New Mexico Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández is pressing the U.S. Forest Service for answers after the agency chose not to fully contain the Laguna Fire early on.
That fire continues to burn across Rio Arriba County.
It has scorched grazing lands, killed livestock, and put historic sites at risk.
The most recent report from forestry officials, issued this morning, had the Laguna Fire, 4 miles northeast of Gallina and 25 miles west of Abiquiu, at 55 percent contained and covering an area of just under 17,000 acres.
In a letter to Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz, Leger Fernández questioned key decisions made after the fire was sparked by lightning in late June.
She says her office was told the agency let the fire burn as part of its forest management strategy.
That decision, she says, treated the fire more like a controlled burn than an emergency.
Those statements are confirmed by the forest service’s July 10 report on the wildfire, including what the service called quote “strategic firing operations by utilizing both hand and aerial ignition.”
The Congresswoman called the results devastating.
She said ranchers in the area have shared photos of burned cattle—some dead, others so badly injured they can’t stand or nurse their calves.
Many animals are still missing.
These ranchers, she says, have grazed cattle in that area for generations.
Leger Fernández is asking the Forest Service why full containment wasn’t a priority.
In Tuesday’s letter to the federal agency chief, the congresswoman questioned whether recent staff cuts played a role in how the fire was managed.
She also asked about the degree of communication with with local ranchers, and what kind of compensation is available for those who’ve lost livestock.
Local forestry officials say they plan to comment on the congresswoman’s questions, but as if this broadcast, hadn’t yet issued a formal statement.
Beyond the ranchlands, the fire has also threatened homesteads, a church, and a nearby cemetery.
Leger Fernández compared the situation to the Hermit’s Peak and Calf Canyon Fire, a prescribed burn which ultimately went out of control and caused widespread damage and loss near Las Vegas.
