The Bureau of Land Management completed this afternoon an 800 acre prescribed fire on public and state lands located approximately six miles south of Cuba, New Mexico. The prescribed fire included a portion of the allotment under State grazing lease to the Forest Guardians. Ignition of the fire was done by wildland firefighters on the ground using drip torches and other ignition devices. According to Dale Miracle, BLM's Fire Management Officer in Albuquerque who planned the prescribed fire, the objective of this burn is to reintroduce fire into the local ecosystem in order to reduce existing overstocking of sage brush. The fire will reduce the amount of sage brush and leave a mosaic of plant varieties similar those found in this area hundreds of years ago, when fires burned naturally.
Fire is essential to the vigor of the area, as it is in much of the Western landscape.
Science shows how long ago natural fire maintained diverse plant communities, digested and recycled nutrients, and kept landscapes healthy, stable and resilient. Within two years, the BLM expects the fire to improve the conditions in this portion of the R o Puerco watershed by increasing vegetation and overall ground cover by 20-40 percent, which would decrease water and wind erosion by as much as 65 percent. Among other factors, the prescription for this fire required a temperature of about 75 degrees, relative humidity of about 18 percent, and wind speeds ranging from 7-15 miles per hour. The prescribed fire project was planned and coordinated with the New Mexico State Land Office, the Forest Guardians grazing lessee, and surrounding land owners. The BLM's Albuquerque Field Office received smoke clearance from the New Mexico Department of Environmental Quality.