BLM Plans Prescribed Burn South of Roswell, Late May-Early June

Roswell, N.M. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning to conduct an approximately 4,500-acre prescribed burn, located 20 miles southwest of Roswell and south of Highway 13, in late May and early June, weather permitting.

This project, named the Westside NW Prescribed Fire, is part of a restoration effort to improve rangeland health and reduce accumulation of vegetation that poses a fire hazard throughout the region.  If conditions, including weather, do not meet pre-determined parameters, the burn will be attempted on another day.

Smoke may be visible from Roswell, U.S. Highway 285, U.S. Highway 13, Dexter, Hagerman, Artesia, and surrounding areas.  Measures will be taken to reduce the amount of smoke created by the prescribed fire, and operations will be suspended early enough in the day to allow much of the smoke to dissipate before nightfall.  Signs to alert the public of the burn operations will be posted and public access into the project area is discouraged.

For more information on the specific locations, call Alamogordo Dispatch at 575-437-2286 or the BLM at 575-234-5972.  For more information on the BLM prescribed fire program, call Fire Management Specialist Matias Telles at (575) 644-4431.