Zuni Mountains Forest Restoration Project

Background information. This fuels reduction project, which was conducted by the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Rio Puerco Field Office, consisted of woodland habitat restoration in the Zuni Mountains approximately 45 miles south of Grants, New Mexico. Topography of the landscape includes mesas and canyons, with north-facing slopes dominated by stands of ponderosa pine with an open, grassy understory. Like other places in the American West, pinyon and juniper have encroached into open meadows and stands of ponderosa pine, which is most likely because of the lack of a natural fire regime. This change to the wooded landscape has dramatically increased hazardous fuels buildup and the associated risk of wildfire, which then increases [...]