USDA program offers assistance to areas impacted by Cerro Pelado Fire.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Watershed Protection Program is available to address watershed impairments in designated areas of New Mexico impacted by the Cerro Pelado Fire.

The Cerro Pelado Fire was a wildfire that burned in the southern Jemez Mountains in Sandoval County as part of the 2022 New Mexico wildfire season. The cause of the fire was determined to be an escaped prescribed burn started by the U.S. Forest Service. The wildfire started on April 22, 2022, during extreme fire weather conditions and burned 45,605 acres.

This EWP will allow for the Natural Resources Conservation Service to pay for 100% of the cost. It is part of a broader effort by the Biden-Harris Administration to supplement state and local recovery efforts in areas affected by wildfires through a presidential major disaster declaration issued last year following a summer of wildfires.

“The need in New Mexico is tremendous and ongoing. We are working diligently to provide assistance and outreach to communities in need as quickly as possible. Once more, we are committing to covering 100% of the costs in impacted watersheds,” said Terry Cosby, chief of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. “The Emergency Watershed Protection Program helps communities rebuild after natural disasters and prepare for the future, and this assistance will help New Mexico build back better.”

An investigation by the United States Forest Service this year determined that the probable cause was debris-burning activities. A prescribed burn by the USFS had taken place in the area, and several debris piles left by logging activity had been ignited in January and February of 2022. The piles were monitored occasionally following the initial prescribed burn, and some of the piles in the ignition area retained heat as late as April 20, 2022. Fire crews would create berms around hot piles and spread the ashes to allow the heat to escape. The red-flag event led to the spread of hot ash and embers from the burn piles, igniting the fire.

The EWP Program is a recovery effort that offers technical and financial assistance to help local communities relieve imminent threats to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural disasters that impair a watershed. EWP does not require a disaster declaration by federal or state government officials for program assistance to begin.

Financial and technical assistance for various activities offered under the EWP Program include:

• Remove debris from stream channels, road culverts and bridges;
• Reshape and protect eroded streambanks;
• Correct damaged or destroyed drainage facilities;
• Establish vegetative cover on critically eroding lands;
• Repair levees and structures;
• Repair certain conservation practices, and
• Purchase of EWP buyouts.

If your property was damaged by the Cerro Pelado Fire, you may qualify for assistance from the EWP Program. To find out if your property is eligible, contact Aaron Reynolds, EWP program manager at 575-636-4671. If your property was damaged by a different fire or natural disaster, you may still be eligible for funding with a 25% match requirement.