On a gray and rainy day in early May, a few dozen individuals gathered together in the Tribal Auditorium at the Pueblo of Laguna for the 2025 Zuni Mountains Collaborative Annual Partners Meeting. This gathering provides a space for ZMC members to catch up, share updates, and hear about what will be happening in the Zuni Mountains during the upcoming field season.
This year’s meeting featured presentations from the Cibola National Forest, Forest Stewards Guild, Pueblo of Laguna Natural Resources, River Source, Ecological Restoration Institute, University of Montana - Bureau of Business and Economic Research, Cibola Trails Alliance, and National Forest Foundation. Meeting highlights, upcoming events, presenter contact information, and presentations are included below.
We look forward to seeing everyone at the Collaborative field tour this July or during volunteer and site visit days throughout the rest of the year!
Meeting Highlights, Notes, and Upcoming Events
Click to view the meeting agenda
Click to view meeting notes, upcoming events, and presenter contact information
Full Presentation Slides
General Collaborative Updates - Forest Service and Forest Stewards Guild
U.S. Forest Service - Mt. Taylor Ranger District updates.
Information was presented by Phil Rudy, CFLRP Coordinator; Jay Turner, Natural Resources & Planning Staff Officer; Jason Eakins, Timber Management; Geraldine Antonio & Ryan Carbajal, Fire and Fuels Management; and Isaac Martinez, Rangeland Management Specialist.
Forest Stewards Guild updates on invasive plant surveying and management program and CFLRP multi-party monitoring plan progress.
Information was presented by Mateo Pomilia, Southwest Program Manager. Mateo may be contacted at mateo@forestguild.org with questions or requests to get involved in either effort.
Pueblo of Laguna, Natural Resources Program
Pueblo of Laguna, Natural Resources Program presentation on recent forest restoration and community fuelwood successes.
Information presented by Raymond Lucero, POL Natural Resources Manager. Raymond may be contacted at rplucero@pol-nsn.gov.
Governance and Capacity Monitoring - ERI and Bureau of Business
Ecological Restoration Institute updates on the next phase of federally-required CFLRP collaborative governance monitoring. Individual interviews are happening with individuals across many organizations who are familiar with the work and organization of the Collaborative.
Information was presented by Niki VonHedemann and Sarah Devenport of Northern Arizona University. To get ask questions or get involved in the interviews, they may be contacted at niki.vonhedemann@nau.edu and sarah.devenport@nau.edu.
Draft report from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research on timber processing capacity and capability in the Zuni Mountains landscape. The final 5-year report will be available summer 2025.
Information presented by Ben Irey, Research Social Scientist. Ben may be contacted at ben.irey@mso.umt.edu.
Recreation - Forest Service and Cibola Trails Alliance
Forest Service updates on recreation plans, development, and improvements on federal lands across the Mt. Taylor Ranger District.
Presented by Arnold Wilson, Forester.
Cibola Trails Alliance updates on trail development and improvement and research on the economic impact of eco-tourism in west-central New Mexico.
Information presented by Chad Gaines. Chad may be contacted at president@cibolatrails.org.
Community Fuelwood - National Forest Foundation and Forest Stewards Guild
National Forest Foundation update on the Wood for Life agreement and community wood provision program in west-central New Mexico. The need for fuelwood for community use became a point of ZMC discussion in 2023 and led to the adoption of several programs and working groups over the following two years.
Information presented by Tim Borden, New Mexico Forestry Project Coordinator. Tim is based in Gallup and may be contacted at tborden@nationalforests.org.
Forest Stewards Guild updates on the Wood Utilization and Community Fuelwood Working Group. The presentation primarily contains photos, but additional information can be found in the embedded PowerPoint notes or in the meeting notes, above.
Information prepared by Juan Lemos, Fuelwood Coordinator, and presented by Rachel Bean, Southwest Project Manager. Juan may be contacted at juan@forestguild.org.