A Synthesis of The Las Conchas Fire: How Does it Compare?
Edward A. Martinez, Sara Brown, New Mexico Highlands University Las Vegas, NM; Richard McNeill, New Mexico Forest
and Watershed Restoration Institute, Las Vegas, NM; Joseph Zebrowski, Elyssa Duran, Anita Lavadie, Lorraine Garcia,
New Mexico Highlands University Las Vegas, NM
Abstract—As wildfires have been increasing in extent and severity throughout the Southwest, so have the
fire effects. Unlike many other big fires, the 156,593 acre Las Conchas fire of 2011 uncharacteristically burned
more than 61,000 acres in a 24hr period on June 27 where over 50 percent of the total area burned at moderate and high severity. Its severity and extent provided the opportunity to develop better tools to understand
and classify severity and its impact on ecological processes, natural resources, and human communities. As
a means to contextualize the significance of the Las Conchas fire, the fire effects produced were compared
to other recent, regionally relevant large fire events such as the Whitewater-Baldy (2012; 297,845 ac) and
Silver fires (2013; 138,705 ac). Furthermore, the impacts to both natural resources and communities based on
findings from our studies of the Las Conchas fire were synthesized. The Whitewater Baldy fire was two times
larger than the Las Conchas fire and burned an area characterized by mixed-conifer, ponderosa pine, piñonjuniper and grasslands. The Silver fire was the largest fire of 2013 in the southwest. The burned area was
characterized by mixed-conifer, ponderosa pine, piñon-juniper, and woodlands. Compared to the over 30 percent area burned at high severity of the Las Conchas, the area burned at high severity was 15 percent and 13
percent respectively for the Whitewater Baldy and Silver fires. Additionally both of these fires burned within
their historical range of variability unlike the Las Conchas, where fire behavior was not characteristic of a frequent fire regime. The precipitation after the containment of the Las Conchas fire initiated major movement
of soil especially in the high severity burned areas. This mass movement of soil resulted in low NO3-N and
PO4 concentrations in soil collected from the high severity study site. Results indicated that NO3-N and PO4
concentrations in soil decreased with an increase in fire severity. Both of these relationships were opposite
(nutrient concentrations increased with severity) for NO3-N and PO4 concentrations in surface water runoff
collected from the control and the various burn severity sites. A significant negative correlation was determined for presence of vegetation with burn severity and bare ground, i.e., as bare ground and burn severity
increased, presence of vegetation (biomass, diversity, and seed bank regeneration) decreased. Similarly, the
impact of surface water runoff and debris flows entering the San Antonio Creek was evident in the decreased
aquatic insect community structure when comparing pre- and post-fire aquatic insect data. The Las Conchas
fire was out of the historic range of variability when we compare it to other large, regional fires. Based on
climate change model projections of increased temperatures and increased drought conditions, as well as
current forest management policies and fire suppression activities we can speculate that the Las Conchas
fire is an excellent representation of future fires in the southwest. It is imperative that fire scientists and fire
managers collaborate to develop policies that will allow for the creation of resilient forests that will minimize
ecological and social costs of future fires similar to Las Conchas.
Keywords: Synthesis, Las Conchas Fire, Nutrients, Vegetation, Soil, Impacts
In: Keane, Robert E.; Jolly, Matt; Parsons, Russell; Riley, Karin. 2015. Proceedings
of the large wildland fires conference; May 19-23, 2014; Missoula, MT. Proc.
RMRS-P-73. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Research Station. 345 p.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-73. 2015.
The content of this paper reflects the views of the authors, who are responsible for the
facts and accuracy of the information presented herein.
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