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With the extreme Wildland fire situations in New Mexico that began in 2000, communities were encouraged to develop a Fire plan that identifies areas that are susceptible to Wildland fires in urban interface areas and what steps need to be taken to mitigate those hazards. The Sierra SWCD serves as the lead agency in Sierra County to draft a Wildland-Urban interface fire plan and find ways to implement that plan. The group includes the US Forest Service, the Bureau of Land management, Bureau of Reclamation, NM State Forestry Division, County of Sierra, Department of Transportation, utility companies and the eleven volunteer fire departments.
The Sierra County Community Wildfire Protection Plan has identified five areas of concern for Wildland-Urban Interface fires, issues with highway right of ways, utilities, communication needs, VFD training and equipment needs and information and education. Action items have been identified. Two County wide FireWise workshops have been held and small timber utilization workshops. A number of wildfire hazard mitigation treatment of projects have been completed within the prioritized areas. Details of the plan can be found in the following document:
Sierra County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (PDF)
You can see the reduction of fuel loads by comparing the following two pictures:
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