NM rancher touts benefits of fire when used at right time, conditions

A more-than-five-decades-long Lincoln County rancher, well known for his conservation and land restoration work, said Monday that fire is a necessary part of creating healthy forests. Speaking to the Little Bear Fire Reform Coalition, Sid Goodloe contended a number of changes are needed to avert another disaster like June's Little Bear Fire. "I was a bit apprehensive about talking to you all," Goodloe told the coalition of which he is a member. "In fact I wouldn't have done it earlier because of the feelings here. What I've got to say is a little bit different from what we've been talking about but I think it's important for this group. I guess when I first heard about it I was a little standoffish because I thought it was just a bunch of people that were mad at the Forest Service and I don't share that feeling. I think the Forest Service did about as much as they possibly could on this fire." Goodloe, who has managed his Carrizo Valley Ranch north of Capitan through planned burns and thinning, has been applauded over the years for restoring the landscape and bringing creeks back to year-round life, said fire can be beneficial at the right times. "The point of what I want to get across here, and it's contrary to the way this thing started, is that we've got to have fire. We're going to have fire. It's just how we handle it or how we are able to prevent it. We've got to do controlled burning, prescribed burning. And in some cases we've got to let these natural fires burn. Goodloe criticized the Endangered Species Act and related litigation regarding the law. He said that has stopped the Forest Service from undertaking needed work. "These people, like the WildEarth Guardians, they're well intentioned but they're lawyers and they got money. You get that combination against you, you got a problem. And we've got a problem."...more