Here’s a look at some local news brought to you by Silver City Radio.

The Johnson Fire located in Johnson Canyon, west of McKenna Park, 11 miles west of Gila Cliff Dwellings in the Wilderness Ranger District, has now covered at the time of this report, 73,069 acres and remains at 11% containment. Yesterday, crews mopped up 100 feet within control lines to secure the northeastern corner of the fire in White Rocks Canyon.  Due to hazardous fire conditions in the Johnson Fire area, an Emergency Area Closure order has been issued by the Gila National Forest for public health and safety and a large portion of the Gila Wilderness is CLOSED. The Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument remains CLOSED, and the closure shall remain in effect until rescinded. Light Feather and Jordan Hot Springs, along with the Middle Fork Trailhead, are also included in this closure.

Starting this month, the Forest Service Department biologists and conservation officers will continue the second year of a two-year black bear population estimate study using “hair snares” in the Gila National Forest. The hair snares consist of strands of barbed wire stretched across an area with bait placed in the middle. When bears step over or duck underneath the wire, hair is collected along with the DNA samples needed to provide wildlife genetic studies. The snare sites are not located in high human use areas, but if visitors are recreating in the Gila National Forest and find one of these sites, the Department asks that they to not touch the study areas and avoid contact around the sites.

The USDA Rural Development Department of Agriculture released an announcement regarding a new building that was provided to El Grito Head Start in Silver City. The funding, consisting of $40,950 in Rural Development Community Faculty Grants that was obtained due to assistance from the Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments. Through the USDA Rural Development Community Faculty Grant program, the COVID-19 Cares Act, the State Head Start Grant program, and Federal Head Start roll over funds, enough money was obtained to move and set up the portable building that was donated by Silver Consolidated Schools and transported to the El Grito site.

This has been a look at some local news. Thank you for listening to Silver City Radio.