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O'Donnell, Frances C., 2016. ERI Working Paper No. 37. Ecological Restoration Institute and the Southwest Fire Science Consortium, Northern Arizona University, November 2016

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.

The USDA Office of Sustainability and Climate Change posted a 2-hour introduction to upcoming opportunities related to drought and water challenges. The aim is to engage Forest Service employees and partners in planning for and adapting to the impacts of drought and other water challenges in the face of a changing climate.

Presentation on two TNC initiatives: the Rio Grande Water Fund and the proposed Burned Area Learning Network. Presented by Anne Bradley to the state Coordinating Group and NM Drought Task Force Watershed Management Subcommittee at their April 21, 2014 quarterly meeting.

PowerPoint presentation (PDF version). Presented by Mary Stuever, NM State Forestry Chama District Forester at Preparing for Large Wildfires in New Mexico workshop series, April 2018.

An unprecedented 40-year experiment in a 40,000 acre valley of Yosemite National Park strongly supports the idea that managing fire, rather than suppressing it, makes wilderness areas more resilient to fire, with the added benefit of increased water availability and resistance to drought. After a three-year assessment of the Park's Illilouette Creek Basin, UC Berkeley researchers concluded that a strategy dating to 1973 of managing wildfires with minimal suppression and almost no prescribed burns has created a landscape more resistant to catastrophic fire, with more diverse vegetation, forest structure and increased water storage. "When fire is not suppressed, you get all these benefits: increased stream flow, increased downstream water availability, increased soil moisture, which improves habitat for the plants in the watershed. And it increases the drought resistance of the remaining trees and also increases the fire resilience because you have created these natural firebreaks," said Gabrielle Boisramé, graduate student at UC Berkeley's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and first author of the study. The Cohesive Wildland Fire Strategy supports management of fires where possible. Managing fires is part of the Cohesive Strategy vision: to safely and effectively suppress fires, use fire where allowable, manage our natural resources, and as a Nation, live with wildland fire. Read the full article and find the published study at: ttp://wildfireinthewest.blogspot.com/2016/10/wildfire-management-vs-suppression.html.