[wjcsux]

Jackrabbits also. Seriously, many of these areas were purchased with Pittman-Robertson funds available for wildlife habitat. There are several of these areas along the Rio Grande. The biggest is Bosque Del Apache which is off of I-25 approximately 60 miles south of here. The state of NM manages these areas. The big problem we have here in NM is extreme drought conditions. The Rio Grande is currently at record low water level. The area off of I-70 is very densely wooded with Salt Cedars and high grass. Ripe for a wildfire.

[OldFriend]

I'll not forget the terrible fires that came so very close to Los Alamos.....thanks to some idiot who thought it would be a good day to have a controlled burn.

[cogitator]

The big problem we have here in NM is extreme drought conditions. The Rio Grande is currently at record low water level.

I was in Santa Fe last November and saw a sign that the main reservoir was at 30% of capacity, so there were a number of water use restrictions in place. The area had a little snow over the river, but I don't think it was enough to do much about the amount of water in the reservoir.

We were worried about running out of water in the Frederick (MD) municipal reservoirs until nature took a hand here out east and provided a lot MORE rain than necessary.

[Muleteam1]

>>The area off of I-70 is very densely wooded with Salt Cedars and high grass.<<

The USDA has had a plan for years to import several natural biological controls for Tamarisk (salt cedar) but the USFWS at Albuquerque has had a folded-arm strategy to stand in the way of these biologicals. The middle Rio Grande bosque undergrowth is now dense with salt cedar and, when dry, it burns like a kerosene-soaked rag.

Muleteam1