We have all pulled together to help fight the fires, feed the fire fighters and give comfort and support to our friends and neighbors who were displaced by the fires. It is in disastrous times like these that we are comforted by the love and caring of our communities. My heart goes out to the families of the two men killed in the spotter plane crash and to those who lost their homes in the fire. The horrible thing about the catastrophic Scott Able fire is that it was both predictable and preventable. Our Lincoln National Forest and most of the forests in New Mexico and throughout the southwest are very unhealthy because there are too many trees.
Crowded trees lead to diseased and dead trees, loss of watershed, and catastrophic fire.
Washington D.C. A similar letter was mailed to Sacramento District Ranger Max Goodwin. As a result of the Cloudcroft letter, Senator Bingaman discussed the problem with Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck. As well on May 4th, Senator Domenici and Representative Joe Skeen wrote a joint letter to Regional Forester Eleanor Towns about our fire threat. That letter prompted front page articles in the Alberquerque Journal, the El Paso Times and the Alamogordo Daily News on May 6th and 7th. That is about the time the Cerro Grande fire was started that ended up out of control and has burned two hundred homes and 47,000 acres.