Cameron Creek project includes portion of Fort Bayard area trail system
SILVER CITY, NM, April 10, 2024 – The Gila National Forest, Silver City Ranger District is assessing conditions in preparation for burning the 2,010-acre Cameron Creek Prescribed Fire project. Given suitable conditions, crews hope to ignite portions of the planned prescribed fire unit as early as the week of April 15. An area closure will be in effect during the prescribed fire. The exact date of ignition will depend on weather and fuels conditions and firefighting resource availability.
“Fire will be used to consume live and dead vegetation within the project area, opening gaps in the canopy,” said Silver City District Ranger Elizabeth Toney. “The pinon pine, juniper, and oak fuel type requires relatively dry fuel conditions and light winds to carry fire into and through the fuels in order to achieve project objectives.”
The project will be completed in two phases. This first phase will apply fire along the project perimeter to reduce and eliminate fuels near roads and trails to be used as holding features and bolster the containment lines. During phase two, a helitorch will be used for aerial ignitions to introduce fire to the interior of the project area. Phase two is expected to take place during late May or early June of 2024, depending on resource availability and weather conditions. The purpose of the project is to enhance wildlife habitat diversity using fire to create a mosaic burn pattern. Fire is not expected to touch every acre of the project area. As a secondary benefit, use of prescribed fire in this area will reduce hazardous fuels and fire intensities if a wildfire were to occur, protecting private infrastructure in the wildland urban interface. Prescribed fire was last implemented in the Cameron Creek unit in the spring of 2016. In this fire-adapted ecosystem, repeat entries with fire are necessary in order to maintain habitat attributes over time.
The Cameron Creek project is located along the west side of Grant County Road 1-152/Forest Road 536. For public safety, trail guards will direct visitors away from the prescribed fire project. They will be in place at Big Tree Trailhead and Service Corral Trailhead, as well as at road and trail junctions along Trails #727 Fence Line, #758 Cornell Ranch, #755 Big Tree, #55 Woodhaul Wagon Road, #756 Stevens Ranch, Forest Road 110, and Grant County Road 1-152 (please see the attached map).
Smoke production from the prescribed fire is expected to be minimal and localized. Smoke may persist for several days following completion of ignitions. It will be visible from U.S. Highway 180, New Mexico Highway 152, and the communities of Arenas Valley, City of Bayard, and Santa Clara. Smoke will be monitored to ensure that the New Mexico Environment Department’s Air Quality Bureau’s regulations are met. Smoke-sensitive individuals and those with respiratory or heart-disease should take precautionary measures. Air quality information and health protection measures are posted online at: NM Fire Info | Smoke Management.
For more information contact Maribeth Pecotte at 575-388-8211 or Maribeth.Pecotte@usda.gov .