Big package in the Sunday newspaper and on line triggered by a visit to the Jemez Mountains by Journal multimedia guy Pat Vasquez-Cunningham and myself to spend time with Tom Swetnam:

The son of the National Forest Service’s Jemez district ranger, Swetnam grew up with a hand-cranked phone in the front bedroom, hardwired to the fire tower. “All through the early 20th century Forest Service, their mission was to put fire out, and I grew up with that,” Swetnam said.

Pat’s video captures the complexity of Tom’s views on fire:

And our graphics guru Cathryn Cunningham worked with data from Bandelier National Monument graphics guru Kay Beeley to make this remarkable bit of map-based storytelling that goes with it: