Wildfire Wednesdays #20: Prescribed Fire on Private Land - Healthy Soils Webinar Series

Hi Fireshed Members  

As we head into the late summer, many land management agencies and private forest owners are preparing to implement prescribed fire. Prescribed fire is a useful tool to help reduce surface fuel loads, decrease wildfire risk, improve understory vegetation growth, and improve forest health in many forest types across New Mexico. The process of planning and implementing prescribed fire is challenging, but not impossible, for private landowners.  

This week’s Wildfire Wednesday features: 

  • A Forest Stewards Guild publication titled “Prescribed Fire on Private Land in New Mexico” 

  • A webinar series about soil health in Piñion-Juniper woodlands 

Best,  

Gabe 

Prescribed Fire on Private Land in New Mexico 

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If you have ever wondered about the legal framework for implementing prescribed fire on private lands in New Mexico, please check out the 2019 report by The Forest Stewards Guild titled, “Prescribed Fire on Private Land in New Mexico.” This report is an update to their 2017 report titled, “Controlled burning on private land in New Mexico,” and describes the many programs and authorities that can help a private landowner restore low-severity fire to their property. New Mexico’s state government is working hard to help private landowners gain the support and legal protection required to use prescribed fire as a land management tool.  

To read the full report, click here.  

Healthy Soils Webinar Series 

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Soil health determines the trees that grow and the type of fire regime within New Mexico’s forests. To understand how soil health connects to forest systems like Piñion-Juniper woodlands, check out the Healthy Soils webinar series starting tomorrow Thursday, August 13th. 

Jan-Willem Jansens of Ecotone Landscape Planning is hosting a webinar series with The Forest Stewards Guild. This series will provide some soil science basics and help you feel more comfortable monitoring soil health. There are three webinars:

1) Defining Healthy Woodland Soil (Zoom link): 12:00pm -1:30pm, Thursday, August 13th

2) Measuring Woodland Soil Health: 12:00pm - 1:30pm, Thursday, August 27th

3) Managing Woodlands for Soil Health: 12:00pm - 1:30pm, Thursday, September 10th

Click the links above to register for the webinars.

Gabriel Kohler

The GSFFC is a coalition of public and private organizations. The GSFFC is not a subdivision of the State of New Mexico, as defined in the state’s Open Meetings Act, §§ 10-15-1 to 10-15-4 NMSA 1978. Although federal agencies participate in the GSFFC, the Coalition is not a federal advisory board and was not created by a federal agency, as defined by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5.U.S.C. app. 2, §§ 1 to 16 (2012). The GSFFC operates informally to support its partners, and is not incorporated as a non-profit, 501(C)(3), partnership, or other legal status.