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There is a lot of frustration in many areas of New Mexico over forest policy. Private land is intermixed with national forest land. Logging and/or thinning of the forest land is severely limited due to environmental restrictions. Even after a fire occurs, the enviro-nazis immediately sue to prevent logging of standing dead wood. Of course, this wood eventually falls and provides more fuel for future fires and the cycle repeats.

When I toured the Ruidoso area about two years ago, I was struck by how many homes were built in and under the pines. This area is, of course, private land, but irrespective of who owns it, it needs thinning and homes shouldn't be built in such a setting. I told some friends that the entire area was a tinder box, and this fire is the latest (and worst) of several to prove I was right. And actual fire season hasn't even begun yet. It will be a long spring and summer here in the SW.

I think building a home in the SW forests is a little like building a home in a flood zone. It's a no-win situation either way, to make it safe to build homes in Ruidoso, you need to cut down most of the forests, but the reason people like homes there is because of the forests.

You have the problem of the mosaic of private and federal land: even if the Forest Service pursues an effective policy, it wouldn't amount to much if private land owners didn't- or vice versa. I wold be reluctant to make someone thin their woods, as it is their property- but still, you might argue that by refusing to deal with a problem they are adversly affect their neighbor's property. It is a rather difficult question, without an easy answer. The Forest Service land obviously should have a good fire ecology plan, but one is left to the problem of private land- keeping property safe but preserving property rights at the same time. What do you think should be done?