Santa Fe County closes hiking trails due to fire risks
May 22—The high risk of wildfire in a windy, drought-stricken spring that already has seen several large and destructive blazes ignite in New Mexico has prompted Santa Fe County officials to close several of its hiking trails.
Penny Ellis-Green,the county growth management director, ordered closures Friday afternoon of the Arroyo del la Piedra, Little Tesuque Creek, Rio en Medio and Talaya Hill open spaces.
It remains unclear when the order
will be rescinded.
County spokeswoman Carmelina Hart said Ellis-Green has the authority to close trails under a public safety provision in an open space ordinance.
More local public land closures and fire restrictions could be coming.
Dave Herndon, a spokesman for the city of Santa Fe, wrote in an email Friday, "Members of the Fire and Parks departments will meet early next week to discuss possible closures of trails and parks, and bagging and securing grills in parks."
The news comes just a day after the Santa Fe, Cibola and Carson national forests closed to the public and the New Mexico State Parks Division announced the closure of several state parks due to the extreme fire danger.
Among them are the Manzano Mountains, Hyde Memorial, Pecos Canyon, Cimarron Canyon and Fenton Lake state parks.
Looming over the decisions to bar visitors from public lands is the massive Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It grew past 300,000 acres this week, making it the largest wildfire in New Mexico history.
Firefighters continue to try to contain the blaze, which has been fueled by high and constant winds, dry conditions and unseasonably warm temperatures.
Hart said the county is not putting up physical barriers to prevent hikers from accessing county trails. Instead, closure notices will be posted at trailheads. Hart said the county hopes the public will respect the order. She also noted many of the county trails merge with pathways in the Santa Fe National Forest that already are closed.
Juan Ríos,a spokesman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, said no additional deputy patrols will be scheduled to oversee the trails, but deputies will ask people to leave when they find them on trails while the order is in place.
"If we hear of someone up there [on the trails], we will respond," Ríos said. "If someone is found on the trail, they will be asked to leave."
The public land closures are likely to have an impact on local and state tourism.
Earlier this week, Cody Johnson, a spokesman for the New Mexico Tourism Department, wrote in an email, "Unfortunately, we believe the growing amount of wildfires will have an impact on tourism. As a premier destination for the venturesome traveler, we pride ourselves on our outdoor recreation."
His agency is "working with local communities impacted by wildfire to monitor the impact and work in a collaborative fashion to find solutions that can spark quick economic recovery for those communities," Johnson added.
