Tentative Plans for Prescribed Fires on Carson National Forest Continue this Weekend.

Efforts to improve and maintain forest health continue this weekend. Here’s the latest.

ALAMOSA UNIT 1 (RIO ARRIBA COUNTY)

Fire crews will return Saturday to look for opportunities with weather and on-site conditions to continue treating the 4,500-acre prescribed fire unit north of El Rito.

Crews did not move forward with ignitions today due to poor ventilation. Instead, they monitored and patrolled the fire as it slowly moved across on the forest floor consuming surface fuels (see above photo from today).

Approximately 2,100 acres have been treated to date.

More information about this project is on InciWeb.

 McCRYSTAL ROCK UNIT (VALLE VIDAL)

After treating 4,000 acres with prescribed fire in October (see above photo), crews are planning to return to the 6,333-acre McCrystal Rock Unit in Valle Vidal on Saturday, Nov. 11. Ignitions will ultimately depend on weather and on-site conditions.

The remaining 2,333 acres are located north of Forest Road 1950 between a half mile east of McCrystal Campground and Windy Gap.

More information about this project can be found on InciWeb.

THE BIG PICTURE

The USDA Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy combines a historic investment of congressional funding with years of scientific research and planning into a national effort that will dramatically increase the scale and pace of forest health treatments over the next decade.

Both of these projects fit into the strategy through large landscape-scale efforts.

Alamosa Unit 1 is within the Rio Chama Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project, which covers 3.8 million acres in Northwern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. It aims improve the health of the Rio Chama and Rio Grande watersheds, among many other goals.

The McCrystal Rock Unit is within the Enchanted Circle Landscape, which covers 1.5 million acres in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where some of the highest risk firesheds in the nation are located. The strategy seeks to reduce wildfire risk to people, communities and natural resources while sustaining and restoring healthy, resilient fire-adapted forests.