Wildfire season heating up in New Mexico as political leaders try to prevent destruction

Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus

New Mexico’s spring wildfire season was underway as the state’s congress people sought action to both respond to the fires and provide relief to those still reeling from last year's record-breaking blazes.

Lincoln National Forest on Thursday raised its fire danger rating to “high,” according to an announcement from the U.S. Forest Service, after responding to 20 abandoned campfires in recent weeks and advising guests to use “extreme caution” when lighting and extinguishing campfires in the forest.

This came days after the Park Fire near Ruidoso burned about 3,000 acres after it was started May 3 by a lightning strike and was half contained by May 6, with 70 responders and aircraft deployed to the blaze near the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

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It was the first fire of the year to grow larger than 1,000 acres.

Meanwhile, evacuations were in place in San Miguel County as the Las Tusas Fire near U.S. Highway 94 threatened to grow from an estimated 1,000 acres burned as of Thursday morning.

That was the region where the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire in April 2022 burned about 341,000 acres, displacing residents and causing long-term damage to local water systems and infrastructure – the largest fire in New Mexico’s history.

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Last year also saw the second-largest wildfire in the state’s history when the Black Fire burned another 325,000 acres in southwest New Mexico.

The spring months are known for high fire danger in New Mexico as warming temperatures and high winds converge with low moisture ahead of the summer monsoon rains.

U.S. Sens. Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), along with U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) urged the federal government Wednesday to hasten relief dollars for the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire, while Heinrich cosponsored a pair of bills seeking to improve federal response to the fires and impacts like flooding.

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On Tuesday, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) authorized about $18 million to aid in Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Recovery for the Mora-San Miguel Electric Co-Op and the New Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

The dollars were to help with repairs and reimbursements for fire response.

Teresa Leger Fernandez

“The largest wildfire in New Mexico history will not stop us from rebuilding,” Leger Fernandez said. “This funding will repair basic infrastructure to further heal the wounds the fire caused.

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“We will continue to use every possible federal resource to not only compensate those who lost so much in the fires, but invest in their future.”

But the congress people also criticized FEMA on Wednesday for not yet publishing regulations called for in the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act passed last year, requiring FEMA provide $3.95 billion to those impacted.

In a letter to FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, the lawmakers chided the federal agency for missing deadlines tied to the bill and delaying the relief funding, and requested an update on the program’s progress.

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“While FEMA established an aggressive timeline for setting up the Claim’s Office, it has missed a number of self-imposed deadlines that has deepened mistrust with the community,” the letter read. “Every day that passes without compensation to the victims delays their ability to begin rebuilding after losing so much.

“We ask that you put yourself into the shoes of those who’ve waited more than a year after the fire started.”

Meanwhile, Heinrich signed on as a cosponsor for both the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act and the Hazard Flooding and Mitigation Funding Assurance Act.

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Lujan was also a cosponsor of the Fire Suppression and Response Funding Assurance Act which would allow local fire responders to receive FEMA grants and provide flexibility that could see federal cost shares exceed 75 percent.

Under current federal law, the federal government can only provide up to 75 percent of the costs with the state paying the other 25 percent.

The Hazard and Flooding Mitigation Funding Assurance Act would make similar changes to FEMA’s post-fire response and for other hazards like flooding and debris flows, requiring federal funds account for at least 75 percent of that funding.

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The grants funds under that program are available after a presidential disaster declaration, and help local communities rebuild in the wake of disasters like wildfires.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) tours Carlsbad Caverns National Park, July 6.

Heinrich said the legislation was needed to address increasingly worsening fires in New Mexico and the U.S., which he said were caused by ongoing climate change.

"The wildfires we’ve seen in New Mexico have been unprecedented and historic, but they are becoming dangerously routine,” he said. “We need to proactively work to mitigate the impacts of our climate crisis.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.