 years.

Once ignitions are completed, crews will begin a long-term patrol and monitor plan until the fire is called out.

Prescribed Fire in the Spring

Spring burning ecologically mimics historical fire behavior. Most fires would naturally have started during pre-monsoon seasons and burned through the summer until rains put them out.

Spring burning helps give plant and tree species the best opportunity to bounce back after a disturbance. For grasses and shrubs, the fire kills the tops, but the roots are still intact because of wetter soil. The fire introduces ash, which has elements and natural chemicals that act like fertilizers. The first rainstorm of the monsoon season will mix with that fertilizer and prompt new growth.

Smoke

Unlike a wildfire, prescribed fires are planned. In coordination with the New Mexico Environment Department, fire crews conduct ignitions on days when smoke impacts are minimized.

Nonetheless, smoke will be present and may settle in some local or farther out areas in the evenings and overnight. Residents can prepare by closing windows and doors and reducing physical activity outdoors when smoke is present. A limited number of portable air purifiers with HEPA filters, donated by the Forest Stewards Guild, can be borrowed from the Canjilon Ranger Station. Call 575- 684-2489 for availability.

An air quality specialist plans to install a temporary air monitor in the area during the prescribed fire. Air quality index, or AQI, data will be available on the Smoke and Fire map.

The Big Picture

The Montoya Unit is within the Rio Chama Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project, which spans 3.8 million acres across Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. A large focus of the project is to restore watersheds, including areas outside national forests. These watersheds not only serve surrounding communities but are major drinking water suppliers for downstream cities, such as Santa Fe and Albuquerque. On the Carson National Forest, the project covers the entirety of the Canjilon, El Rito and Tres Piedras ranger districts.

Implementation Updates

Public information officers will provide updates on InciWeb, social media (Facebook, X) and New Mexico Fire Information. Customer service representatives can be reached by phone at the Canjilon Ranger Station at 575-684-2489.