New Mexico Community Stories
Elk Ridge is located in northern New Mexico, thirteen miles southeast of the village of Angel Fire and thirty miles east of Taos. It is nestled in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 9,400 feet above sea level. The development consists of 24 lots, each being about five acres in size. All are heavily forested with Engelmann spruce, Douglas and cork bark fir, bristle cone pine and quaking aspen trees. The undergrowth was very thick throughout most of Elk Ridge, creating prime ladder fuels if ever ignited. Some of the property owners worked diligently thinning, trimming and clearing on their own. Then the community was introduced to Firewise Communities/USA. Community representatives contacted the Colfax County Fire Marshal Larry Osborn and the Urban Forestry Specialist Roger Terry and asked them to come to Elk Ridge and to talk about Firewise.
On March 18, 2006 Larry and Roger met with several property owners. They explained the meaning of a defendable area and how to create such an area within a community by using the Firewise criteria. At this meeting, the community committed themselves to becoming involved in the Firewise Communities/USA process.
On April 7, 2006 at a meeting in Ute Park, it was decided that Elk Ridge should join forces with Ute Park and Hidden Lake to form the Colfax County Firewise Community Coalition.
Elk Ridge's first Chipper Day was Saturday June 17, 2006. The chipper was provided by Colfax County and the property owners provided the lion's share of the muscle. The event went very well, with a good turnout of volunteer labor and some paid workers. So much slash and green waste was pulled out to chip that at least two more days were scheduled to complete the task.
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