ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Bureau of Land Management Rio Puerco Field Office, in partnership with the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, will conduct aerial herbicide treatments across approximately 3,775 acres of BLM-managed lands in Sandoval and Cibola counties between now and November 30, 2026. The treatments will strengthen the health and resilience of the public lands to better support multiple use and mitigate wildfire risk.
Thinning treatments enhance native plant diversity by reducing dense stands of sagebrush, juniper trees and rabbitbrush, allowing native grasses, forbs and other herbaceous vegetation to thrive. The resulting ground cover helps stabilize soils, reduce erosion and strengthen wildlife habitat, rangeland conditions and watershed health.
Thinning also enhances ecosystem resilience and improves wildfire preparedness by lowering woody‑plant density, reducing the potential for rapid fire growth, re-introducing the possibility for prescribed fires and giving fire managers more flexibility when responding to wildfires.
During the treatment, a low‑flying aircraft will apply Tebuthiuron pellets—a soil‑activated herbicide that inhibits photosynthesis—directly onto dense brush. Because the product is delivered in pellet form, it remains within the treatment area and has minimal impact on desirable grasses and forbs. Once dissolved by precipitation, the pellets are absorbed into the soil to a depth of about two feet and taken up by the target plants' root systems, gradually reducing sagebrush, juniper trees and rabbitbrush density.
To protect sensitive areas, pellets will not be applied near waterways or on slopes greater than ten percent. Tebuthiuron has been used since the 1980s to manage sagebrush and juniper trees, with well‑documented effectiveness. BLM's goal is to reduce, not eradicate, these woody species; supporting healthier plant communities and more resilient landscapes overall.
For more information, please contact BLM Albuquerque District Project Coordinator Jeff Fassett at 575-838-1245 or Wildland Fire Service Fuels Manager Pete Rivera at 505-761-8943.
