Santa Fe, NM – The New Mexico Environment Department's Air Quality Bureau will be hosting their Annual Smoke Management Meeting for the southern part of the state in Socorro on Tuesday, February 12, 2013 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the Bureau of Land Management, Socorro Field Office, 901 South Highway 85. The meeting for the northern part of the state will be held in Santa Fe on Thursday, February 14, 2013 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm at the Toney Anaya Building, 2550 Cerrillos Road on the second floor in the Rio Grande Conference Room.

An annual meeting is held each year in order to bring together people who use or are affected by the New Mexico Smoke Management Program. This program was developed to protect the health and welfare of New Mexicans from the impacts of smoke from all sources of fire. Participants include federal, state, county and municipal fire managers and private citizens who participate in the program to conduct prescribed burns and manage wildfires. Presenters at this year's meeting will discuss Smoke Management updates, purpose, expectations, smoke tools, and smoke emissions. There will also be presentations about some of the larger upcoming 2013 prescribed burns. Anyone interested in New Mexico's smoke management program is invited to attend.

For more information about this meeting, please visit: http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/aqb/SMP/smp_index.html
You may also contact Rita Bates at 505-476-4304 or by email at rita.bates@state.nm.us.