April 2013: White/Donaldson Fires

A one day field trip to both the White and Donaldson Fires near Ruidoso, New Mexico that reviewed how both fires burned in the same year (2011) with very different effects. We visited unburned and burned areas that received mastication and other fuels treatments, discussed treatments and how they may have affected fire behavior, fire …

February 19, 2013: Implementing the Mexican spotted owl revised recovery plan: Conducting fire management in owl habitat

Presenters: Bill Block (USFS RMRS) and Shaula Hedwall (USFWS) The Mexican Spotted Owl Recovery Plan, First Revision, was released on December 17, 2012.  The Recovery Team used the best available science to delineate actions we think are required to recover and protect the owl.  This Recovery Plan presents realistic and attainable goals for recovering the …

November 2012: New Mexico Rx Fire Council

We hosted a one day joint meeting and field trip for the New Mexico Prescribed Fire Council and the New Mexico Interagency Coordinating Group to help bridge the role of the two groups and create an opportunity for sharing of information and building contacts. On the field trip, we took the group to the Chupadera …

November 2013: Living with Fire in Northern New Mexico: Fire, Forests and Communities

This was an interactive workshop with regional scientists and land managers, breakout sessions that allowed for open dialogue with participants and presenters, and time for one on one with presenters and others. Topics covered: The ecology of forests and fire of Northern New Mexico Current conditions in our forests and Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) communities …

November 8-9, 2012: Horseshoe Two Fire

The Horseshoe Two Fire began on May 8, 2011 on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona and burned northeast into the Chiricahua National Monument. The topics covered on this field trip included landscape scale fire management, fire effects, operations, impacts on wildlife, post-fire rehabilitation efforts, and treatment effectiveness. Day one covered …

October 24, 2012: Whitewater-Baldy Complex

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 …

October 17, 2012: Economics of Ecological Restoration and Hazardous Fuel Reduction Treatments

Presenter: Yeon-Su Kim (Northern Arizona University) and Diane Vosick (Ecological Restoration Institute) What are the economic values of landscape-level ecological restoration and hazardous fuel treatments?  The Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University (ERI) assembled a team of wildland fire economists to conduct a rapid evidence-based assessment, as well as to design a timely and efficient …

September 27, 2012: Track Fire

A one day tour of the Track Fire near Raton, New Mexico. The fire started on June 12, 2012 from ATV Carbon exhaust flakes. It burned New Mexico and Colorado public and private land requiring interstate logistics. Some burned areas received cooperative post-fire watershed rehabilitation treatments from the City of Raton, the states of New …

September 19, 2012: Social Network Analysis

Presenter: Vita Wright (Northern Rockies Fire Science Network) Recent science communication studies of the federal fire management community suggest managers access research via informal information networks, and that these networks vary by both agency and position. We used a phone survey to understand the informal science communication networks of fire professionals in two of the …