Participants in the Spanish-language international Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX) were in the Jemez Mountains recently for two weeks learning about and implementing controlled burns. Courtesy/PEEC
PEEC News:
No one wants to see another mega fire like Las Conchas tear through New Mexico, and prescribed burning, when done safely and properly, can go a long way toward preventing such fires.
But in order to be safer in fighting wildfires, firefighters need to receive certain qualifications, and there is a growing concern that there will not be enough qualified firefighters within 10 years. In response, organizations around the country are conducting Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX).
Ecologist and PEEC Board member Karla Sartor is fresh off the lines of a two week, bilingual TREX in the Santa Fe National Forest and Valles Caldera National Monument. Sartor will introduce this topic at the next Nature on Tap at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23 at the Manhattan Project Restaurant.
Nature on Tap, hosted by the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC), is part of an informal discussion series started by the Los Alamos Creative District. Each month a different topic about nature is introduced by a facilitator, and then the topic is opened up to the group for informal discussion.
The fourth Spanish-language international prescribed training exchange (TREX) wrapped up its work burning and learning on and around the Santa Fe National Forest and Valles Caldera National Monument last month. The group, including Sartor, consisted of about 30 participants from eight countries. As part of the training, they completed 215 acres of prescribed burning; the units had been identified as critical for protecting local communities.
The team also briefed for a high-complexity 6,500 acre burn (then delayed by weather); toured and discussed fire effects at prescribed- and wildfire sites, including the Los Conchas; and shared their wide breadth of experiences in nightly presentations and constant conversation.
Sartor worked most recently for the Nature Conservancy for three years, preparing fire management plans for ranchers in southern New Mexico. She will be starting a new job later this month in the field of environmental services. Sartor is originally from Alaska and made her way to New Mexico via Oregon, Montana and Boston.
For more information about Nature on Tap, call PEEC at 505.662.0460.
