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Collaborative Glorieta Camps Prescribed Fire planned for fall 2024

Santa Fe, N.M., July 23, 2024 – Surrounded by partners, Jon Malvig, Associate Executive Director/COO of Glorieta Camps, shared, “we are a Christian camp and conference center, we are not a forestry company, we don’t have the resources, we can’t do forest management without the help of partners.”

On Thursday, July 18th representatives from the Forest Stewards Guild, New Mexico State Forestry Division, The Nature Conservancy, and USDA Forest Service Santa Fe National Forest convened at Glorieta Camps for a discussion and field trip to the site of a collaborative prescribed fire project planned for fall 2024.

The Glorieta Adventure Camp prescribed fire project will reintroduce the natural process of fire to the landscape using broadcast burning of previously thinned stands. Broadcast burns are controlled applications of fire to a predetermined area, under specified conditions defined in an approved burn plan. To further protect the camp property broadcast burning will reduce the surface fuels, prune lower branches, and reduce oak and juniper creating a fuel break that can slow the advance of wildfire, giving firefighters time to intervene.

There are three project units totaling 130 acres planned for prescribed burning between September and November, depending on multiple factors including weather, fuel moisture, air quality, ventilation, and resource availability.  Smoke will be visible from Santa Fe, N.M., looking north on Interstate 25, and from local communities including Pecos, La Cueva, and Glorieta. A system of hoses, pumps, and water supplies will be installed prior to ignition to protect buildings and control fire progress. After the burn, crews will extinguish burning material on the perimeter and crews will remain in place until the burn is secure.  Fire personnel will patrol burn units until they are declared out using trained Fire Effects Monitors. Weather will be closely monitored to identify critical weather events that will trigger additional resources to monitor the burn units. The use of thermal detection devices, technology with infrared, will aid in locating potential hot spots prior to declaring the burn out. Trails on Glorieta Camp will be temporarily closed to the public for safety during burning operations.  Signs will be posted at all trailheads prior to the day of ignitions.  

Learn more

Two public meetings will be held at Glorieta Camp’s main dining hall – Santa Fe Room to share information about the project and answer any questions or concerns. The agenda includes a short presentation followed by Q & A but the public is welcome to come and go as their schedule allows.  

• Wednesday, July 31 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
• Saturday, August 17 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
• Address: 11 State Route 50, Glorieta, N.M. 87535

Participants will be given directions to Santa Fe Room when they arrive at Glorieta Camps

For more information contact Claudia Brookshire, Public Affairs Officer, Santa Fe National Forest, (505) 438-5320, claudia.brookshire@usda.gov.

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