Why did Commonweal decide to close the Galisteo Basin Preserve on May 26?
Following impassioned discussions among Commonweal Conservancy’s staff and board of directors, the organization determined that an abundance of caution must guide its stewardship of the recreational and ecological resources of the Galisteo Basin Preserve (GBP). The facts and conditions that informed Commonweal’s decision to close the GBP include:
A massive fire complex in the Santa Fe National Forest – the largest in New Mexico history – is burning within 15 miles of the GBP’s boundary. County fire officials have identified the Galisteo Watershed as an area vulnerable to the outfall of the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fires.
A lack of snow and rainfall associated with a 20-year mega-drought – among the most severe in 1,200 years – has left the GBP’s grassland and pinon/juniper forest ecology exceptionally parched and fragile.
Unrelenting high winds and extremely low humidity threaten the transmission of wildfire embers from nearby fires to the combustible landscape features of the preserve.
In an effort to minimize the risk of loss to natural areas and recreational resources, the US Forest Service, the State of New Mexico and Santa Fe County announced closure orders during the week of May 23 that prohibit public access to many of those jurisdictions’ trails, forests and open space lands.
Traffic on the roads, trails and within the open spaces of GBP has increased 300% compared to previous years. The recreational demand on the GBP is evidenced by overflowing parking lots and increasingly crowded trails. Sadly, a growing number of visitors to the GBP are ignoring basic open space and trail use protocols – by driving off road to park on grassy hillsides, bypassing gates to closed areas, cutting unsanctioned trails across grass and forest areas, and camping overnight, among other activities that put the habitat and recreational resources of the GBP at unacceptable risk.
Exhausted and over-extended fire management personnel currently devoted to containing the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon fires have little capacity to direct personnel and equipment to the control and extinguishment of new fires that could manifest in other vulnerable wildland areas such as the GBP.
Isn’t the GBP’s landscape of widely spaced pinon-juniper forest and grassland less vulnerable than the dense forest ecosystem that characterizes much of the National Forest?
As evidenced by the loss of life and property in northern Colorado following a catastrophic grassland fire in December 2021, and in a separate suburban grassland fire there this spring, it is naïve to assume that the grassland ecosystem and “distributed” forest resources of the GBP offer meaningful protection to the ecological, recreational and improved property resources of the preserve. Indeed, the exceptional drought conditions, high winds, unprecedented nearby fire activity, and forecasts for a hot and dry summer are conditions that cannot be ignored in our stewardship of the GBP’s natural resources and in service to the neighborhoods located within and adjacent to the preserve.
Although the majority of major wild land fires can be attributed to ineptly managed prescribed burns, downed power poles, unattended campfires, etc., there are many documented cases wherein improperly parked cars have ignited grass from the heat of their catalytic converters. In an extreme case, the spark from a bicycle pedal striking a rock caused a fire in a county open space. Strange and accidental things can occur in landscapes of tinderbox dryness: a condition that currently characterizes the whole of Santa Fe County.
How does restricting access for responsible, low-impact hikers, dog walkers, cyclists and equestrians reduce the risk of wildfire in the GBP?
At a time when wildfire risk is characterized as “extreme” and “unprecedented” by federal, state and county resource management agencies, temporarily closing public access to a landscape that is rife with combustible vegetation and has minimal fire protection resources creates, at a minimum, an opportunity to reduce the number of possible fire-related accidents.
Although the vast majority of visitors to the GBP traverse the trails with deep respect for the land’s fragile ecosystem, even innocent, well-intended GBP enthusiasts can cause a wildfire by an overheated vehicle, a metal spark generated from a ski pole or a bike pedal against rock, among many other, seemingly impossible situations and circumstances.
From a management perspective in which care and respect for the fragile habitat and exceptional recreational resources of the GBP take precedence over the near-term demands for public access and recreational use, it was judged imperative by a majority of Commonweal’s staff and board that the GBP be closed during this time of extraordinary risk. Minimizing the risk of damage to the land and property resources of the GBP must take precedence over all other management responsibilities and mission ambitions.
What environmental criteria or public policy directives will Commonweal draw from to determine when it is safe to re-open the GBP to public use?
As of this writing, Commonweal cannot provide the community with a date certain by which the organization will re-open the GBP. Commonweal will rely on the counsel and direction of professional land resource advisors to inform the GBP’s re-opening.
Commonweal will re-open the preserve as quickly as it can determine the risk of wildfire is substantially reduced from its current extreme conditions. While open-ended, we believe this is a realistic, if disappointing, approach to planning for the GBP’s re-opening in a highly uncertain and volatile environmental risk situation.
Whereas the US Forest Service has announced that the Santa Fe National Forest could re-open as soon as July 18, that agency is qualifying its re-opening schedule on the intensity and integrity of a monsoon season that, historically, has brought meaningful moisture to the region by early July. Given climate modeling predictions for an unusually hot and dry summer in the American Southwest, it is possible, unfortunately, that the rains of July and August may not manifest. In that case, the US Forest Service has held out the possibility that the forest may not re-open until December 31, 2022.
In the event federal, state and local jurisdictions determine that their wildland, trails and open space resources can be safely re-opened, Commonweal will carefully review the criteria and changed conditions these agencies have identified as a guide for its decision making. This said, Commonweal’s re-opening will ultimately draw from the findings and recommendations of its own professional land management advisors.
How will Commonweal communicate its closure decision and manage public access and use during this period of closure?
At the entry to the GBP, Commonweal has placed signage that makes clear that the preserve is closed to public use.
At key road intersections, barriers have been placed to restrict access to the preserve. Those permitted to access the preserve during the period of closure will be residents and their guests, property owners, Commonweal staff, stewardship volunteers and resource professionals advising the organization’s on-going land management.
To reinforce the organization’s closure order, Commonweal has engaged a security detail to monitor the GBP’s use and intercept and redirect uninformed or noncompliant visitors.
The organization will make clear that trespassers to the GBP during the period of closure will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Will Commonweal continue to undertake stewardship projects during the closure, or will those initiatives be deferred?
Concurrently with the closure, Commonweal staff will be engaging small groups of experienced volunteers to assist in high priority land stewardship initiatives (i.e., trail maintenance, wayfinding improvements, trailhead upgrades, habitat enhancement). Closely supervised and well-supported, stewardship teams will be tasked with improving the safety and accessibility of the GBP as it reopens to public use.
How will Commonweal keep people informed of its decision-making?
The organization will update the preserve’s website regularly during the closure period to ensure that GBP enthusiasts and prospective visitors are timely advised of the preserve’s status.
When Commonweal determines that wildfire risk conditions are significantly reduced – allowing for the closure to be lifted – the organization will send an email to people who are members of its list serve (info@commonwealconservancy.org) and will advise media outlets of the preserve’s reopening.
Postscript:
In offering this Q&A as a guide to Commonweal’s decision making and management planning, we understand that friends of the preserve, donors, landowners, recreational enthusiasts, visitors, etc. may have more questions than we’ve been able to address here.
As our small, part-time staff has capacity in the days and weeks ahead, we will do our best to supplement this document with additional information. For now, know that we appreciate your affection and respect for the natural, cultural and recreational resources that distinguish the Galisteo Basin Preserve as a landscape of extraordinary significance.
By our shared commitment to the GBP’s protection, we can ensure that the preserve will be a place of inspiration and renewal for present and future generations.
Thank you for being a partner to our work.