>> Laura: I'M LAURA PASKUS.

WE ALL KNOW HOW WILDFIRES  ARE AFFECTING OUR FORESTS.

WE SEE THIS ACROSS THE STATE  FROM THE GILA NATIONAL FOREST TO THE JEMEZ  MOUNTAINS.

AND ACROSS THE WEST WILDFIRE  SEASON IS GETTING LONGER AND OUR WILDFIRES BIGGER.

BUT WHEN IT COMES TO CLIMATE CHANGE, THERE'S EVEN MORE  IMPACT: DROUGHT, INSECT INFESTATIONS AND MORE.

ON THIS MONTH'S EPISODE OF 'OUR LAND,' WE LEARN HOW  CLIMATE CHANGE IS AFFECTING OUR FORESTS AND WE LOOK  AHEAD TO THE FUTURE.

>> Laura:   IN JUNE 2011, A MASSIVE WILDFIRE IGNITED AND  ERUPTED IN THE JEMEZ MOUNTAINS.

IN ALL, LAS CONCHAS BURNED 156,000 ACRES, INCLUDING  ABOUT HALF OF THE PUEBLO OF SANTA CLARA'S WATERSHED.

DANIEL DENIPAH, FORESTRY DIRECTOR AT THE PUEBLO,  REMEMBERS THAT SUMMER.

JUST BEFORE LAS CONCHAS, HE  WAS HERE IN SANTA CLARA CANYON.

>> Daniel: WE WERE UP HERE CONSULTING WITH GOVERNOR  DASHENO AT THE TIME, AND WE WERE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT THE  FOREST CONDITIONS BECAUSE IT WAS SO DRY OUT HERE, AND WE  HAD ALMOST 100% WHAT WE CALL PROBABILITY OF IGNITION.

>> Laura: THE FOREST WAS PARCHED, HOT, AND WHEN A  POWER LINE THROUGH THE SANTA FE NATIONAL FOREST BLEW  OVER, THE FIRE BLAZED INTO ACTION LIKE NO ONE HAD SEEN  BEFORE.

LAS CONCHAS BURNED  INCREDIBLY HOT AND FAST.

IN ITS FIRST 14 HOURS, IT  SCORCHED MORE THAN 43,000 ACRES.

THAT'S ONE ACRE PER MINUTE.

>> Daniel: YOU CAN SEE  THOSE IMPACTS FROM THE FIRE AND THE SEVERITY, WHICH THEY  WERE REALLY HIGH SEVERITY BURNS, AND WE'RE SEEING  LIMITED GROWTH.

>> Laura: 16,000 ACRES OF  SANTA CLARA BURNED.

SOILS WERE SUPER HEATED.

THEY BECAME HARD, LIKE CONCRETE.

ALL OF THE FISH DIED IN SANTA CLARA CREEK, A  TRIBUTARY OF THE RIO GRANDE.

AND AFTER THE FIRE CAME  DANGEROUS FLOODS THAT RIPPED APART THE FLOOD PLAIN.

TODAY, ASPENS AND OAKS ARE COMING UP WHERE CONIFERS  ONCE GREW, AND THE PUEBLO HAS PLANTED ABOUT 800,000  SEEDLINGS LIKE PONDEROSA PINES AND DOUGLAS FIRS.

IN SOME SPOTS, THOUGH, THOSE SPECIES THAT GREW HERE IN  THE PAST JUST CAN'T SURVIVE IN THIS WARMING WORLD.

BUT DENIPAH SAYS IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP  CONNECTIONS WITH THOSE  FORESTS OF THE PAST.

>> Daniel: IT'S IMPORTANT  THAT WE PRESERVE AS MUCH AS WE CAN, BECAUSE A LOT OF  THESE TREES ARE SACRED TO THE PEOPLE.

THEY'VE BEEN A PART OF THEIR LIVELIHOOD AND A PART OF  THEIR TRADITION AND THEIR CULTURE, AND THAT'S WHY IT'S  SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO MAKE SURE THAT IT TRIES TO COME  BACK AS MUCH AS WE CAN.

>> Laura: LAURA McCARTHY  IS THE NEW MEXICO STATE FORESTER.

IN HER ROLE, SHE BRINGS VARIOUS AGENCIES AND  COMMUNITIES TOGETHER TO WORK ON ONE OF THE STATE'S MOST  PRESSING PROBLEMS.

>> McCarthy: WE ARE GOING  THROUGH AN UNPRECEDENTED TIME IN TERMS OF THE SPEED  AT WHICH FORESTS ARE CHANGING AND THE ENVIRONMENT  IS CHANGING, AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ECOSYSTEMS  THAT HAVE EVOLVED OVER MILLENNIA.

AND SO THE BIG UNKNOWN QUESTIONS ARE, HOW WILL  FORESTS ADAPT, AND WHICH PIECES AND PARTS WITHIN AN  ECOSYSTEM ARE GOING TO RESPOND QUICKLY AND ADAPT  QUICKLY, AND WHICH WILL NOT.

>> Laura: WE KNOW HOW  CLIMATE CHANGE DRIVES BIGGER AND HOTTER WILDFIRES AND A  LONGER FIRE SEASON, BUT RISING TEMPERATURES AND  CHANGES IN PRECIPITATION, LIKE LESS SNOWPACK, THAT  AFFECTS FORESTS IN OTHER WAYS, TOO.

DROUGHT, FOR EXAMPLE, KILLS TREES OUTRIGHT.

IT ALSO WEAKENS A TREE'S DEFENSE AGAINST PESTS, LIKE  BARK BEETLES.

>> John: WHEN I'M WALKING  OUT IN THE FOREST, I'M NOT LOOKING FOR HEALTHY TREES,  I'M LOOKING FOR ANY KIND OF TINGE OF SOMETHING'S WRONG  WITH THAT TREE, AND GENERALLY IF IT'S A BARK  BEETLE ATTACKED TREE, WHAT YOU'LL SEE IS THE WHOLE  CANOPY KIND OF CHANGED TO A STRAW COLOR.

EVENTUALLY IT TURNS A RED RUST COLOR IF IT'S BEEN DEAD  FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS.

>> Laura: EVERY YEAR THE  STATE DOES AERIAL SURVEYS.

THE 2020 SURVEY SHOWED A 9%  INCREASE IN INSECT AND DROUGHT STRESS FROM THE YEAR  BEFORE.

>> John: THERE'S A COUPLE  OF SIGNS THAT I LOOK FOR, WHETHER THAT'S WOODPECKERS  PECKING AT THE BARK, SOME OTHER INDICATORS ARE THE  PITCH TUBES THAT HAVE DRIED, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE EXIT  HOLES IF THE TREE HAS BEEN ATTACKED FOR SO LONG.

THOSE EGGS WILL REACH  ADULTHOOD AND THEN THEY'LL BORE THEIR WAY OUT OF THE  TREE, AND YOU'LL SEE THESE LITTLE TINY ROUND EXIT  HOLES.

>> Laura: OVER THE LAST  DECADE, DROUGHT AND HOT CONDITIONS HAVE CAUSED BARK  BEETLES TO KILL MORE THAN ONE AND A HALF MILLION ACRES  OF NEW MEXICO'S FORESTS.

DEFOLIATORS, LIKE  CATERPILLARS AND PINON NEEDLE SCALE, THEY'VE  AFFECTED ALMOST 4 MILLION ACRES IN THAT TIME.

STATE FORESTRY RELIES ON SCIENCE FOR SURVEYS,  TREATMENTS, UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S HAPPENING AND WHAT  WILL HAPPEN, AND PART OF DEPUTY DIRECTOR LINDSEY  QUAM'S JOB IS MAKING SURE THAT NEW MEXICO'S 23  SOVEREIGN TRIBES ARE A PART OF CONVERSATIONS AROUND  FOREST HEALTH.

>> Lindsey: I THINK THE  ADVANTAGE THAT THEY HAVE IS THAT THEY HOLD LANDS THAT  HAVE BEEN HERE FOR MILLENNIA.

THEY ARE ON THEIR ANCESTORIAL LANDS, SO THEY  ARE THE ORIGINAL STEWARDS OF THIS LAND.

THEY'VE BEEN HERE MANAGING THIS LANDSCAPE, THEY'VE SEEN  THE CHANGES, THEY KNOW THE CHANGES, THEY HAVE A LOT OF  TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE THAT I THINK WE  NEED TO TAP INTO AND LISTEN TO, TO HELP US WITH TODAY'S  PROBLEMS, BECAUSE IN THEIR STORIES, IN THEIR CULTURE,  THEY SPEAK OF IT.

IT'S UP TO US TO PUT THE  SCIENCE WITH THAT KNOWLEDGE.

>> Laura: TODAY CHAD BROWN  IS THE FOREST DEVELOPMENT AND RESTORATION MANAGER FOR  SANTA CLARA PUEBLO.

HE STARTED WORKING IN SANTA  CLARA CANYON IN 2012, THE YEAR AFTER LAS CONCHAS WHEN  CREWS WERE DEALING WITH FLOODS AND ASH AND DEBRIS  FLOWS.

OVER AND OVER AGAIN THEY HAD  TO FIGURE OUT WAYS TO REMOVE THE TREES DAMMING UP THE  CANYON.

>> Chad: IF WE HADN'T HAVE  DONE THAT, THEN IT WOULD HAVE CREATED LOG JAMS AND  STRUCTURES TO WHERE THE NEXT DEBRIS FLOW COULD HAVE  IMPACTED THE HOMES DOWN AT THE BASE OF THE CANYON AND  WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.

>> Laura: NOW HE WORKS ON  PLANTING AND RESTORATION AND HE SEES HOW EVERYTHING IS  CONNECTED.

>> Chad: IT'S BEEN SEVERAL  YEARS SINCE OUR LAST FLOOD,  BUT ALL THE TREES THAT HAVE BEEN WITHIN THIS SANTA CLARA  CREEK TRIBUTARY, THEY'VE SEEN THE FIRE, THEY'VE SEEN  THE FLOODS, AND NOW THEY'RE GETTING IMPACTED WITH THE  INSECTS THAT ARE COMING IN BECAUSE OF THE STRESSES FROM  ALL THOSE PREVIOUS DISTURBANCE EVENTS.

YOU'RE GETTING ALL THESE COMPLEX LAYERS OF THINGS  THAT ARE IMPACTING THESE TREES AND YOU'RE SEEING A  LOT MORE MORTALITY.

>> Laura:   THIS LANDSCAPE HERE IN SANTA CLARA CANYON,  IT'S BEEN THE PEOPLE'S HOMELAND FOR MILLENNIA.

>> Chad: THE GOVERNOR OF THE TRIBE TALKS A LOT ABOUT  THE FOREST AND THE CANYON BEING A SANCTUARY, THE  GROCERY STORE, OUR PHARMACY, AND THAT'S REFLECTED BACK IN  THE CULTURE AND THE STORIES AND THE SONGS.

YOU TALK TO ANYONE IN THE COMMUNITY, THEY ALL HAVE A  STORY ABOUT BEING IN THE CANYON.

EVERYONE HAS A FAVORITE PLACE IN THE CANYON.

IT'S ALL THE WAY BACK, AND THERE'S THAT LONG LINEAGE OF  PEOPLE BEING HERE.

>> Laura: THIS LANDSCAPE  HAS TAKEN CARE OF THEM, AND THE PEOPLE OF SANTA CLARA  WILL CONTINUE TAKING CARE OF THIS LANDSCAPE NO MATTER  WHAT CHANGES ARE COMING.

FOR 'OUR LAND' AND NEW  MEXICO InFOCUS, I'M LAURA PASKUS.