New Mexico Forest closures

[Gila]

Bad news....some of the best deer and elk units in the state are being affected by the fires. Sante Fe, Carson National forests are closed to the public until 31st Dec. The Cibola NF is in Stage 3 restricted as of now which limits certain activities (provided in the link. That is a lot of ELK and deer units affected. I believe the Cibola NF district Southwest of Socorro (unit 17) may be closed to the public soon if they cannot get it contained. The fire in unit 16B (Gila wilderness area) is bad also. If we get some good monsoon rains this August they could very well rescind the closures and relax the stage 3 restrictions by 1st archery season, but that is being extremely hopeful at this point.

https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/santa-fe-national-forest-to-implement-forest-wide-closure-may-19/

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[mxracer317]

Bad news....some of the best deer and elk units in the state are being affected by the fires. Sante Fe, Carson National forests are closed to the public until 31st Dec. The Cibola NF is in Stage 3 restricted as of now which limits certain activities (provided in the link. That is a lot of ELK and deer units affected. I believe the Cibola NF district Southwest of Socorro (unit 17) may be closed to the public soon if they cannot get it contained. The fire in unit 16B (Gila wilderness area) is bad also. If we get some good monsoon rains this August they could very well rescind the closures and relax the stage 3 restrictions by 1st archery season, but that is being extremely hopeful at this point.

https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/santa-fe-national-forest-to-implement-forest-wide-closure-may-19/

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Geez. My 9 year old son drew a youth-only deer tag (November) in Unit 17. This will be a bummer if the unit closes.

Does OnX or GoHunt maps have a layer for showing closed units?

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

i hate to see closures like this//fire danger is bad im sure/just hate to see all entry shut down.

 

[Gila]

Geez. My 9 year old son drew a youth-only deer tag (November) in Unit 17. This will be a bummer if the unit closes.

Does OnX or GoHunt maps have a layer for showing closed units?

They can’t close the elk hunting units. What is being closed is the public access to the National Forests. OnX will the show the fires. Also you can see them on https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ . As of now the Cibola National forest in unit 17 is open to the public but under stage 3 fires restrictions as listed in the link that I provided. I don’t think they will close the Cibola NF in unit 17, but it bears watching because the fire is getting really bad.

 

[KayakMacGyver]

Sad state of affairs. That's some beautiful country. I do want to point out one clarification, though:


From the article:

"All closure orders will remain in effect through July 18, but could be rescinded earlier. This date replaces the initial termination date, which was Dec. 31."

 

[S-3 Ranch]

I don’t think 34 will open or Carson

 

[hank4elk]

Could be until rains allow, or impede. Roads could remain closed if runoff creates a problem too.

 

[David658]

I have a friend with first season bow elk in the Valles Caldera. Praying for him that he gets to hunt. My elk hunt is in late November, somewhat confident the woods will be open by then.

 

[hank4elk]

I have a friend with first season bow elk in the Valles Caldera. Praying for him that he gets to hunt. My elk hunt is in late November, somewhat confident the woods will be open by then.

The Caldera has been sparred in this one, so far.
I'd be concerned if I had a 45 or 21b tag this year.

 

[Commutair]

This sucks for everyone. I have 2 hunts affectEd by wildfires. Sorry for all who drew such a hard tag to get. Be careful. Do not take 1 chance out there.

 

[hank4elk]

Lady at the store yesterday did not understand that even tho the forest is open where the family is camping, there are no open fires allowed. That means NO OPEN FLAMES! No stoves or BBQ's.
She asked me how old a kid needs to be to not wear a helmet on the forest roads.

I shook my head and told her to go next door the the FS office and ask these ?'s

 

[Gila]

Lincoln National Forest is closed until 1st August or until conditions improve, whichever comes first. Gila is open with stage 2 fire restrictions. Apache is open with stage 2 restrictions, although some areas have extreme fire conditions, so I am not sure if those areas are closed or not. The Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands has a closure within the Mount Taylor, Mountainair, and Sandia Ranger Districts.

Fire danger remains extreme with record conditions only expected to worsen over the foreseeable future. The closure will be rescinded after significant moisture has been received and overall conditions improve. The Magdalena Ranger District and Grasslands will remain in Stage II Fire Restrictions. Some of the open areas are in either stage II or III fire restrictions and the fire restrictions could change on a daily basis depending on fire conditions.

 

[jrabq]

The Caldera has been sparred in this one, so far.
I'd be concerned if I had a 45 or 21b tag this year.

There was a fire in the Jemez that closed the Caldera, friend of mine had a turkey tag and his hunt was cut short. That was a month ago, don't know the status.

 

[David658]

There was a fire in the Jemez that closed the Caldera, friend of mine had a turkey tag and his hunt was cut short. That was a month ago, don't know the status.

Fire is basically out, 90%+ contained. Mopping up. But the forest is still closed, and will be until we get some wet.

 

[hank4elk]

Extreme fire danger again today thru Sun. Winds 30-40 here.
Sure was a lot of families in town yesterday heading out to camp. Oblivious or ?

 

[mrcowboy]

Windy as hell today in catron County. Lots of campers in quemado at gas station. Be smart folks. Hank you get rain yesterday ?

 

[hank4elk]

Windy as hell today in catron County. Lots of campers in quemado at gas station. Be smart folks. Hank you get rain yesterday ?

3 drops that instantly dried...

Very windy here too. Can't tell if those are clouds or smoke. Maybe just dust.

 

[David658]

Extreme fire danger again today thru Sun. Winds 30-40 here.
Sure was a lot of families in town yesterday heading out to camp. Oblivious or ?

Oblivious/stupid. I simply don't go in the mountains when the wind blows like it is - there are a lot of branches, including big ones, on the ground that were once up in the trees. Not an issue up here, all the forests in the northern part of the state are closed. There are still idiots headed out into the woods, tho.

 

[hank4elk]

Oblivious/stupid. I simply don't go in the mountains when the wind blows like it is - there are a lot of branches, including big ones, on the ground that were once up in the trees. Not an issue up here, all the forests in the northern part of the state are closed. There are still idiots headed out into the woods, tho.

I was trying to be a sensitive lad.....they are in the not so smart to moron team.
The Gila and Apache forests are under stage 2 restrictions.
Did any of these folks call or look at a goggle to see what's up? The fires have been the headliner on local news , followed by the extreme fire weather.

 

[TheHeadTurkey]

The Caldera has been sparred in this one, so far.
I'd be concerned if I had a 45 or 21b tag this year.

Do you mean 21a?