Fire Season in NM; Planting Seeds in a Burn Scar

This week on New Mexico in Focus, we dig into this year’s ongoing fire season. In 2022, the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire burned more than 340,000 acres of spruce, fir and ponderosa pine. Today, recovery for the forest in the burn scar remains a work in progress. Correspondent Elizabeth Miller takes us to one of many replanting sites and speaks with two researchers who are working to restore the area’s canopy.

Since New Mexico’s fire season began this spring, about 25 local jurisdictions have imposed some level of fire restriction. In May, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency due to the state’s severe drought and increased fire risk. Source New Mexico reporter Patrick Lohmann speaks with State Forester Laura McCarthy about how New Mexico officials are preparing for this year’s wildfire season – and the recovery efforts of the future.

Host Nash Jones sits down with two members of the Santa Fe-based nonprofit Forest Stewards Guild to talk about their use of prescribed burns and rebuilding public trust in that often-controversial forest-management tool. 

Host: Nash Jones 

Segments: 
Planting Seeds in a Burn Scar
Correspondent: Elizabeth Miller
Photojournalists: Joey Dunn & Manny Valdez
Editor: Lou DiVizio
Guests:
Andrei Toca, Research Scientist, John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center, New Mexico State University
Christopher Marsh, Research Scientist, Center for Fire Resilient Ecosystems and Society, University of New Mexico

What NM Officials Expect from the 2025 Fire Season
Correspondent: Patrick Lohmann
Guest: Laura McCarthy, State Forester, New Mexico Forestry Division

Forest Stewards Guild Talks Prescribed Burns and Resiliency in NM
Correspondent: Nash Jones
Guests:
Eytan Krasilovsky, Deputy Director, Forest Stewards Guild
Maya Hilty, Fireshed Coordinator, Forest Stewards Guild