Glorieta Adventure Camps and multiple partner organizations look forward to a 130-acre prescribed fire sometime between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, 2024
We invite you to join us for a second community meeting to discuss an upcoming prescribed burn in the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed. This is an important opportunity to learn about the purpose, process, and safety measures of the prescribed burn and address any questions or concerns you may have, as well as to build support for prescribed fire as one of the most effective tools to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, protect watersheds, and increase the resilience of forests.
The Glorieta Camps prescribed fire project is a collaboration between Glorieta Adventure Camps, Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico State Forestry and the Forest Stewards Guild.
The Forest Service will conduct the upcoming prescribed burn, which builds upon prior years of collaborative work to reduce wildfire risk on the property.
The Glorieta Camps property, which abuts the Santa Fe National Forest, totals 2,400 acres. The camp has thinned about 800 acres and, in collaboration with the Forest Stewards Guild, burned piles of slash from thinning on 180 acres over three winters since 2020.
The fall 2024 prescribed fire project will reintroduce the natural process of fire to the landscape using broadcast burning of previously thinned stands. Broadcast burns are controlled applications of fire to a predetermined area, under specified conditions defined in an approved burn plan. To further protect the camp property, broadcast burning will reduce the surface fuels, prune lower branches, and reduce oak and juniper, creating a fuel break that can slow the advance of wildfire.
There are three project units totaling 130 acres planned for prescribed burning between September and November, depending on multiple factors including weather, fuel moisture, air quality, ventilation, and resource availability. Smoke will be visible from Santa Fe, N.M., looking north on Interstate 25, and from local communities including Pecos, La Cueva, and Glorieta.
The Forest Stewards Guild operates a HEPA Filter Loan program through which smoke-sensitive individuals can borrow filters during periods of smoke impacts. The limited number of filters will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. Visit the Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition’s HEPA Loan program webpage for more information about the program. To check out a filter, contact Eytan Krasilovsky at eytan@forestguild.org.
After the burn, crews will extinguish burning material on the perimeter and crews will remain in place until the burn is secure. Fire personnel will patrol burn units until they are declared out using trained Fire Effects Monitors. Weather will be closely monitored to identify critical weather events that will trigger additional resources to monitor the burn units. The use of thermal detection devices, technology with infrared, will aid in locating potential hot spots prior to declaring the burn out. Trails on Glorieta Camp will be temporarily closed to the public for safety during burning operations. Signs will be posted at all trailheads prior to the day of ignitions.
