Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández concerned about Laguna Fire management

The Laguna Fire has burned more than 16,000 acres in the Santa Fe National Forest, and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández wants answers about the Forest Service’s fire management decisions.

“The fire is currently destroying thousands of acres of the Santa Fe National Forest and has killed and maimed the livestock of local ranchers in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico,” Leger Fernández wrote in a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz on Monday.

The 3rd Congressional District congresswoman questioned if staff cuts played a role in the fire’s management and said northern New Mexico has lost trust in the agency’s wildfire decision-making after the 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire.

The Laguna Fire began on June 25 after a lightning strike. Because it was a low-intensity fire, initially the Forest Service built a 13,000-acre perimeter around the fire, meant to contain the fire and let it burn fuel. The Laguna Fire has never lacked sufficient staffing, according to Santa Fe National Forest spokeswoman Claudia Brookshire.

“What we know from decades of fire management is that if we fail to take advantage of opportunities to reduce fuels when we can, it only compounds future risk, resulting in larger, more destructive wildfires down the road,” Brookshire said in a statement.

Burning fuel in a low-intensity fire is meant to protect the long-term health of the watershed by preventing future extreme fires, and burning under conditions that won’t lead to long-term negative outcomes such as flooding.

That strategy appeared to be working, as on July 10 fire managers had achieved most of their fuel reduction goals, stopped backburns and contained the fire at just over 11,000 acres, according to the agency. On July 11, embers jumped over containment lines, igniting a spot fire near Laguna Peak. Then a thunderstorm brought in winds, making the fire on Laguna Peak more extreme. It rapidly grew by 3,000 acres. So, the Forest Service shifted strategies to contain the wildfire with full suppression. On Tuesday, the fire was 55% contained.

“The blaze killed and maimed livestock in its path, devastating the livelihoods of local ranchers who have grazed cattle on French Mesa and other adjacent forest lands for over a century,” wrote Leger Fernández, D-New Mexico.

Even before the strategy change, Robert Vigil was upset by the Forest Service’s decisions after at least 10 of his cattle were killed and more maimed by the fire.

“Our herd’s completely destroyed. Our way of life, our heritage, is completely destroyed,” Vigil said.

On July 2, he attended a community meeting where people with permits to graze cattle on national forest land were told the Forest Service planned to do a backburn, a common fire management strategy, east of Forest Road 8.

The next week, there was a backburn west of Forest Road 8, trapping Vigil’s cattle between a fire and a fence they couldn’t escape. Vigil said he was given no notice there would be a fire west of Forest Road 8.

“They admitted to giving out the wrong information, and at no time did they tell us to move our cattle, that they were going to burn west of Forest Road 8,” Vigil said.

According to Brookshire, all grazing permittees were given an overall perimeter map ahead of the backburns, which included burns east and west of Forest Road 8. Permittees were also given a map showing fire operations for a specific day with the backburn east of Forest Road 8, she said.

“Unfortunately, that map they’re referring to was an operations map, meant to show where they were occurring that day, so they could make plans that day,” Brookshire said.

Brookshire said the Forest Service is in daily contact with grazing permittees and has also communicated with land grants and tribes in the area. Permittees who lost livestock due to the fire have been asked to submit a claim for financial compensation. The agency has also been helping relocate cattle, finding hay supply options and veterinary services, she said.

Schultz intends to respond to Leger Fernández’s letter, Brookshire said.