Valles Caldera National Preserve has received federal approval to implement an expanded fire management plan designed to reduce wildfire risks and promote ecosystem health, the National Park Service announced Wednesday.
The NPS approved a Finding of No Significant Impact for the preserve’s Fire Management Plan Environmental Assessment, clearing the way for new wildfire response protocols and prescribed burning operations.
The approved plan expands management tools for lightning-caused wildfires and authorizes prescribed fires aimed at maintaining ecosystem health while reducing long-term risks of severe wildfires, according to the announcement.
Safety remains the top priority under the new framework, with emphasis on protecting firefighters, the public, infrastructure and natural and cultural resources, park officials said. The plan also emphasizes community engagement, tribal consultation, ecosystem stewardship and adaptive management practices.
“Since 2009, Valles Caldera has worked closely with the surrounding Santa Fe National Forest to promote forest health and resiliency through the Southwest Jemez Mountains Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project,” Superintendent Jorge Silva-Bañuelos said in a press release. “Now that most of the forest thinning work has been completed, we aim to use our new Fire Management Plan to safely and carefully manage low-intensity wildland fires in the park to reduce the threat of catastrophic fires impacting our surrounding communities.”
The strategy builds on more than a decade of collaborative forest restoration work with the Santa Fe National Forest, which included extensive forest thinning operations.
The signed Finding of No Significant Impact will be posted on the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website at parkplanning.nps.gov. Additional information about the preserve’s fire management plan is available at nps.gov/vall/learn/management/fire-management.htm.
Valles Caldera National Preserve, located in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico, encompasses nearly 90,000 acres of volcanic landscape and grasslands.