At right, Diane Taliferro, Gila National Forest Silver District Ranger opened the conversation.

Below, other panelists included from left Silver City Fire Chief Tim Heidrick, Grant County Fire Management Officer Randy Villa, New Mexico Forestry's Tonya Vowles and BLM's Mark Bernal.

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy for www.grantcoutybeat.com 

The theme of this year's Wildland Urban Interface Summit is Re-energize Community Fire Response. The event is being put on by the New Mexico Association of Counties and is taking place through April 2 at Western New Mexico University's Global Resource Center.

The first presentation, after the welcome from local officials and presenters, featured Grant County and Silver City local projects and collaborations

Panelists included Gila National Forest SilverDistrict Ranger Diane Taliaferro, Mark Bernal of the Las Cruces office of the Bureau of Land Management, Tonya Vowles of New Mexico State Forestry, Grant County Fire ManagementOfficer Randy Villa and Silver City Fire Chief Tim Heidrick.

Taliaferro started out the conversation with a presentation on the upcoming Cameron Creek prescribed burn. "It will be on Forest Service lands just north of old Fort Bayard. We are working with private landowners, Forest Service personnel, Grant County and local residents."

She said pi+