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Some good news. The Carson National Forest has opened up some of their Ranger Districts under Stage II fire restrictions. See the details below. As far as the Santa Fe National Forest goes, the rainfall we've had over the last two weeks has been too sporadic to affect fuel mosture levels for the forests to reopen. It will take more consistent and steady rains to mitigate our current fire danger of extreme. I will be in contact with forest service officials next week to find out when the closures might be lifted. I will post that information as soon as it becomes available. Please see the rest of our announcements page below for a list of what's closed and what is open. There are places to fish. Plan a little bit and venture someplace new. The Valle Vidal is open. The Wheeler Peak area near Taos Ski Valley is a great place to backpack. Cooper's Ranch below El Vado dam is open to camping and fishing. So, be willing to try something different, you might just be glad you did!
Due to extreme fire conditions, Santa Fe National Forest and Valles Caldera National Preserve has closed the majority of the Forest and Preserve to all public access on Thursday, June 30, 2011. In addition, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish properties/recreation sites within Pecos Canyon are closed. These recreation sites include: Bert Clancey, Terrero, Jamie Koch, Mora River and Monastery Lake. Forest Service Law Enforcement and staff will be patrolling forest roads and trails. Signs will be placed along highways and flyers will be posted throughout communities to remind the public that the Forest and Preserve are closed. The Pecos National Historical Park is also closed to fishing. Please see their website for the details at http://www.nps.gov/peco/index.htm and click on "2011 Fishing Program". All campgrounds, day use picnic areas, and trails within the Jemez Ranger District, Espanola Ranger District, Pecos/Las Vegas Ranger District, Cuba Ranger District and the Valles Caldera National Preserve are closed. This include popular hilking trails around Santa Fe like Atalaya, Chamisa, and Winsor Trails, and also includes open space trails like Dorothy Stewart and Dale Ball trails. Property owners and their guests will continue to have access to private lands within the Forest. The Forest and Preserve will reopen to the public when sufficient precipitation is received to adequately reduce extremely dry conditions and reduce the risk of wildfire to a manageable level.
Effective at 12:00 p.m., today, July 22, 2011, the Carson National Forest will enter into Stage 2 Fire Restrictions and open some parts of the forest that had been closed. These restrictions will remain in effect until further notice. Please see the Carson National Forest website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/carson/for the details of Stage II. The Camino Real Ranger District will remain closed under Stage III restricions. The Camino Real district includes Rio Chiquito, Rito de la Olla, Rio Grande del Rancho, Rio del Pueblo, and the Rio Santa Barbara and north end of the Pecos Wilderness. The open waters are the Red River, Cabresto Lake, Hopewell Lake, the Rio Hondo, and the Valle Vidal.
New Mexico State Parks has closed Hyde Memorial, Fenton Lake, Morphy Lake, Coyote Creek, and Cimarron Canyon State Parks due to extreme fire danger until further notice.
Cochiti Lake is also closed. US Army Corps of Engineers facilities at Cochiti Lake are closed through July 27th. It is being used as a water source to fight the Las Conchas Fire and the campgrounds at the lake are being used to house the firefighters.
Currently, the BLM areas like Orilla Verde, Rio Grande Wild and Scenic Rivers, and Santa Cruz Lake are open and are in Stage 1 fire restrictions. Eagle's Nest Lake, Abiquiu Lake, El Vado Lake, Heron Lake, Navajo Lake, the San Juan River, and Jicarilla Nation Lakes are open.
