Removing Barriers to Prescribed Fire on Private Lands in New Mexico

Written by Sarah DeMay

In 2021, the New Mexico State Legislature passed the Prescribed Burning Act (HB0057, “the Act”). This statute is intended to reduce barriers to prescribed burning on private lands, a mandate that aligns with the goals of the Forest Stewards Guild fire and fuels programs. The Act has the potential to be truly impactful in this largely rural state dominated by fire-adapted and fire-prone landscapes where decades of fire-suppression have allowed vegetation and dead and down fuels to accumulate, and where high-severity wildfire is subsequently a very real and increasingly emergent threat to forests, watersheds, communities and landowners. 

For many New Mexicans, prescribed fire (especially pile burning) is accessible, affordable, and often the only tool readily available for reducing hazardous fuels around their homes and on their own lands. 

The Act gives landowners in New Mexico the legal right to burn and provides for programs to reduce barriers, such as streamlining the burn permitting process, clarified liability, and the institution of a training and state certification program for prescribed burn managers: Prescribed Burning – Forestry. 

Guild staff from the Southwest office have worked closely with the New Mexico Forestry Division (EMNRD) in the development and roll-out of the Act since 2019. This work began with the initial working group that crafted the legislation and we continue to be actively engaged, making significant contributions within the Model Burn Permit working group, development of burn plan templates, and within the training and certification program; the very first Certified Pile Burn Managers in New Mexico were, in fact, both Southwest Office staff members Sarah DeMay (myself) and Sam Berry. This adds up to over five years of involvement in policy and program development, but with little to no tangible results.

What we really wanted to do was put the Act to work, and get some actual burning done in 2024. We needed a piece of private land with piles to burn, people willing to work through a brand-new training and certification program, and an insufficient burn permitting process. It just so happened that I had this very scenario right next door to my home in the Jemez mountains in northern New Mexico. 

Pajarito Mountain Ski Area encompasses around 800 acres of private land nestled within the Jemez Mountains and overlooking the town of Los Alamos and the adjacent National Lab. 

Forests within the ski area include both severely burned and unburned north-facing mixed conifer forest intermixed with cleared ski runs and surrounded by USFS, NPS, and county lands. Much of the area has been impacted by multiple high-severity wildfires over the past two and a half decades. Dead and down fuel loads are high and the work of cutting snags and fallen trees out of trails and ski runs never ends.   

The Pajarito Mountain Volunteer Chainsaw Crew works year-round to keep the area skiable and safe.  Any wood they can’t take as firewood or leave on the ground, they stack for winter pile burning.  Snow, colder temperatures, and higher humidities reduce fire behavior, making winter pile burning safe, affordable, and accessible.   

Volunteers have been building and burning piles at Pajarito for 80 years! 

This is a true hometown, volunteer-built ski area that depends on community engagement for survival.  These folks love to ski, snowboard, hike, and bike, but they also love caring for the forest.  Clearing and reducing dead and down fuels is dual purpose– both for recreation and for hazard fuel mitigation and forest health.  Pajarito Mountain is the heart and soul of this community, and these volunteers are its stewards, keeping the forest healthy and safe and giving the gift of winter sports to future generations.

Over these eight decades, however, both the natural and political climates have changed significantly in northern New Mexico, and prescribed fire practitioners, the Pajarito crew included, have had to adapt.  With warmer weather, extended periods of drought, and heavy accumulations of vegetation and dead and down fuels, firefighters are increasingly faced with extreme fire behavior that exceeds what can be anticipated based on experience and training.  Prescribed fire, although typically used under conditions that produce low to moderate fire behavior that can be readily controlled, has also become more high-risk and difficult to accomplish.  Federal agencies have had high-profile and destructive escapes that remain at the forefront of both New Mexico’s epic vistas and collective memory.   

Not surprisingly, public support for prescribed fire has waned in recent years. Burn permitting and approval processes have become increasingly challenging due to an increase in perceived risk, liability, and the potentially catastrophic results of an escape. Luckily, many landowners and fire managers still understand that the risks associated with prescribed burning are often much lower than the risk of not burning. 

Being a local skier, it came to my attention in late fall of 2024 that Pajarito had dozens of unburned piles still sitting in the middle of ski runs with less than a month to go before the typical beginning of ski season. The situation was this: Pajarito needed to burn the piles prior to ski season for safety and the viability of the business, yet the Fire Marshal acknowledged that the Los Alamos Fire Department did not have the appropriate prescribed fire qualifications or expertise to accurately assess risk and planning for the purpose of burn permitting. I saw this impasse as an opportunity to put the Act and my new certification as a Certified Pile Burn Manager to work in a way that would benefit both Pajarito Mountain Ski Area and the community.

I invited the Los Alamos Fire Marshal to the Model Burn Permit Working Group and sent him the draft version of the permit and the original legislation. In consultation with the County Attorney, it was decided that the draft model permit was adequate if used in tandem with the burn plan template and the Pile Burn Certification and training. Luckily, a proactive Pajarito volunteer had also already completed the training and requested his Prescribed Burn Manager Workbook. He agreed to work through the Pile Burn Plan template and towards Pile Burn Manager certification. This extra effort and dedication to safety gave the Fire Marshal not only a viable process but also the confidence to issue a prescribed burn permit. 

The Pajarito Pile Burn went off without a hitch just before the holidays in late December 2024. Volunteers were able to burn dozens of piles over two days, reducing hazardous fuels and increasing enjoyment and safety for skiers and snowboarders.

And, after observation of burn planning and operations, I was able to sign off the first New Mexico Certified Pile Burn Manager workbook, recommending Brian Foley, Pajarito Chainsaw and Pile Burn Crew volunteer for 30 years, for final certification. “This example is newsworthy as one of the first in the state of New Mexico” says Wendy Servey, Los Alamos Deputy Fire Chief of Operations, adding that “with the collaboration of many… we can all rest a bit easier.”

The progressive legislation, hard work, and collaborative effort that went into building the foundation for the successful implementation of this burn, and hopefully many more, is a ray of hope. This success can, and must, light the way for many more small but significant steps towards increased landscape and community resilience to high-severity wildfire in New Mexico. 

Brian Foley successfully planned and managed the 2024 Pajarito Winter Pile Burn, becoming the first to complete both the training and the workbook. He is now a New Mexico Certified Pile Burn Manager. Photo credit: Pajarito Volunteer Chainsaw Crew.