©USFS

New Mexico — The Cibola National Forest will begin work on two major projects restricting visitor use and public access to the over 140 acres along the Sandia Crest area through fall of 2027. USFS officials will work to remove hazard fuels and hazard tree removal in conjunction with vegetation thinning treatments around the Sandia Crest and New Mexico Highway 536 to promote forest health and resilience, as well as to limit threats to the vast antenna arrays on top of the Crest which are essential to local television and emergency communications, according to plan details reviewed by the Route 66 Independent. Repeated outbreaks of insects and disease on the Sandia Mountains have contributed to a high number of dead trees on the mountain, officials shared. “High fuel-loading around the Crest presents significant risks to critical infrastructure that could be damaged or destroyed in the event of a high-severity wildfire,” they said in a statement.