Municipal Homeowner Assessments

There are two initiatives geared to help private landowners thin or create defensible space on their property. The first is a municipal program that allows the Urban Forester, Rick DeIaco, to meet with residents, assess the property and recommend how to make the property more fire safe. On average about 30 assessments are completed a month with a higher number from April through September due to an increased presence of vacationing homeowners.

The municipal homeowner assessments emphasize three different elements, 1) fire protection/hazard reduction; 2) landscape opportunities, and 3) forest health depending on the preference of the homeowner. If a property owner wants to maximize their fire protection, DeIaco makes recommendations that emphasis that preference. If a homeowner is interested in preserving their landscape, DeIaco helps reduce the fire risk with those preferences in mind.

Ruidoso's wildfire ordinances

In June 2002, the Village Council passed a mandatory fuels management ordinance to facilitate the creation of defensible space around homes. 13,000 acres within Ruidoso will be treated to a ground fire standard, which is designed to keep a fire on the ground and reduce the risk of a wildfire spreading into the trees. To complete the entire 13,000 acres will take approximately 6-8 years. A total of four ordinances were passed and several years of work laid the ground work for the ordinances to pass. A community-led Forest Task Force devised the ordinances and worked with the Village Planning and Zoning Committees and the Village Council. Fortunately, the night the ordinances were brought before the Village Council for a vote, the smoke from the Rodeo-Chedeski Fire in Arizona blew through town. The smoke from the Arizona fire coupled with the recent and local Kokopelli fire resulted in support for the ordinances.

In total four ordinances were passed in June 2002. Ruidoso may be the first municipality in New Mexico to adopt codes such as these. The first ordinance outlines universal homeowner property treatment and new construction guidelines. The second ordinance is a wildland hazard overlay district. The third outlines the fire ordinance that consolidated and updated all the fire regulations. The fourth revamps the existing ordinance that now states a permit is needed for cutting trees over 16" in diameter.

Slash and debris removal has been an integral part to encourage residents to reduce hazardous fuels on their property. Village officials believe having a system in place for removal of yard debris is important if homeowners are expected to abide by the ordinance. To facilitate the removal of debris, Ruidoso purchased their first grappling truck in 1999. By 2002 Ruidoso owned three grappling trucks with two more on order. Once the disposal system is geared up (with the purchase of additional grappling trucks) to handle the larger amount of residue coming off homeowner property, Ruidoso will begin to enforce the ordinance. Officials do not want to be in a position where people are thinning their property with no way to dispose of the debris. The enforcement will start on the southwest side of town, the area prioritized for fuels treatment by Ruidoso Wildland Urban Interface Group. Ruidoso anticipates three type of people, 1) those who comply (no problem is anticipated with these folks); 2) those who can't thin because they are physically or financially unable (a volunteer program exists through the schools and community service organizations that will help the people in this group); and 3) those who won't thin because of various issues; for these people the Village will, hire a contractor, thin the property forcibly, and bill the property owner or place a lien on the property.

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Ruidoso's residents make a difference

Ruidoso's "tree ordinance"

In the late 1980s, the Ruidoso Village Council passed an ordinance that required a permit and a $5 fee to cut down a tree larger than 5 inches in diameter. The ordinance was in response to public outrage when a local businessman cut down three large ponderosa pines on his property. Many residents of Ruidoso felt the aesthetic value of trees was worth protecting and little challenge was made to the ordnance. In the 1990s the wildfire risk increased and residents wanted to make their property safer and thin trees but were stopped by the expense of the tree ordinance. In 1995 a group of citizens formed "The Forest Health Coalition" and this was the impetus for changing the original tree ordinance. In the spring of 1996 the Coalition was successful in changing the tree ordinance and homeowners began thinning the vegetation on their property.

Ruidoso hires an Urban Forester

Ruidoso started experiencing interface fires in 2000 and losing houses. Old assumptions, such as paved roads would stop a fire, were proven wrong and officials realized they needed to confront the wildfire threat. The Forest Health Coalition, a community-led group, had been pushing the Village Council to hire an Urban Forester since 1999. Rick DeIaco had been involved with the Forest Health Coalition and Ruidoso hired DeIaco as the first Urban Forester in November 2000. DeIaco felt Ruidoso needed a full time Urban Forester, "You need someone full time who can get things done-you need someone to coordinate". New Mexico State Forestry and DeIaco, along with other fire agencies started the RWUIG which replaced the recently disbanded Forest Health Coalition as the driving force to address the wildfire threat in Ruidoso.