Beetle-Kill Trees and Wildfire

Beetle-Kill Trees and Wildfire

Beetle-kill trees make an easy target in the rush to defend our forests and communities from wildfire. The trees are dead and brown, so they must be a fire hazard, especially in today’s unnaturally dense forests. Therefore, we need to cut the trees and salvage...
Retardant Suspected in Polluted Wells

Retardant Suspected in Polluted Wells

During New Mexico’s largest-ever wildfire — the 2022 Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, slurry bombers made nearly 2,500 retardant drops, primarily Phos-Chek, to combat the blaze. Phos-Chek is the bright red fire retardant featured on news reels to convey a visually...
Piñon-Juniper Forests

Piñon-Juniper Forests

Piñon-juniper woodlands may not inspire the kind of awe that people experience among the redwoods of California or the old-growth Douglas-fir trees of the Pacific Northwest, but piñon-juniper forests are one of the most extensive ecosystems in western North America...