CIMARRON, N.M. (KRQE) – Years after a devastating wildfire tore through tens of thousands of acres of northern New Mexico forest, near the nationally known Philmont Scout Ranch, that area is building back what was lost, one seed at a time. Devastation hit Cimarron in 2018 with the Ute Park Fire burning forest lands along the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, leaving more than 36,000 acres bare and charred, the majority of that on Philmont Scout Ranch.
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Seven years later, Scouting America is now doing what it can to bring back the trees. Since July 14, campers have been working to plant 3,000 Ponderosa pine seedlings at the ranch. The seedlings were sent from New Mexico State University’s John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center in Mora. Researchers said that without reforestation, it would take hundreds of years for the forest to recover.
Their goal is to build back forests in burn scars across the state while also making them resilient to dry conditions. “We want that forest to come back and provide a lot of services to the communities around,” said Andrei Toca, Research Scientist, NMSU Forestry Research Center.
As the biggest nursery in the Four Corners, Toca said the center grows roughly 250,000 seedlings a year, but said in order to keep up with the state’s fires, we would need millions.
To help raise the funds to keep the project going, Philmont Scout Ranch is planning to launch an Adopt an Acre program this fall.
