HOUSE MEMORIAL 2

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2023

INTRODUCED BY

Debra M. Sariñana and Pat Woods and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez and Ambrose Castellano and Kristina Ortez

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

HONORING THE RESPONSE OF NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY'S COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES' STAFF DURING THE HERMIT'S PEAK/CALF CANYON FIRE.

 

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico state university college of agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences' agriculture experiment station, the John T. Harrington forestry research center, operates in Mora with a mission to advance the understanding of restoration activities on forested areas; and

     WHEREAS, the forestry research center also provides science-based solutions for private, tribal, state and federal forest managers who face the threat of catastrophic wildfires due to overgrown forests and the inability of post-fire forest communities and ecosystems to naturally regenerate after such fires; and

     WHEREAS, in the spring of 2022, New Mexico suffered the largest and most destructive wildfire in the state's history; and

     WHEREAS, the Hermit's peak fire began on April 6, 2022, when the United States forest service lost control of a prescribed burn, and the Calf canyon fire began on April 19, 2022, when an improperly extinguished United States forest service pile burn operation from January 2022 rekindled; and

     WHEREAS, the two fires merged during a major wind event on April 22, 2022, creating the Hermit's peak/Calf canyon fire and ultimately torching more than three hundred forty-one thousand acres; and

     WHEREAS, the Hermit's peak/Calf canyon fire breached the John T. Harrington forestry research center's property, the only facility in the southwest dedicated to reforesting lands burned by catastrophic wildfires, and appeared to be on a path to destroy the forestry research center; and

     WHEREAS, when faced with evacuation orders and the threat of losing critical research, Professor Owen Burney, director of the John T. Harrington forestry research center, and team members Tammy Parsons, Pouli Sikelianos, Joshua Trujillo and Donna Ebler mobilized to save the forestry research center's vast seed collection; and

     WHEREAS, the forestry research center team installed impromptu irrigation systems during the evacuation to keep seedlings alive, built fire lines and flood protection facility structures around the property and moved the entire seed bank and tree seeds to safety; and

     WHEREAS, the forestry research center team also gave up planned personal leave to be available twenty-four hours, seven days a week during the height of the fire to assist with all staff and research needs; and

     WHEREAS, the seed bank of more than three million seeds was originally moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, followed by a move of more than one hundred fifty miles south to the Los Lunas agricultural science center of the college of agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences of New Mexico state university after the fire shifted toward San Miguel county; and

     WHEREAS, about seventy-five thousand tree seedlings were retrieved from the forestry research center's nursery in a rescue operation carried out over two days with assistance from outside groups, including a New Mexico state police escort; and

     WHEREAS, the New Mexico state university college of agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences cooperative extension service district team made significant contributions to the fire response; and

     WHEREAS, Christina Turner, Suzanne DeVos-Cole, Tom Dominguez, Monica Gonzales-Wilder, Boe C. Lopez, John Martinez, Tom Dean and Leigh Ann Marez coordinated and communicated information among counties in the northern district, emergency services, the New Mexico livestock board and other crucial agencies; and

     WHEREAS, thanks to the heroic work of Dr. Burney and the John T. Harrington forestry research center team and the New Mexico state university college of agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences team, the resources of the only research program in the southwestern United States that focuses on forest nursery technologies, tree improvement and the ecophysiology of young forest trees to facilitate ecological restoration were saved;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that Professor Owen Burney and team members Tammy Parsons, Pouli Sikelianos, Joshua Trujillo and Donna Ebler be recognized and honored for their roles in saving the vast seed collection and tree seedlings of the John T. Harrington forestry research center in the Mora agricultural experiment station; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico state university cooperative extension service team of Christina Turner, Suzanne DeVos-Cole, Tom Dominguez, Monica Gonzales- Wilder, Boe C. Lopez, John Martinez, Tom Dean and Leigh Ann Marez be recognized and honored for their significant contributions in addressing the challenges created by the Hermit's peak/Calf canyon fire; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to Professor Owen Burney and team members Tammy Parsons, Pouli Sikelianos, Joshua Trujillo and Donna Ebler; New Mexico state university cooperative extension service team members Christina Turner, Suzanne DeVos-Cole, Tom Dominguez, Monica Gonzales-Wilder, Boe C. Lopez, John Martinez, Tom Dean and Leigh Ann Marez; and the board of regents of New Mexico state university.

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