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In This Issue Featured Article The Southwest's Top Research Needs Lessons Learned: La Niña Fires Recent Activities and News Upcoming Events Other Events in the Southwest Request for Proposals What's New

This article by the NACD forestry network about the growing costs of forest fires

This article by the National Fire Protection Association discussed the hidden costs of wildlife, and who eventually pays for them, and is accompanied by a three minutes YouTube video on the topic.

Link to home page for a 2015 US Forest Service Report

USFS Report released August 4, 2015

Firescience.gov Friday Flash eNews, Issue 229, December 8, 2017. Fact sheet and summary of fuel treatment findings from Joint fire Science Program studies.

Presentation by Molly Mowery and Robert Gray, NFPA Backyards and Beyond Wildland Fire Conference, November 2013

Report published by the Western Forestry Leadership Coalition, April 2010. Dr. Lisa Dale, lead author.

SCOPE OF SERVICES FOR THE ESTANCIA BASIN WATERSHED HEALTH, RESTORATION, AND MONITORING PROJECT - POST-FIRE MONITORING STUDY In April 2008, a large area of the Estancia Basin watershed was burned in the 13,709-acre Trigo wildfire. This burn area encompassed a large portion of the Cibola National Forest and also included 3,712 acres of private land on its eastern fringe. Fire creates significant impacts to watershed health, which in turn impacts water yield and groundwater recharge. Since three large wildfires (Ojo Peak, Trigo, and Big Spring) have now burned a considerable portion of the eastern slopes of the Manzano Mountains, the impacts of wildfire on Estancia Basin watershed health are likely significant. SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) is currently monitoring the effects of thinning treatments in the area as part of the Estancia Basin Watershed Health, Restoration and Monitoring Project since 2007. That project is overseen by the Estancia Basin Watershed Health, Restoration and Monitoring Steering Committee (Steering Committee), with funding from the New Mexico State Water Trust Board. The Steering Committee recently awarded SWCA additional funding to develop and implement post-fire monitoring to evaluate wildfire impacts to Estancia Basin watershed health. SWCA developed this proposed scope of services, task list, study plan, and budget that will investigate the impacts of wildfire on forest and watershed health, and to enhance our knowledge of forest disturbances and their impacts on hydrology of the Estancia Basin. Of the three major wildfires, Ojo Peak, Trigo, and Big Spring, SWCA has chosen to focus efforts on the Trigo fire. Replicated study sites across watersheds will be more comparable if they are located within an area that burned at about the same time. The Trigo fire also was the largest of the three, it was centrally located within the study region and relative to the existing forest thinning monitoring site, and it burned more watersheds than the other two .

This Landscape Restoration Strategy (LRS) was developed over seven months during 2014-2015 by the Taos Valley Watershed Coalition (TVWC). Coalition members manage or provide land use consultation on all of the adjoining jurisdictions within our focus area, which extends from the Rio Grande del Rancho on the south to the San Cristobal drainage on the north and also includes the Rio Fernando, Rio Pueblo, Rio Lucero, Rio Arroyo Seco, and Rio Hondo stream systems. Coalition members agree to focus on the goals of protecting, improving, and restoring the water quality, quantity, and ecological function of the forests and streams in the Rio Grande watershed within Taos County, to the benefit of both local and downstream water users. This LRS was developed by our membership to document our shared understanding of scientific data and community values, and to guide coordinated actions within our local watersheds.