2011 Wildland Fire Season in New Mexico -Forests and Woodlands Dr. Douglas Cram New Mexico State...

2011 Wildland Fire Season in New Mexico-Forests and Woodlands

Dr. Douglas CramNew Mexico State University

Photo Credit: NOAA

Composite Satellite Image 2011 (NOAA)

NOAA Satellite Image June 20, 2011

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Photo by John Fowler

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Photo by Kristen Hornig

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Photo by Kristen Hornig

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Photo by Morgan Petroski

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Photo by Burt Stalter

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

2011 Large SW Forest Fires

White – 10,356 acresLas Chance – 53,342Miller – 88,835Horseshoe 2 – 222,954Mayhill – 31,861Wallow, AZ – 538,049Track – 27,792Wallow, NM – 15,407Pacheco – 10,250Las Conchas – 156, 593Lookout – 22,687

Total – 1,178,126 acres

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000NM Wildland Fire Data 2002 - 2011

Acre

s

Num

ber o

f Fire

s

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Burn Severity Mapping

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Las Conchas Burn Severity

• High 28,470 ac 25%• Moderate 39,910 ac 36%• Low 43,450 ac 39%

“Not all of the acreage within the fire perimeters burned severely and in fact much was unburned or burned only at low and moderate severity.”

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Low, Moderate, or High?

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Low, Moderate, or High?

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Low, Moderate, or High?

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Low, Moderate, or High?

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Moderate Burn Severity

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Moderate Burn Severity

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Las Conchas Burn Severity

• High 28,470 ac 25%• Moderate 39,910 ac 36%• Low 43,450 ac 39%

“…much of these areas burned as we would expect them to…”

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

41 trees135 years

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

475+ yrs old32+ fires

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Range Improvement Task ForceCooperative Extension Service / Agricultural Experiment Station College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Doug Cram dcram@nmsu.edu

575-646-8130