DEL NORTE- The Rio Grande National Forest (RGNF) has been busy these last few weeks getting ready to begin work on the newly acquired building in Del Norte and will be conducting business as usual over the next few months. According to Public Affairs Officer Gregg Goodland some construction on the new building may begin in the next few days.

“This is what I referred to as the second phase of our move to Del Norte. We are not in the building at this time and have plans to be in the facility by 2022. A contractor began the removal and mitigation of the potentially hazardous materials last week. There will be activity in the building for several months. We don’t anticipate this activity to affect traffic or anything outside.”

Along with working to make their big move, the RGNF is also paying close attention to drought conditions here in the forest areas throughout the Valley. “Typical fall moisture has not materialized so the RGNF remains in Stage 1 fire restriction. Conditions on the forest are definitely dry. One of the factors we constantly evaluate shows the level of burn intensity in the 97th percentile. This means that if a fire were to get started, it would have a significantly higher resistance to control than normal. We have continued patrolling the forest with both fire and law enforcement personnel. Fire resources remain ready to respond to smoke reports.”

When asked if the current conditions of the forest increase the chances of a wildfire in this area Goodland stated, “In terms of the dead trees being on the forest, this does not inherently increase the risk of wildfires. However, it can contribute to how intense a wildfire may burn once started. There are two considerations here. First, if the dead trees are standing and still have needles on them, they have a higher probability to support faster growth in a crown fire. (A fire burning in the tree canopies.) Once the needles have dropped that risk is significantly reduced. That doesn’t mean that the area would not support a fire though.”

Goodland continued, “Second, the large accumulation of dead fuels will often support a more intense surface fire that is very resistant to control efforts. They may also promote the transition of a ground fire to a crown fire. In addition, these fuels have the potential to burn longer, which can prolong the amount of time a wildfire will burn in one area.”

Goodland also explained that due to current conditions, RGNF will not be conducting any controlled burns and will keep the forest in stage one fire restrictions until conditions change. “The RGNF plans to continue all operations as normal during the winter months. Under the current conditions, we are not considering any prescribed fires. As conditions improve, we will evaluate our projects and proceed when our chances for success are optimum. We have several ongoing logging operations and plan to continue those as normal.”

As far as any new project for the coming winter months, Goodland said that the department did have some projects that will take priority. “All new projects initiated on the RGNF will proceed under the guidance of the new Land Management Plan. The upcoming Lujan Pass, Poncha Pass and Trail Gulch Vegetation Management projects will be the first ones to be initiated under the new plan. These projects are planned to begin in early 2021. We will notify the public when those processes begin.”