Santa Fe National Forest officials encountered strong opposition last night to a plan for four prescribed burns during the upcoming season.
About 25 members of the community raised objections about the potential hazards of setting fires intended to lower the chances of catastrophic wildfires in the future.
The North Aztec Springs Unit, in the northwest section of the forest is a 647-acre broadcast burn, far eclipsing the size of the other planned projects.
Two of the state’s largest wildfires in history—the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon fire of 2022 and the Cerro Grande Fire, in 2000— both started as prescribed burns that went out of control and torched miles of landscape and hundreds of buildings.
Citing worry about incidents like those recurring, community members also talked about the potential damage to old growth trees and wildlife.
Area residents often interrupted fire officials during the presentation and implored them to seek alternative approaches.
After the meeting, Santa Fe resident Sam Hitt said that he believes a better strategy would be to prepare people and their homes for potential wildfires.
“This is a misdirected federal policy and instead of cutting a bunch of trees, making piles, doing burning in the back country, they should be helping homeowners that are in harm's way to protect their homes and protect their lives," Hitt said.
Forest service fuels program manager Rian Ream explained during a presentation that fire teams have refined a number of precautionary techniques since the Hermit’s Peak / Calf Canyon blaze.
Ream said that any day’s work will only proceed if weather conditions are deemed safe, and if federal agencies have given the go-ahead.
There will be more firefighting personnel on site than in the past and more involved efforts around mop-up and control.
Despite these assurances, tempers flared among audience members until the man who lives nearest to the North Aztec project, Jai Lakshman, provided a more balanced view.
"I don't necessarily agree with the forest service. I take great honor and respect in getting to know the human beings that are trying to do the best they can," Lakshman said.
"Because I'll tell you what—in the event that there was a lightning strike, or the event that there was a fire—and I've had two right next to my property in the last 12 months—these would be the people we'd be begging to help us. So there's no perfect solution."
The North Aztec burn is scheduled to begin in mid October.
