NPS

Four Winds Fire Group crews monitor the effects of prescribed fire in a meadow.

The Four Winds Fire Program

Five NPS units in New Mexico and Arizona collaborate in this program: El Malpais, El Morro, Petrified Forest, Petroglyph, and Salinas Pueblo Missions. The mission of the Four Winds Group is to safely protect life and property while managing fire as an integral part of the environment and ecosystem.

Four Winds Program NEWS!

Check out the latest fire program activities in El Malpais. Prescribed fire, training, wildland urban interface, it's all here.

NPS Fire and Aviation Management - go here to check out all the details of fire management in the National Park Service.

Rx Effects 2009 Newsletter (3.35 Mb pdf) - learn about the effects of prescribed fire activity in the National Park Service. Read about the results of a prescribed burn in El Malpais on page 13!

A La Nina winter may mean high fire danger in 2011 

The region is experiencing the effects of "La Nina," a weather pattern that results from cooler-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. This tends to shift the winter storm track to the north, creating dry and warm conditions in the southwest. If these conditions persist into the spring, it may mean heightened fire danger for the 2011 fire season. Click here to read more about "La Nina."