In the Christian Bible’s opening book, God calls on humanity to work and keep Earth. It’s this calling that Brother Lawrence at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery refers to when asked why he and his monastic brothers have become pillars of wildfire prevention in Silver City, New Mexico.
“Management is something that has been given to man by God,” Lawrence told the USFS. “In Genesis, Man is put as a steward over nature. And so we need to go out there and do our part in allowing the ecosystem to grow and flourish.”
The monastery is a longstanding champion for the Gila Landscape Collaborative, a community project formed a decade ago focused on protecting the Gila National Forest. The collaboration is partnered with the USFS Silver City Ranger District to get “buy-in” from the community to increase Firewise work on and adjacent to landowners’ properties.
The monastery was founded in 1990 by Father Cyprian Rodriguez who sought an area of solitude. While remote, the forest was in poor condition when Rodriguez arrived. The area became overgrown through the (in)action of early settlers and historic mining operations, leaving the forest ripe for wildfire. The monastery’s initial efforts to be stewards of the land, however, ended up backfiring.
“There’s been efforts to restore the forest by bringing in species of trees that now have overtaken and become too dense,” Brother Santiago told the USFS. “Perhaps this is the situation for us, but it’s the same for the entire forest, where fire suppression for years has built up the ground fuels. Now, when a fire crew tries to suppress a fire, it’s too much. It’s out of control.”
The Whitewater Baldy Complex was one such out of control fire the monastery faced. The 2012 wildfire burned over 297,000 acres and destroyed 12 structures. The complex originally began as two fires, the Whitewater Fire managed under a suppression strategy and the Baldy Fire managed and monitored under a “modified suppression” model.
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The near-constant smoke which impacted the monastery during the complex and the long-lasting burn scars left in its wake motivated the brotherhood to begin focusing on fuel reduction efforts and spreading the good word of fire safety throughout their community.
“The Benedictines have unique perspectives, values, and insights they bring to the table,” Silver City Ranger District Fuels Planner Daniel London said. “It’s also valuable to have someone outside the government stressing the importance of this work. They live here. They have a special connection to it. They’re some of the best people to share this important message.”
Watch the USFS story here:
