Although recent moisture had eased some of the Mountainair Ranger District's worries about the immediate threat of fire. Fire Information Officer Arlene Perea said last week that moisture levels were the same as the start of the Trigo Fire last year. The district has put Stage 1 fire restrictions into place, including prohibiting campfires in the forest, except in designated areas. Smoking is restricted to within an enclosed vehicle or building or while stopped in an area at least 3 feet in diameter and free of all flammable material.

There have not been any fires in the district so far, but there are up to 25 in a year, most of which are less than an acre, Perea said.

"It's a little early to be having fires," she said. "But in these conditions we are definitely gearing up for them."

The ranger district will be bringing in seasonal fire staff in late March into mid-April, and the district has applied for severity funding allowing the district to bring in additional personnel or fire engines from other districts that don't have as much of a fire risk.

The Sandia Ranger District is attempting to bring in temporary and seasonal employees to gear up for fire season as well, according to District Ranger Cid Morgan. The district should have a helicopter at its disposal by April 6, she said.

The district recently completed a fuel break along Forest Road 462, which parallels Old Route 66 from the Sandia Ranger Station to Tablazon, and it is planning to implement another project in October of this year. The new project would create a fuel break near Cedar Crest west of N.M. 14, according to Richard Bustamante, the district's fire management officer.

Sandia may start imposing restrictions beginning in the middle of end of April.

"We are dry," Bustamante said. "Outlooks are looking for a long and dry spell going into fire season."

Some area landowners are taking necessary precautions to protect their homes and their land from fire threats. About 27 thinning projects have been submitted and accepted by the Claunch-Pinto Soil and Water Conservation District, according to District Manager Dierdre Tarr.

The district's cost-share programs cover 80 percent of project costs per project, while the landowner is responsible for 20 percent. Tarr said volunteers spend long hours thinning and chipping slash.

Programs are ongoing on the Chilili Land Grant, Torreon, Manzano, and around Forest Road 275 near Mountainair, she said.

All the wood retained is given away as firewood, but the district doesn't provide cut wood. Anyone interested in having the firewood must bring a chainsaw to cut the wood themselves and haul it.

The Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District, which does work in the Sandias, will cover 70 percent of thinning project costs. Morgan recommends that residents call the county fire department for an inspection of fire hazards around their home and have someone from New Mexico State Forestry look at their property as a whole. Even though she recently hurt her back lifting her old dog in and out of her car, she's still doing a thinning project on her property, she said.

"I'm not asking them to do anything I'm not doing myself," she said. "I just keep hammering on people to get their hazard reduction done."

To learn more about fire hazard reduction, call State Forestry at 867-2334. Those living in Bernalillo County can contact Sue Hansen with the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District at 761-5446, and those in southern Torrance County can contact Dierdre Tarr with the Claunch-Pinto Soil and Water Conservation District at 847-2243.