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Morning Word
SFNF hits pause on Santa Fe Fireshed plan
The Santa Fe National Forest announced yesterday it is temporarily withdrawing a draft decision for the Santa Fe Mountains Landscape Resiliency Project. That decision, which found no significant impact would occur as a result of the project, includes prescribed fire and vegetation thinning treatments on 36,680 acres east of Santa Fe regularly over the next 10 to 15 years. Acting Forest Supervisor James Duran said pausing the National Environmental Policy Act process “gives us the opportunity to re-engage with our partners and our community on the urgent need to make the forested landscapes around Santa Fe more resilient to the threats of climate change, drought and wildfire.” A news release from the Forest Service says its focus over the last few months on the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire has delayed work “on many other significant projects for the SFNF. Withdrawing the draft decision acknowledges both the importance of the objection period in the NEPA process and Forest Service Chief Randy Moore’s national review of the agency’s prescribed fire program to identify improvements in policy and process.” The Forest Service’s announcement follows a resolution passed by the Santa Fe County Commission earlier this month requesting an environmental impact statement for the Santa Fe project and a halt to any prescribed burns in Santa Fe County prior to a thorough review. The Forest Service says it plans to initiate a new objection period for the draft decision before the end of the year. “We are confident in the collaborative engagement that was the foundation for the environmental analysis,” Duran said in a statement. “At the same time, we are also committed to reconnecting with our partners and the community so that we can move forward with the best available science to restore forest health, protect the wildland-urban interface and continue to provide clean water to the City of Santa Fe.”
FEMA approves NM flooding assistance
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s request to include flooding impacts as part of New Mexico’s disaster declaration for counties, which will make additional funds available to residents, the governor’s office said yesterday. “As flash flooding continues to threaten New Mexicans in wildfire burn scars in Lincoln, Mora and San Miguel counties, I am grateful to President Biden and FEMA for granting my request to include flooding in New Mexico’s disaster declaration,” the governor said in a statement. “This action will make additional support available for New Mexicans who have already suffered great losses this year.” According to a news release from FEMA, residents who applied for assistance due to damage from the wildfires and now have damage from flooding, mudflows or debris flows don’t need to apply again, but just need to update their disaster assistance applications. To do so, visit the FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in Las Vegas, call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362, or go to disasterassistance.gov. Yesterday’s announcement followed one earlier this week in which FEMA also approved the state’s request for Direct Temporary Housing Assistance, which will make housing assistance available to eligible New Mexicans who have been affected by wildfire in Lincoln, Mora and San Miguel counties. According to Lujan Grisham’s office, the state has remaining outstanding requests to FEMA regarding adding Los Alamos and Sandoval counties to the disaster declaration; extending the duration of New Mexico’s disaster declaration; and continuing to cover 100% of the total eligible costs under the extended duration of the disaster declaration, among other matters.
SFR heads back to court...again
Following a decision earlier this week from the state Court of Appeals, SFR is taking its 2019 lawsuit challenging the City of Santa Fe’s refusal to publicly release law enforcement disciplinary records to the state Supreme Court. SFR’s suit maintains the public has the right to know when the city disciplines one of its employees. Mayor Alan Webber, his predecessors and public employee labor unions disagree. SFR appealed a 2020 District Court decision that allowed the city to shield certain records; the recent Court of Appeals decision failed to address the central issue of the case and said the Appeals Court is bound by the very state Supreme Court precedent SFR seeks to overturn. Daniel Yohalem who, along with Katherine Murray represents SFR in the case, described the Appeals Court ruling as “disappointing, but not surprising, given the limited authority our Court of Appeals takes for itself.” The city’s refusal to release disciplinary records for employees, particularly police officers, has also proven problematic for the city’s much-publicized Community Health and Safety Task Force, created in 2020 in the wake of nationwide racial justice protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by former police officer Derek Chauvin. The task force presented its quarterly report to the City Council on Wednesday, with Co-Chair City Councilor Renee Villarreal noting the task force had received only partial responses to its inquiries, and those responses hadn’t address discipline procedures or information on how the police department handles restorative responses to residents’ complaints.
COVID-19 by the numbers
New cases: 1,188; 589,993 total cases
Deaths: nine; Santa Fe County had 328 total deaths; there have been 8,233 total fatalities statewide. Statewide hospitalizations: 196. Patients on ventilators: nine
Case rates: According to the state health department’s most recent report on geographical trends, published this week, for the seven-day period of July 18-24, Roosevelt County had the highest daily case rate per 100,000 population: 67.5, followed by Cibola County at 67.2 and McKinley County at 61.1; Santa Fe County’s case rate was 46.6, an increase from 44.3 last week. The state recorded 6,642 new cases total in the last seven days, comparable to last week.
Community levels: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent update for COVID-19 “community levels,” updated every Thursday, shows improvement from last week for the state overall. The CDC framework combines case rates with two hospital metrics and shows, for the seven-day period of July 21-27, 11 counties—six fewer than last week—have “red” or high levels. Santa Fe County remains “yellow” or medium. Seven counties—three more than last week—now have “green” or low levels. The CDC’s recommendations include indoor masking for people living in counties with high community levels. The community levels page has accompanying recommendations at the bottom of the page. The CDC also provides a quarantine and isolation calculator. The CDC will update its map later today.
Resources: Vaccine registration; Booster registration Free at-home rapid antigen tests; Self-report a positive COVID-19 test result to the health department; COVID-19 treatment info: oral treatments Paxlovid (age 12+) and Molnupiravir (age 18+); and monoclonal antibody treatments. Toolkit for immunocompromised individuals. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453. Vaccines for children: Parents of children ages 6 months to 5 years can now schedule appointments for vaccinations at VaccineNM.org.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
Lannan Foundation head J. Patrick Lannan, Jr. 84, died on Wednesday. A news release from the Lannan Foundation said his wife Andrea and daughter Sharron were by his side, and his granddaughter Estella had just visited him. “In lieu of the significant tribute he deserves—and to which he would’ve strongly objected,” the news release notes, “for now, in this moment of loss and our collective grief, we can only offer the words of Seamus Heaney, to which Patrick often turned.” You can read that poem, “Postscript,” here and listen to Heaney read it here. You can also peruse a video selection of 20 years of literary events and interviews Lannan provided to the community here and additional audio recordings here.
Outside with Outside
Before summer slips away, now might be a great time to plan a few more camping trips. Outside Magazine has the skinny on the best free campsites in all 50 states, with some tips for not just taking advantage of free federal recreational land, but also taking care of the land while you use it (and before you take off). In New Mexico, Outside recommends Cebolla Mesa in the Carson National Forest, approximately 25 minutes north of Taos. You’ll find a rough road in, but “outstanding views, plus amenities like picnic tables, fire pits, and a pit toilet,” once you arrive. “Don’t miss the hiking trail into the canyon that starts from camp and drops over a mile and nearly a thousand vertical feet to the river,” Outside says. Wondering what gear to bring on your camping adventures? Former Outside editor and former Santa Fe resident Jeremy Rellosa provides his packing list when he sets out into the wilderness in a round-up for New York Magazine. One piece of equipment, the Garmin inReach Explorer+ Satellite Communicator, Rellosa writes, came in handy during a trip in the Jemez mountains when he “took one turn on my route that quickly made my hike a full-on bushwacking experience: I was way off trail. I pulled out my Garmin, pulled up a map of the area, and found the right trail within minutes.”
US Sen. Heinrich opines on mining
US Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-NM, co-authored with Chris Wood, president and chief executive officer of the conservation group Trout Unlimited, a guest essay for the New York Times on the need to modernize the country’s mining laws. The US is primarily still governed by the General Mining Law of 1872, Heinrich and Wood write, “which helped build the nation but also contributed to widespread damage to America’s lands and waters.” And because mine operators weren’t required to “‘reclaim,’ or restore, the land once they were done with it, the destructive consequences of the extraction of those minerals remain today in scarred landscapes and polluted rivers.” Numerous proposals before Congress, “would bring the government’s oversight of hardrock mining into the modern era.” The proposals would both address the ongoing problems with abandoned mines, and also “establish a new process for tribal leaders to petition federal land managers for greater protections from the impact of mining on public lands with cultural or spiritual significance,” and allow the land managers to deny permits if approving them would cause harm to “scientific, cultural or environmental resources.”
Rain check
Looking like it might be a wet weekend. The National Weather Service forecasts a 70% chance for precipitation today and tonight, primarily after 3 pm and before midnight, with showers and thunderstorms and potentially heavy rain. Otherwise, today will be mostly cloudy with a high near 81 degrees. We’re looking at approximately 60% chance for rain on Saturday and Sunday, with about the same temperatures and slightly sunnier skies.
Thanks for reading! The Word hopes to see you from 5 to 9 pm tonight in the Railyard for SFR’s Best of Santa Fe Party and Santa Fe Salutes The Beatles! Here’s a little something to get you in the mood. And…one more.
