Jordan and Others Interested in Land Snails and Forest Fires

We actually have about five fires going at the present, although the largest
one is the Cerro Grande fire near Los Alamos.  It has consumed about 47,000
acres, 200+ homes and is maybe 30% under control -- if the winds do not pick
up.  As for land snails in the area -- yes there are plenty of indigenous
and endemic species in that area.  New Mexico has about 165+ species of
landshells and many are endemic to one particular canyon.  The damage the
fire does to this population depends upon the severity of the fire and the
conditions prior to the fire.  Usually we get fires during dry conditions
and it is during these conditions that many of the snails are buried as deep
as possible to escape the climatic conditions.  Well, it has been very dry,
so this may have helped.  However, these fires were particularly intense and
this works against the snails.

Am I near the fires?  Not so near that there is any concern -- especially as
around my house there are no trees to speak of, it is mostly desert.  The
mountains where the big fire is are called the Jemez (pronounced Hey-mez)
mountains.  This is where Los Alamos and White Rock (the two towns that were
evacuated) are located -- as well as several pueblos and other small
villages.  I live about 40 minutes away from the Jemez and you can see them
from my house.  They are to the north and the sky as been full of smoke in
that direction since this entire mess began.  For those who do not know, it
was started as a controlled burn to clear out some underbrush.  The brush
has gotten very thick because a certain environmental group has pretty much
eliminated cattle grazing in the area as well as controlled burns -- both of
which kept the brush under control.  We had such intense forest fires the
last couple years, that the Forest Service has gone back to controlled burns
to ease the situation.  This one was just started at the wrong time, in the
wrong place, and when help was called for it wasn't readily available.

So, hopefully most of the snails faired okay.  However, if any one canyon
burned particularly hot, then there is a chance that an entire species may
have vanished.  These snails are very hard to find.  Most are small and
found under rocks on talus slopes.  This is also where you find black-tailed
rattlesnakes.  In fact I hope to go hunting these snakes (and others) at the
end of the month down south of here and maybe we can even turn up a snail or
two!  However, the area may well be closed.  The city of Albuquerque has
just banned smoking in all parks or open fields in the city and the forest
along the Rio Grande was officially closed to the public today until
conditions change.  Looks like a lot hot summer.

Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA

Oh, as a side note.  My oldest daughter is planning on getting married next
month in the Jemez.  So far the area she chose hasn't burned.  It's a nice
little meadow surrounded by pines on three sides and a rock cliff with a
stream at the base on the other side.  Maybe I can look for snails during
the wedding?



> To Tom and Shellers
> On the news and the discovery channel I hear about the fires near Los
Alamos,
> New Mexico.  Are there any landshells in the forests destroyed by the
fires?
> Are you near the fires Tom?
> Jordan *
>