The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be conducting two prescribed burns in southeast New Mexico over a three day period beginning March 8, conditions permitting.
A one-day, 353 acre prescribed burn prescribed burn
A prescribed burn is the controlled use of fire to restore wildlife habitat, reduce wildfire risk, or achieve other habitat management goals. We have been using prescribed burn techniques to improve species habitat since the 1930s.
Learn more about prescribed burn at the Dexter National Fish Hatchery and Technology Center is scheduled for March 8. Smoke may be visible from the town of Dexter , which is one mile to the west of the hatchery, and on Highway 190, one mile north of the burn. To ensure public safety, the facility will be closed to the public during the burn operations.
The Humpback Chub prescribed fire will help to maintain open water and provide feeding habitat for migrating birds in the hatcheries wetlands. The fire will remove litter, recycle soil nutrients, rejuvenate grasses and promote the growth of the threatened Pecos sunflower, which grows along hatchery levees.
The burn area is a short grass prairie interspersed with pond/wetland areas. The units are in the Pecos River flood plain and best described as flat low lying areas of intermediate marsh and grass land. The wetlands are composed primarily of common reed, cattail, bulrush, and saltgrass. Cattail makes up half of the wetland portion of the burn area with moderate to heavy density stands, 48 to 72 inches in height. The remaining portions are open grasslands composed of sacaton, drop seed, alkali muhly, and grama grasses.
The fire will be hand ignited using drip torches. Fire personnel from the Service's New Mexico Fire District will be on hand to conduct the operation and monitoring.
The second burn will be at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge and will incorporate adjoining Bureau of Land Management lands into a plan to burn more than 4,000 acres beginning March 9 and lasting two to three days. Resources from both agencies will be employed during the prescribed burn operation.
Smoke from the burn may be visible to the residents of Roswell.
The Iron Maiden fire will remove old vegetation, serve as a control to check the encroachment of woody species onto the grasslands, improve nesting habitats, facilitate the recycling of nutrients into the soil, rejuvenate grasses and reduce fuel hazards to Refuge facilities.
The area contains grass and brush species common to Great Plains and desert grasslands. The majority of the burn is within the flat and bench areas of the Pecos River and extends to the Commanche Hills to the east. It is best described as flat grasslands. Sacaton and tobosa dominate the lower ground while black grama grass grows on the hills.
To safely conduct the burn, parts of the refuge may be temporarily closed to public use. For more information, contact refuge headquarters at 505-622-6755.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 544 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. Visit the Service's website at http://www.fws.gov.
-FWS-
