County overhauls fire plan

The Cibola County Emergency Management Office is working to develop a community wildfire plan to reduce wildfires in high-risk areas. Homes near forested areas like this one in Lobo Canyon and others in areas such as Fence Lake and Oso Ridge may be at an increased risk for wildfire danger. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Plans are under way to complete a "Community Wildfire Plan" that will identify projects to reduce or eliminate wildfire risks to those living in high risk areas, said Peggy Jordan, Cibola County emergency management coordinator.

The emergency management office has received a $46,500 grant to write a wildfire plan that is due to the New Mexico Association of Counties by June 15, she said.

The funding came from the association and the BLM.

"We are meeting with a contractor we hired to write the plan," Jordan said. "We are trying to determine whether new areas that are popping up in the county have sufficient water and roads for fire engines to get into areas where homes are being built. These areas include Fence Lake and previously established areas like Oso Ridge, Lobo Canyon and the Zunis."

The emergency management office will also meet with what Jordan calls a "core" group of participants, the county's fire chiefs, and federal partners: The U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, BLM and BIA.

"We are also meeting with representatives from the Pueblos (Acoma, Laguna) so that we know what projects they are working on as well," she said.

There will be public hearings for residents of high risk wildfire areas, she said, between now and the end of April, but no times or dates have yet been determined.

The federal government is doing a great deal of work in the national forests, part of the "Healthy Forest Initiative," she said.

"They are ridding the forest of trees that are bug infested and dead trees. They often allow people to pick up wood for their fireplaces," she said.

"What we don't want to happen is that all the work that is being done by the federal government to stop at the fenceline where private property begins.

"We want to get as much public input as we can to build the plan," she said.

The federal government is telling state and local governments that it wants more bang for its buck; so it is requiring plans for projects that need to be funded prior to allowing that funding, Jordan said.

"With this plan in place, we will be eligible for funding for future projects that reduce the wildfire possibilities in the county," she said.

— To contact reporter Jim Tiffin, call (505) 287-2197, or e-mail: jimtiffin1@msn.com.