Recent article from the New Mexican features TVCA’S FireWise

OUR VIEW: Communities are fireproofing and growing closer

The monsoon rains finally came as the seasons changed. The high-heat, low-humidity days of summer’s peak wildfire season passed.

Our communities this time mostly avoided major damage from the inevitable lightning-sparked forest blazes, though at least some Northern New Mexicans were subjected to evacuations and, more broadly, smoke as parts of our state’s vast wilderness went up in flames.

The risk of wildfires is something that doesn’t go away for long. It simply is part of our ancient, beautiful landscape.

The hazard is aggravated by a warming, drying climate here in the American Southwest and elsewhere.

Nationwide, a reported 8.4 million acres have burned this year. New Mexico saw the most active start to a wildfire season since 2021. Wildfire seasons have grown into wildfire years, and fires are burning hotter, faster and spreading farther.

Homeowners in what is called the “wildland/urban interface” are confronting higher insurance premiums and the need to take measures to lower the fear of catastrophe as best they can.

One action residents can take is to become part of a “fire adaptive ecosystem.” Various agencies are trying to build a grass-roots network in which neighbors collaborate to make their homes and properties less vulnerable to disaster.

“More important than answering the question ‘What can you do’ to reduce wildfire risk, is ‘What can we do?’ ” says the website of the Forest Stewards Guild, a Santa Fe-based nonprofit helping to promote the effort.

Technology is making it easier to formalize connections and make sharing resources easier. One useful approach: Residents in vulnerable subdivisions or areas where there is mutual concern are organizing “community chipper days.” Volunteers, or in some cases paid workers, cut excess woody vegetation and pile the potential wildfire fuel in locations where it can be fed it into a wood chipper.

Funding options vary, including microgrants supported by federal agencies, cost-sharing programs or sponsorships.

Rachel White has overseen three successful annual chipper days in Tesuque, the leafy community snuggled against the forest north of Santa Fe. As coordinator of the Firewise program for the Tesuque Valley Community Association, she uses email, flyers and appearances at gatherings to spread the word. Using grant funds for the main expense, her program hires a contractor to place a wood chipper next to the local firehouse, where there is room for unloading material and for piling chips, which residents are allowed to take for mulch.

According to agencies involved with these events, some communities opt for street-side service where a chipper moves through the area and neighbors stack woody debris at the roadside.

White notes that in some places, the local government provides free chipping services, even going as far as providing a roving service that visits properties that request it.

Eytan Krosilovsky, deputy director of the Forest Stewards Guild, says one first step for those interested in the idea is to visit the website of the Fire Adapted New Mexico Learning Network: facnm.org.

Community chipping days are a great way to get involved in mitigation efforts and continue the conversation about wildfire risks and proactive actions homeowners can take.

In addition to reducing fuels, these events strengthen neighborhood connections.

A community is never done with building wildfire resilience. There is no end point. But, once started, such efforts can enhance wildfire resilience for years to come.