There’s nothing secret about what’s planned for Area 74 — a swath of forested land along the Continental Divide in southern New Mexico that needs attention.
After years of planning, crews with the Gila National Forest are making final preparations to walk the 16-mile perimeter, drip torches in hand, to set ablaze nearly 16 square miles as part of a $375 million nationwide campaign by the U.S. Forest Service to clean up overgrown forests and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires as things heat up and dry out.
The agency plans to treat close to 2 million acres with fire, mechanical thinning and other means this year, a steady goal for the last few years but still a drop in the bucket when considering the ever expanding “red zone” — where communities and homes intersect with wild lands.
The agency estimates there are more than 44 million homes in 70,000 rural communities that are at risk of wildfires.
Frankie Romero, the fire use and fuels management specialist for the U.S. Forest Service, likened the battle to chess.