Notes are Courtesy of Cordelia Rose

Tom Bird, NOAA meteorologist based in El Paso gave a presentation on historic and current weather trends for the state of New Mexico with a focus on our area here in the Gila as it pertains to forest fires.

He spoke of the El Nino effect on our current weather cycle and that the peak of our fire season (dry season) will be June 23 with the end of fire season coming around July 7. He stated that we are still in a typical drought cycle with high potential for lightning strikes this summer. 2016 featured a "bumper crop" of "carry over fine fuels." NOAA is predicting that our Monsoon Season will be dryer than normal with temperatures above average. The early melting of our snow pack in the Gila may bring on the Monsoons a bit earlier this year.

Directly as a result of the tragic deaths of a number of wild lands fire fighters in the past few years, Ann Casey, Head Ranger for the Glenwood District, announced that, as per a directive from her superiors, a new "Life First" Initiative will be put into place. That means that when a fire is spotted, an evaluation of potential risk for fire fighters will be heavily weighted when it comes to developing a plan to either fight a fire or allow it to burn. They will be implementing a "benefit to risk" balance of resources in assessing fire danger within any given fire situation.

Ann Casey asked for comments and/or questions from the audience. Questions and discussions included, among other things:
-+ prescription burns (Rx) and their timing

-+ different ways to share Rx burn information with the public

-+ is the Forest Service making good use of information and data gleaned from prior fires?

-+ a recommendation to utilize the "Southwest Fire Consortium" (http://swfireconsortium.org/ ) website for citizens to gather information on wildlands fires

Doug Boykin, with the NM State Forestry Department, gave a presentation on how his department is working in the area to obtain both state and federal funds to reclaim large acreage parcels to recreate viable landscapes and thin out excessive tree growth. They are in the process of locking together different projects with the Forest Service, the BLM and the State. This will create better grassland habitat for elk and antelope and create good fire containment areas in the event of forest fires.