Defensible space might save your home � and your insurance

Plus: New reforestation guide, biomass projects, spring microgrants, wildfire outlook and more

NMFD Newsletter | March 6, 2026

Joe Desjardin/New Mexico State Parks

News from New Mexico's Forests

Wildfire isn't just a forest phenomenon.

Fire season kicked off last month with the 2,674-acre 352 Fire near Tucumcari, followed by large fires in Oklahoma and Texas—all grassland fires, driven by strong winds through flashy fuels. A historic snow drought has in part brought fire season to our door earlier.

Speaking of fire at the door, there are crucial steps you can take around your home to prepare for wildfire season. This month, we dive into home hardening and defensible space . Wildfire Prepared Homes offers a roadmap to resilience—and might save your insurance, too.

Read on for some home-hardening weekend work, your guide to reforestation, biomass pilot projects, spring microgrants, Southwest Wildfire Awareness Week and more. If you're enjoying this newsletter, pass it on to a friend!

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From the Field

In 2025, New Mexico was second highest in the nation for uninsured properties at 13%. In this month's From the Field, we dive deep into home hardening to empower you as a homeowner. Wildfire can't be solved — but your home's resilience to it can be.

There's no way to speak lightly about New Mexico’s situation: Wildfires are burning hotter and more often. Premiums are climbing. Decades-old homes are deemed uninsurable.

But the research tells a more hopeful story. Homes burn for specific, identifiable reasons. Embers find vulnerabilities. Small fires become big fires. And those vulnerabilities can be fixed.

Read the story

Hot Tip: The 5 feet that matter most

Josh Schlossberg/Boulder Weekly

When a wildfire's burning, there's a lot out of your control.

The good news: Protecting your home comes largely down to factors you can control — and in a small footprin t, too.

The Zero Zone, your home and its immediate 5-foot perimeter, is the single most important area to take small steps that will have a huge impact on your home's resilience against wildfire. In fact, building a buffer zone doubles the likelihood that your home will survive.

Here are a few things you can do on an evening or weekend to prevent fire from igniting your home:

Clear roofs and gutters of debris

Repair loose or missing shingles

Cover vents with 1/8-inch screening

Move flammable materials from exterior walls: mulch, plants, firewood piles, even trash cans. Remove anything stored under decks/porches.

Screen or box-in areas below patios/decks to prevent embers from accumulating

For more detailed steps, click the link below or click through this checklist from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety's Wildfire Prepared program.

Prepare your home

In the Community

Post-Fire Reforestation:

A guide for the New Mexico landowner

What comes after wildfire? From soil stabilization two months out to ordering seedlings two years out, reforestation doesn't have to be overwhelming.

Our new reforestation guide provides clear, science‑based steps to help landowners and natural resource managers plan and carry out successful reforestation efforts after wildfire. Access the guide at the link above; for more information, our Reforestation page .

???? Silver City

There's a biomass-ive opportunity in New Mexico forests.

Our Silver City satellite office wrapped up a pilot project with Gila WoodNet turning forestry slash piles into wood pellets, both generating forest products and lowering wildfire risk from slash piles.

Curious about biomass? Learn more about forest industry !

???? Glorieta

Work continues on Glorieta Camps in the Santa Fe National Forest, where to-date, contractors have completed 145 acres of mastication and 12 acres of hand-thinning and piling. By the project's end, over 250 acres will be treated, restoring forest health and reducing wildfire potential in this high-risk community .

???? Las Vegas

Happy Arbor Month !

The City of Las Vegas is adopting an updated tree ordinance . This update includes a new section on green stormwater infrastructure to divert water, passively irrigate trees and reduce the impacts of post-fire flooding from the Hermit's Peak-Calf Canyon Fire.

Apply for a spring microgrant!

Fire Adapted New Mexico Learning Network (FACNM) is awarding up to $2,000 for events and opportunities that strengthen wildfire preparedness. Funding can support preparedness events, assessment days, post-fire education, equipment rentals, or long-term grants and projects that strengthen Fire-Adapted Community efforts.

Applications are due Friday, March 20. Apply today !

Southwest Wildfire Awareness Week

Southwest Wildfire Awareness Week kicks off March 23-28, and the Division will be focusing on social media messaging around wildfire prevention topics, as well as defensible space and home hardening.

Follow along with our Facebook or Instagram , and share out and repost or create your own content to share.

The Broadcast: News and Notes

Wildfire is a shared story | T aos News

Wildfire isn't just combustion. It's a conversation — about water, about forest health, about rural economies, about identity and place. If we limit that conversation to technical bullet points, we miss an opportunity to build something stronger than fuel breaks.

Ending the era of megafires | T IME Magazine

Perhaps the most surprising fact about wildfires isn't how grave a crisis they’ve become—it's how preventable so many of them are. We have the technology and the knowledge. What do we need? Committed investment and leadership.

As the planet heats, insurance premiums rise | High Country News

In 2025, New Mexico ranked second highest in the nation for uninsured properties at 13%. From claims by zip code to states at highest risk, how are insurance agencies responding to climate-driven disasters?

Preparing for wind-driven grassland and prairie fires | Fire Adapted NM

Wildfire is n't just a…