Weekend Report, Slash is not Trash, It's a Real Danger!

This weekend the weather was beautiful, the skies blue, and the grass is starting to come up. It must finally be springtime in Angel Fire. So how did we spend it, of course we spent it gathering up the slash in our yard. In our case the slash is composed of tree branches and lots of pine needles. We also plan to thin our trees as spring progresses thereby generating even more slash, which brings me to my point. The fact is our gravest threat here in Angel Fire is a wildfire. That is why it is so important to thin our properties and get rid of our slash. The irony is that in the effort to create fire breaks by thinning the growth and slash on our properties we have historically set fires trying to burn the slash, but the Village of Angel Fire has solved that problem, but more on that later…

For those who are second homeowners, or who have not lived here very long you might not be aware of the history of some of the fires that have taken place around our area. There was the Lama/Hondo fire of May 1996 which destroyed the town of Lama north of Taos and burned all the way through Hondo and almost to Questa. This tragedy left over two thousand people homeless, and was started by an individual who was burning slash in a barrel. There was also the Cerro Grande Fire at Los Alamos in May of 2000, which left more than four hundred families homeless and destroyed 43,000 acres of forest. This fire was actually caused by a prescribed burn whose intended goal was to reduce the threat of wildfire.

Of course we have also had our share of fires here in Angel Fire, including the Valley of the Utes fire in the early seventies, and the Aspens fire we had in 1996. That is why it is so important that we all work together to thin our properties and dispose of our slash responsibly. Getting rid of overgrowth and slash is vitally important to protecting our environment, properties and lives. I recently had a conversation with a homeowner who desperately needs to thin the property around his house. He stated that he preferred the natural look, and did not want a manicured look on his property. I explained that it was not about having a manicured lawn, but is actually about protecting his property and the property of his neighbors. I got the impression he thought I was being overly cautious, I got the impression he just didn’t want to deal with it.

Now back to the Village of Angel Fire. Our village government has recognized the need to dispose of slash responsibly to reduce the threat of fires and they have stepped up to the plate by making it easier than ever to dispose of slash and thin our lots. This week the Village ran an ad in the Sangre de Cristo Chronicle outlining the free slash disposal program they are offering. If you missed it here is a brief recap. Homeowners may drop of slash at the Transfer Station for free if they provide the lot number the slash came from, the name of the lot owner, phone number and name of person dropping off. There are a number of contractors in the area who will contract with homeowners to gather slash on your property and deliver it to the transfer station. If you have trouble finding one, contact me and I will help you make arrangements.

Now for the best part, the Village of Angel Fire also offers free pick up of slash for the do it yourselfers like us. You just simply need to gather up the slash from your lot, (no trash or tree stumps please), stack it no further than 20 feet from a public road, and call 377-7004 to arrange pick up. Please note the maximum load per pick up is 10 cubic yards. After your finished with the slash take the Village’s online Wildfire Protection Survey to help formulate a wildfire plan for our community. Now isn’t that easy, now nobody has an excuse for not working to help make Angel Fire and our surrounding environment safer and more beautiful. Uh oh,,, Barb is hollering for me to help her with the slash, till next time…

Kyle.