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Public Land Forest Health Projects

Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District partners with City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, State Land Office and others to complete forest health projects in the East Mountains. These project reduce wildfire risk potential and increase overal forest stand health by incorporationg site specific plans for thinning. This program is made possible by grants such as the Non Federal Lands Grant and the New Mexico Counties Associations Fuels Grant. 

FOR FALL 2025 AND WINTER/SPRING 2026:

-Ciudad is working with the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division to develop and implement forest health thinning projects on approximately 700 acres at the Milne-Gutierrez Open Space near Cedar Crest, work at Milne-Gutierrez is anticipated to begin in Fall 2025 and will likely be completed in the colder months over a few years.

-Ciudad is working with Bernalillo County Open Space to develop and implement a forest health thinning projects on approximately 86 acres at the Ojito de San Antonio Open Space between Cedar Crest and Tijeras. Work at Milne-Gutierrez is anticipated to begin in Fall 2025 and will likely be completed complete by Spring 2026. 

A SANY excavator is parked in a forested area with some snow on the ground.
Masticator on a Ciudad project at  the COA Juan Tomas Open Space in 2023

Ciudad SWCD has a decades long history of partnering with local agencies to accomplish critical wildifre risk reduction forest health projects in the East Mountains. Some of our past projects are described below. 

City of Albuquerque Open Space:

Loma Ponderosa ~116 acres Mastication, Forest Health Wildfire Fuels Reduction Project  (Completed Summer 2021).

Juan Tomas Open Space ~254 acres Mastication, Forest Health Wildfire Fuels Reduction Project  (Completed between 2021 and April 2023)

San Antonito Open Space - ~160 Acres Hand Crew, Forest Health Wildfire Fuels Reduction Project (Completed April 2024)

Benalillo County Open Space:

Sedillo Ridge Open Space: ~500 acres Mastication  Forest Health Wildfire Fuels Reduction Project  (Completed between 2014-2019)

Sandia Knolls Open Space: 18.6 Acres Hand Crew Forest Health Wildfire Fuels Reduction Project (Completed February 2025)

Ojito de San Antonito Open Space: Project in planning for Fall 2025/Winter 2026

State Land Offfice:

La Madera:

Apple Valley:

Forest with tall trees and a cleared area of scattered branches and foliage.
Example of  groups and clumps with an overall mosaic pattern created by mastication at COA's Loma Ponderosa in the East Mountains
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