Due to recent moisture making roads impassable, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Rio Puerco Field Office was not able to conduct prescribed burn operations on approximately 300 acres within the Ignacio Chavez and Chamisa Wilderness Study Areas. Staff will now conduct the burn anytime until the end of April, weather permitting. The area, known as Mesa Chivato, is west of Highway 550 and approximately 15 miles southwest of San Luis, New Mexico. During the burn, signs alerting the public to the prescribed fire will be posted along BLM Road 1103. Smoke may be visible from Highway 550.
Vegetation in the area consists primarily of ponderosa pine, piñon, and juniper trees. The goal of this project is to reduce tree density and thereby reduce the potential of catastrophic wildfire.
For information about this, and other prescribed burn operations, as well as wildland fire updates please visit www.nmfireinfo.com.
For additional information about this planned burn, please contact Fire Management Officer Todd Richards at 505-761-8769 or Fuels Specialist Zach Saavedra at 505-761-8963.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
