Story perspectives

NM Tree Deaths Triple, Beetle Killings Jump 211%

6/14/2026

Summary

Victor Lucero Alerts

The 2025 report said tree deaths tripled, adding 142,000 dead acres.
Forest health manager Victor Lucero said beetle-killed conifer forest rose 211% because warm winters extend bark beetle activity.
Drought- and heat-stressed acres grew 66% across the 14 million-acre forest.
Overall forest damage declined as defoliation fell 51% and acreage dropped 6%.
In early 2026 the state and universities began building the New Mexico Reforestation Center to grow climate-adapted seedlings.

Summary

Senate Rejects Bill

Senate Energy Committee rejected a wildfire bill that would repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule and open 60 million acres to logging.
Fire-response research agency has shut more than half its facilities.
Forest managers are mechanically thinning to lower tree density built up from a century of fire suppression.
Aerial photos show far fewer dead pinon-juniper trees in thinned areas, improving the forest’s ability to capture precipitation and moderate stream temperatures.

Summary

Scientists Warn

An international team of scientists estimated this week that human-caused warming has reached 1.37 °C.
They warned that the remaining carbon budget to stay below 1.5 °C is expected to be exhausted around 2030.
The New Mexico forest health report covers only past conditions, noting that a wet winter could lessen bark-beetle pressure while a dry winter would amplify it.
The Forestry Division plans a spring aerial survey to map trees’ response.

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Victor Lucero Alerts

The 2025 report said tree deaths tripled, adding 142,000 dead acres.
Forest health manager Victor Lucero said beetle-killed conifer forest rose 211% because warm winters extend bark beetle activity.
Drought- and heat-stressed acres grew 66% across the 14 million-acre forest.
Overall forest damage declined as defoliation fell 51% and acreage dropped 6%.
In early 2026 the state and universities began building the New Mexico Reforestation Center to grow climate-adapted seedlings.

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