We hosted a one day field trip to explore New Mexico’s largest wildfire*, the Whitewater Baldy Complex, that burned 297,845 acres (465 square miles) on the Gila National Forest during the extremely dry and windy spring of 2012. The tour discussed the fire regimes of the fuel types that burned, the interaction of past fires within the burn perimeter with fire behavior in 2012, resources that were affected (including Mexican spotted owls and Gila trout), watershed effects, and rehabilitation efforts.
*The Whitewater-Baldy Complex held the title of New Mexico’s largest wildfire until May 2022 when the Calf Canyon / Hermits Peak fires overtook the record.