The Jemez Mountains are the most studied mountain range in the West according to those who established an extensive complex of scientific studies in both Bandelier National Monument and the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Now, with deep cuts coming to the United States Geologic Service, that science is in danger of stopping.
Beginning with Dr. Craig Allen’s research in 1989 on the fire history of the Jemez Mountains, scientists have gained a deep understanding of the ecology of the southern Rockies from hundreds of projects over the last 35 years. Dr. Allen developed a deep and clear understanding of fire history, fire ecology and the ecological history of northern New Mexico. That research has helped land managers understand how to repair the extensive damage overgrazing and fire suppression have done to the forests of the southern Rockies.
When the Valles Caldera National Preserve was established as public land in 2000, Dr. Bob Parmenter from UNM established a thriving science center at the Caldera that joined with the USGS at Bandelier and created a system of studies on wildlife, hydrology, ecology, geology and climate change that have revolutionized our understanding of northern New Mexico. Those studies are now spreading to the Sangre de Cristos and even into southern Colorado. From this knowledge, land managers at the National Park Service and the US Forest Service have made big strides in repairing the ecology of the Jemez Mountains and other mountain ranges.
The studies reveal exactly how modern humans have created the conditions for the mega fires we’ve been seeing since 1996. They show us how the warming climate is killing our forests, and they give us direction in managing that reality.
But now, Trump, Musk and Russ Vought are mandating that the USGS cut its budget by 30%. Those cuts will be made by firing scientists all over the US and ending ongoing critical research projects. People with a deep understanding of the situation fear the Jemez Mountains Field Station could be the first to close. That would end ongoing research and put career scientists out on the street.
You can help. Please write to the USGS and to Congress and urge them to keep funding the Jemez Mountain Field Station and the USGS generally. Write to:
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