The pueblo of cochiti new mexico fire safety and mitigation management project is located within the middle RIO grande valley watershed

The Pueblo of Cochiti received a $151,661.32 Cooperative Agreement from the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program (CFDA 15.228) to implement wildfire risk reduction and emergency preparedness activities in the Middle Rio Grande Valley Watershed adjacent to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. The project, awarded September 1, 2025, with completion targeted for August 30, 2028, addresses critical fire safety needs in a region currently operating under a statewide emergency drought and wildfire order.

Deliverables include a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS)-based fire risk assessment; vegetation management through hand thinning, herbicide treatments, brush removal, and selective tree removal in designated corridors; establishment of permanent fire breaks and buffers; clearing of fire roads and access routes of hazardous materials and invasive vegetation to support emergency response; creation and posting of evacuation maps for public safety; and development of a publicly accessible GIS map documenting all fire mitigation infrastructure, roads, and buffer zones. All work will be executed in accordance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) best management practices, with deliverables made available to the Pueblo of Cochiti Natural Resources Department, emergency responders, local firefighters, and the BLM.

This proposed cooperative agreement is focused on reducing the risk of wildfire, improving emergency access, and protecting ecologically and culturally significant landscapes adjacent to the kasha-katuwe tent rocks national monument. This project will establish permanent fire breaks and buffers, clear access to fire roads for firefighters, and decrease the probability of ignition and spread of wildfire in a region that is currently under a statewide emergency order for ongoing drought and wildfire conditions, vulnerable to invasive vegetation, and is in a prolonged drought. The primary activities of this cooperative agreement include a comprehensive field study and GIS based fire risk assessment, the implementation of fuel type vegetation removal, the creation of fire buffers and breaks, the clearing of hazardous materials, fuels, and foliage from fire roads, and the creation and posting of evacuation maps near the national monument for public safety and awareness. All project areas will be GPS marked and incorporated into a final GIS map, available to the public, the pueblo of cochiti natural resources department (PDC NRD), emergency responders and local firefighters, and the bureau of land management (BLM). Vegetation management will be carried out through a combination of hand thinning, herbicide spot treatments, brush removal, and tree removal in selected corridors. Fire roads and access routes will be cleared of hazardous materials such as deadwood and invasive fuel-type vegetation to support firefighters and evacuation routes. All vegetation work will be performed in accordance with EPA and USDA best management practices (bmps). Deliverables include a complete, publicly shared GIS map identifying all fire mitigation infrastructure and fire roads, cleared and maintained fire breaks, roads, and buffer zones, a maintenance baseline developed by the fire community safety coordinator and natural resources department using EPA and USDA bmps, on-site training for pueblo environmental staff on vegetation management and defensible space, and long term fire preparedness resources for the community and national park (emergency signage and evacuation route information.) the intended beneficiaries of this project are the pueblo of cochiti community, tribal environmental staff and emergency responders, visitors of the kasha-katuwe tent rocks national monument, the broader ecosystem of the middle RIO grande valley watershed, and federal land managers tasked with the protection of the adjacent kasha-katuwe tent rocks national monument. This project supports local and federal priorities for wildfire risk reduction, habitat conservation, and public safety infrastructure. No subrecipients are included in this cooperative agreement. All activities will be carried out directly by the pueblo cochiti NRD and contracted personnel with advising and review of deliverables and progress from the BLM.