Silver City, NM – August 16, 2023

The Turkey Fire, 9 miles northeast of Cliff, New Mexico, remains at 5,220 acres with 40% containment. A Type 3 Incident Management Team has been in command of the fire since August 8, 2023.

No smoke was visible in the fire area yesterday. The road group continues to improve the 282 road up to the wilderness boundary, so watch for heavy truck traffic on the NM 15 road.

Fire is a natural part of forest ecology, and the Gila Wilderness experiences fire on a regular basis. Many ecosystems benefit from periodic fires, because they clear out dead organic material—and some plant and animal populations require the benefits fire brings to survive and reproduce. The Turkey Fire is no different, and it has done a good job of cleaning up the forest floor of undergrowth and forest litter. Flame heights were generally less than two feet high, which the large trees can withstand. Where there was isolated torching, this also benefits by opening gaps in the canopy, reducing homogeneity of the stand, increasing ecosystem diversity. The surviving trees will have less competition for nutrients, and returning grasses will provide feed for animals.

While animals and plants within fire-prone ecosystems have adapted to thrive within a cycle of wildfires, invasive plants and animals are less likely to recover and could thus be controlled or even eradicated from the ecosystem they invaded.

Road and trail closures are still in place and the public is asked to avoid the area.

Closures: The Described Roads are all NFSR 282 and all NFSR 876. The Described Trails are the entire length of the Goose Lake Trail #238 and Dorsey Canyon Trail #239.

More information can be obtained on Inciweb at this link: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/nmgnf-turkey-fire .