SANTA FE, NM – Today, the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) Forestry Division released its 2020 Forest Health Conditions Report and newly developed Story Map revealing significant impacts to trees on state and private land due to exceptional drought and warming temperatures.
According to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, 2020 was the second warmest and fourth driest on record in New Mexico. As a result, aerial surveys conducted last year by the Forestry Division and its partner, the USDA Forest Service, found a nine percent increase in insect and drought-stress damage since the year prior.
“Climate directly influences forest health on multiple levels,” said State Forester Laura McCarthy. “Lack of rain, warming temperatures, and an increase in carbon dioxide continually alter our forest ecosystems, increasing the risk of insect outbreaks and catastrophic wildfire.”