Wilderness Ranger district to conduct prescribed fires during early December
MIMBRES, NM, Nov. 15, 2024 – The Wilderness Ranger District is planning to conduct multiple prescribe fire projects, including the 250-acre Upper Terry Canyon Prescribed Fire along Forest Road 150. The district will also look to implement the 128-acre T-bird Prescribed Fire directly behind Camp Thunderbird in the 3 Circles Project Area. Other units that may be implemented are near the Sapillo Campground area and additional units adjacent to Terry Springs Prescribed Fire.
Implementation of these prescribed fires may begin as early as December 2, 2024, and could continue throughout the first couple weeks of December as conditions allow. The objective is to restore fire back to the landscape within fire-adapted ecosystems and to utilize fire to reduce hazardous fuels adjacent to private property and within the Wildland Urban Interface. All of the project areas fall within the Southern Gila Regional Priority Landscape.
While no public closures will be in effect, the public is advised of likely smoke impacts to campgrounds in the Sapillo and Lake Roberts areas, especially in the morning hours during ignitions. Implementation will occur as allowed by weather, fuel conditions, and resource availability. Smoke will be visible from the communities of Lake Roberts, Mimbres, and San Lorenzo. There will be smoke impacts to New Mexico Highway 35, the Mimbres River and Sapillo Creek drainages, and the community of Lake Roberts. Smoke will be monitored to ensure that the New Mexico Environment Department's Air Quality Bureau's regulations are met. Smoke-sensitive individuals and those with respiratory illness or heart disease should take precautionary measures. Air quality information and health protection measures are posted online by the New Mexico Department of Health at https://nmtracking.org/environment/air/FireAndSmoke.html.
The district will coordinate with New Mexico Department of Transportation - intermittent delays on Highway 35 should be expected. Access to roads and dispersed camping may be limited in the project areas during implementation for firefighter and public safety. For more information contact Maribeth Pecotte at 575-388-8211 or
