Author
Agriculture department offers help to those who lost livestock, pasture, trees or bees in NM wildfires
The United States Agriculture Department recently released a list of resources to farmers, growers and ranchers affected by the New Mexico wildfires. Biden approves disaster funding for NM wildfires: Here’s how to apply and what it covers About 3,800 adults who live within the Santa Fe National Forest boundaries are employed on farms, according to […]
Governor promises a temporary halt to prescribed burns while wildfires rage in New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Tuesday that it was “negligent” for the United States Forest Service to ignite a prescribed burn in early April, and that she has received assurances that there will be no more prescribed burns in New Mexico in the short-term — at least not while fires continue to rage […]
Forecasts showed 25 mph gusts on the day U.S. Forest Service ignited prescribed burn
The Santa Fe National Forest team that ignited a prescribed burn last month reviewed forecasts beforehand that predicted wind gusts up to 25 mph and very low humidity, according to National Weather Service records. U.S. forestry staff lit the fire anyway and lost control of their burn. It went on to become the Hermits Peak […]
U.S. Forest Service defends prescribed burn that caused Hermits Peak fire
A United States Forest Service spokesperson said the prescribed burn that got out of control to become the Hermits Peak fire is a rare occurrence, and she defended prescribed burns as a necessary risk required to protect the nation’s forests. The service is also conducting a “review” of Las Dispensas prescribed burn April 6 south […]
Biden approves disaster funding for NM wildfires: Here’s how to apply and what it covers
President Joe Biden declared the ongoing wildfires in New Mexico a major disaster yesterday, and the categorization releases federal funding for people who’ve been impacted in recent weeks. The money comes after a request from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who said such funding could be nearly “unlimited” depending on the hardships faced by those in […]
Cerro Grande fire expert: Feds doing a prescribed burn in spring ‘extremely risky’
The guy who literally wrote the book on the destructive Cerro Grande fire in New Mexico said federal officials ignored the notorious blaze’s lessons when they decided to ignite a prescribed burn on a windy April day this year, sparking what’s now known as the Hermits Peak fire. “It’s clear that it was an extremely […]
NM governor to the feds: Stop igniting prescribed burns in windy, dry conditions
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is calling on the federal government to change its rules around prescribed burns after one such blaze grew out of control in early April. It’s contributed to one of the biggest fires in state history that today is threatening homes, farms, villages and cities. What’s now known as the […]
With 20 active fires in a single April day, N.M. braces for longer, more dangerous season
Caught between three wildfires, Adam Torres and his mother, Josephine, sped east on an empty northern New Mexico highway on Saturday afternoon, allowing themselves a breather only when towering pillars of smoke were finally in their rearview mirrors. They stopped their caravan of trucks and a trailer carrying four horses, 20 chickens and a cat, […]
Weather service warns of ‘dire’ fire risk today, citing high winds and drought
The National Weather Service in Albuquerque issued a special warning Friday and through the weekend about fire risk, citing a perfect storm of weather conditions amid a climate-change-caused drought. “We have a dire and very dangerous weather situation on our hands today,” said Todd Shoemake, an NWS meteorologist, during a briefing Friday morning. Winds across […]
Candidate fundraising reports show competitive primary races ahead
Recently released campaign finance reports show several close primaries shaping up across New Mexico later this summer, and a battle is already playing out between Democrats campaigning as either moderate or progressive, and vying for certain seats. A review of Secretary of State records shows candidates are competing in primaries in at least 29 of […]
Where’s my rebate? NM tax department provides more details on payments
New Mexicans can expect their first rebate payments sometime in June, according to new details on a recently enacted program to offset high gas prices and other rising living costs. The state’s Taxation and Revenue Department specified earlier this week that the first of two rebate payments will arrive sometime in June. (May was previously […]
Two years into the pandemic, a chance for collective grief at Chimayó
Pilgrims returned to El Santuario de Chimayó by the thousands on Good Friday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. The pilgrimage to a small chapel in Northern New Mexico resumes a 200-year-old tradition and, for some, it was a chance to collectively walk through some of the grief they’ve deferred over the […]