Improvements made for health, safety, and accessibility
MIMBRES, NM, February 2, 2024 – The Gila National Forest manages 3.3 million acres of lands and waters, as well as nearly 500 buildings, including offices, housing units, vault toilets, well houses, and other facilities. Until last year, the forest lacked a crew of facility maintenance workers dedicated to the inspection, repair, maintenance, and upgrade of these facilities. Last June, two new Forest Maintenance Workers were hired, and other staff have been identified who can provide additional support.
“Somewhere along the way, someone decided that facility maintenance either wasn’t necessary or could be accomplished by use of contractors,” said Gila National Forest Supervisor Camille Howes. “However, they weren’t accounting for the remote nature of the Gila, or they didn’t foresee the difficulty of obtaining contractors or the high cost of contracting to cover basic repairs.”
The yearslong lack of focus on facility maintenance resulted in dilapidated housing and recreational facilities that could pose health and safety concerns to employees and the public. One of the crew’s more publicly visible accomplishments is the repair of the boat dock at Lake Roberts. The boat dock had been closed several times over the past three years due to dry rotted wooden decking, with individual planks replaced piecemeal. Now the wooden decking has been fully replaced with aluminum planks. The new aluminum decking will allow for safe use, be longer-lasting, and a new entrance ramp will improve access for people with disabilities.
Since last June, the crew has met the facility inspection schedule; made emergency water line repairs at Quemado; stopped roof leaks and installed new cabinetry at the Wilderness District; fixed an automatic gate at Silver City; and completed electrical and well house repairs at the Tanker Base. They installed skirting to meet ground level around manufactured housing in Reserve; repaired ceilings and sheetrock in two housing units at Glenwood; and spent countless hours mentoring Job Corps students through a complete remodel of housing units at Beaverhead Workcenter on the Black Range District, repairing plumbing and electrical, and replacing fixtures, cabinetry, appliances, windows, flooring, and more.
Hats off to the Forest Maintenance Workers and other supporting staff who are embarking on this race to maintain facilities on the forest – it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. For more information contact Maribeth Pecotte at 575-388-8211 or Maribeth.Pecotte@usda.gov .