Prescribed fire near Quemado Lake will help restore meadow and forest habitats to benefit wildlife
SILVER CITY, NM, May 7, 2024 – The Quemado Ranger District is planning to use prescribed fire to treat approximately 2,755 acres of the Gila National Forest in the Slaughter Mesa area south and east of Quemado Lake as well as north and east of Sand Flat starting as early as May 14 as fuel and weather conditions and resource availability allow. The prescribed burn will occur in meadow and ponderosa pine forest habitats, targeting primarily grass and ladder fuels.
In meadow areas, fire will be used to consume grass and encroaching trees, helping to maintain open meadow habitats. In forested areas, fire will reduce surface fuels and ladder fuels by burning brush, stumps, logs, and dense pockets of younger trees, helping to restore an uneven-aged forest condition, while reducing ladder fuels that promote damaging crown fire.
"This prescribed burn is part of the Slaughter Mesa Restoration project that, overall, includes more than 31,000 acres of the Gila National Forest east and south of Quemado Lake," said Quemado District Ranger Randall Chavez. "We are collaborating with New Mexico Game and Fish on this project to improve wildlife habitat conditions in the project area. The project restores fire to fire-dependent ecosystems, increasing their resiliency and resistance to future fire, insect and disease infestation, and climate change." Learn more about the Slaughter Mesa Restoration project at Forest Service (usda.gov).
Some amount of wind is necessary to carry fire through the burn unit, promoting more complete consumption of targeted fuels to meet the objectives of the prescribed fire. The Slaughter Mesa prescribed burn is expected to last about one week, with approximately two to four days of ignitions. Smoke will be visible from New Mexico Highways 32, 12, and US 60 from Quemado, and Quemado Lake Estates, and will be heaviest during initial operations. Smoke output from more heavily forested areas in the interior of the burn unit should be expected for about a week, as fire consumes logs, stumps, and other heavier fuels.
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 or heart-disease should take precautionary measures. Air quality information and health protection measures are posted online at: NM Fire Info | Smoke Management. For more information contact Maribeth Pecotte atÂ
