Fire Mitigation Plan

Fort Stanton’s Fire Mitigation and Historic Landscape Restoration Project, 2025

Founded in what was originally a grassland in 1855, Fort Stanton is now under threat from combustible trees, namely Piñon-Junipers and Siberian Elms. Fort Stanton Historic Site has received Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding for a fire mitigation project, which aims to protect the historic site from wildfires, restore the historic landscape, and create a best-practice model for wildland-urban interfaces for other cultural institutions and communities.

Watch this Town Hall presentation by Dr. Oliver Horn, Regional Manager of Lincoln and Fort Stanton given on Sat., April 12, 2025 at the site:

Key project goals:

• The NM Department of Cultural Affairs is committed to improving fire safety and hardiness in Lincoln County, especially after the devastating 2024 wildfire season.
• The site will remove select trees that threaten historic buildings and will remove fire hazards and reduce invasive species from spreading in the area.
• The site will plant trees and re-introduce native species in historically relevant areas that can withstand drought and fire conditions. These trees will improve the site’s green spaces and visitor experiences.
• Fire mitigation will help protect about 300 private houses served by the Lincoln County Volunteer Fire Department, which represents about $99 million dollars in private property value.
• Fire mitigation will protect Fort Stanton's water system, which contains roughly 75% of the district’s fire hydrants, enhancing Lincoln County’s disaster response.
• Fire mitigation will also protect the Bureau of Land Management's headquarters, located on the Historic Site, for the Fort-Stanton-Snowy River Cave Conservation area, which attracts roughly 45,000 visitors a year.
• The site hopes this project will create a best-practice model for wildland-urban interfaces for other cultural institutions and communities throughout New Mexico and beyond.

For more information about this project, email Dr. Oliver Horn, Ph.D., Regional Site Manager at Fort Stanton and Lincoln Historic Sites at oliver.horn@dca.nm.gov.