BAER Assessment Update – July 7, 2013 PECOS, NM (July 7, 2013) – The BAER assessment team continues their analysis for the Jaroso wildfire that has burned 11,141 acres of the Pecos Wilderness area on the Santa Fe National Forest (www.fs.usda.gov/santafe/). The BAER team is working and coordinating with the Forest, tribal governments, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), state agencies, counties, communities, and other local agencies in support of their rapid BAER assessment efforts. The BAER assessment team finalized the burn severity map for the Jaroso Fire. The map shows that approximately 34% of the 11,141 acres within the fire perimeter are either unburned or received a low-severity burn, 11% sustained a burn of a moderate severity, and approximately 55% burned at a high severity. Burn severity indicates the effect the fire had on vegetation and soils. High severity burns can result in hydrophobic (water-repellant) soil conditions, sterilization of the seed bank,...