Forest Service admits it caused ANOTHER major New Mexico forest fire

The US Forest Service is admitting after months of delay that it caused yet another big New Mexico forest fire. Already the agency has admitted it caused both the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon fires, but as a recent Albuquerque Journal article pointed out, they had been reluctant to take the blame for the 2022 Cerro Pelado which happened in the Jemez Mountains in Santa Fe National Forest. The fire burned 45,605 acres.

The Agency has officially admitted it caused the fire via a prescribed burn.

For more than a decade the Rio Grande Foundation has argued that the federal government does a poor job of managing its lands and asked that states be allowed to manage national forests instead. Sadly, until fundamental changes are made to land management techniques New Mexico is likely to continue to face fires and lost opportunities.