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  • wildfire Wildfire
  • prescribed fire Prescribed Fire
  • burned area emergency response Burned Area Response
  • other type Other

Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon BAER

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Unit Information

Santa Fe National Forest 
New Mexico 
Santa Fe, 
New Mexico 
87508 
Santa Fe National Forest 
New Mexico 
Santa Fe, 
New Mexico 
87508 

Incident Contacts

  • BAER Information
    Phone:
    970-200-6195
    Hours:
    8am-8pm
  • BAER Information
    Phone:
    707-853-4243
  • Santa Fe National Forest Public Affairs
    Email:
    SM.FS.sfnfpao@usda.gov
    Phone:
    505-438-5320

BAER AERIAL SEEDING & MULCHING TREATMENTS SET TO BEGIN

Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon BAER
Publication Type: News 08/12/2022
FOREST SERVICE BAER AERIAL SEEDING & MULCHING TREATMENTS SET TO BEGIN FOR THE HERMITS PEAK-CALF CANYON FIRE AREA
 
August 12, 2022- The Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team will begin aerial seeding and mulching treatments on National Forest System (NFS) lands in the south-central portion of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire on August 14, 2022. Rampart Helicopter Services was awarded the contract and will be working closely with the BAER team to implement the planned seeding and mulching treatments.  
 
The BAER assessment team has identified priority treatment areas within the fire perimeter with moderate to high soil burn severity. Seeding and mulching will help intercept rainfall and increase on-slope storage of water and sediment. This treatment will help stabilize hillsides impacted by the fire to reduce post-fire runoff and mitigate erosion in the Gallinas Creek and Tecolote Creek watersheds on NFS lands. Mulching will also help protect the newly applied seeds and retain moisture on the burned slopes to facilitate quick vegetative recovery of the treatment areas. While this treatment will provide positive impacts to the ecological health of the impacted watersheds, heavy monsoonal rains are still expected in the fire area and flooding is still possible.

Aerial seeding treatments will be implemented on up to 8,120 acres on NFS lands and mulching with seeding treatments will be implemented on up to 1,280 acres of NFS land to the north/northwest of Las Vegas, NM. Helicopters will distribute approximately 138 tons of seed and 5,440 tons of mulch. The seed mix includes native species and a non-persistent annual barley. This treatment is expected to take approximately 30 days, weather permitting.

Heavy equipment and truck traffic will be present in Gallinas Canyon along State Route 65 and the Johnson Mesa Road (Forest Road 156). Motorists are advised to use extreme caution in the Gallinas Canyon corridor. For current SFNF closures, please visit the SFNF website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/santafe/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprd3802009 or InciWeb at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/closures/8069/. 
 
BAER teams focus on emergency actions necessary to protect human life and safety, property, and natural and cultural resources, including affected watersheds. BAER assessments identify unacceptable risks on federal lands from post-fire threats and help land managers prepare burned areas for potential threats from rainstorms. Executive summaries of the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Phase 1 & 2 Assessment Reports can be found on the BAER team’s InciWeb page at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8104/.

BAER SAFETY MESSAGE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains and increased water runoff. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events – be prepared to act. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website:  www.weather.gov/abq/.
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