Supporting Sandia Ranger District Since 1997
Notices and Highlights
Everyone
– We love our mountains!
– Volunteers complete Adopt-a-Highway project
– Moisture and colder weather coming
– FOSM in numbers 2025
– Don Carnicom receives Sam Beard Award
– New officers and board members elected
– Slides available from October 7 membership meeting
– Forest Service announces planned prescribed burns
– Forest Service announces surveys on the Cibola and Gila National Forests
Members
– Welcome our new members
– Paint crew leader needed
– Time to report September hours
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Volunteer Opportunities
About Us
Who We Are
Our History
Trail Construction
Description
Reports and Photos
General Projects
Description
Reports and Photos
More About Us
Our Board of Directors
Our Awards and Recognition
Trail Maintenance
Description
Reports and Photos
Other Activities
Painting and Graffiti Removal
Youth Outreach
If you enjoy the outdoors and want to give something back,
join Friends of the Sandia Mountains!
Our volunteer work focuses on single-day activities in the Sandia Ranger District. If you are looking for opportunities ranging across New Mexico and often involving multi-day projects, check out our partner organization New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors (NMVFO) at https://nmvfo.org.
We Love Our Mountains*
Whether you are a hiker, mountain biker, cross-country skier, trail runner, or you just enjoy being in the Sandias, you know that our mountains are one of nature’s special gifts.
Have you ever wondered what you could do to help protect our mountains? Do you want to learn more about the animals and plants you find there? Do you like to meet people who share your concern for the Sandia and Manzanita Mountains?
Welcome! Please explore our website to learn more about the goals and many activities of the Friends of the Sandia Mountains (FOSM). We likely have volunteer opportunities that match your interests and abilities.
Click here to learn about the fascinating geological history of the Sandias as well as some unique features of our beloved mountains including Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway, Ten 3 restaurant, 84 medallion trees, and sadly more than a dozen aircraft crash sites.
New to Albuquerque or just new to the Sandias? Explore the many recreational opportunities our mountains offer. Please carefully read the Safety section.
Please check out our La Luz Trail webpage if you are planning to hike this iconic but sometimes dangerous trail.
An easy way to get involved is to join Cibola Trail Rangers, an email group consisting of hikers, bikers, XC skiers, horsemen, etc., who frequent the trails in the Sandia Ranger District and are interested in exchanging information on trail conditions on both an immediate and continuing basis. The group includes FOSM members trained to correct reported problems.
Please report corrective actions as well as problems so the FOSM trail maintenance crew doesn’t hike to fix a problem that no longer exists.
FOSM member Sally Lowder maintains a comprehensive database of reported trees and their disposition.
*Technically, it’s Sandia Mountain (singular), but we often use the plural because of the northern and southern peaks.
Weather and Road Conditions
FOSM Volunteers Complete Adopt-a-Highway Cleanup Project
October 14, 2025 – Twelve FOSM volunteers completed our second Adopt-a-Highway cleanup for 2025 on a cool and foggy Tuesday morning. About half used hand and power tools to remove brush restricting vision for drivers traveling uphill while the others removed trash and debris from both sides of the Sandia Crest Highway between the 4-mile and 5-mile markers.
FOSM in Numbers FY2025
October 7, 2025 – Secretary Silke Bletzer compiled a summary of the impressive volunteer work by FOSM members during the past fiscal year. The 8,653 volunteer hours contributed during the year are equivalent to about four-and-a-half fulltime employees supporting the Sandia Ranger District.
More details can be found here. Thanks and congratulations to everyone who contributed to these numbers.
FOSM Co-founder Don Carnicom Receives Sam Beard Achievement Award
October 7, 2025 – FOSM co-founder Don Carnicom was presented with the 2025 Sam Beard Achievement Award for his 28 years of service to Friends of the Sandia Mountains. Jamey Browning created and presented a beautiful wooden plaque commemorating Don’s devotion to maintenace of signage associated with the Sandia Crest National Scenic Byway Auto Tour Guide.
This award is given to FOSM members in recognition of exceptional volunteer service to the Forest Service and our public lands. Nominations for the award are solicited annually from the board of directors and weekly crew leaders, and awardees are selected from the nominees by the board.
The award is named for Sam Beard who epitomizes its basis. Sam and Don cofounded FOSM in 1997, and Sam still spends most days every week in dedicated service to its mission at an age when most have passed or retired to a comfortable chair.
Jamey and Silke Bletzer created a plaque recognizing winners of the award. The plaque will be on permanent display in the Sandia Ranger Station conference room.
Congratulations and thanks for your service, Don!
Fiscal Year 2026 Officers and Board Members Elected
October 7, 2025 – Members present at the annual FOSM business meeting elected officers and board members for fiscal year 2026.
Congratulations and thanks for your service, everyone!
Slides Available from October 7 Membership Meeting
Click here to view materials from this and previous meetings as well as information about future meetings.
Forest Service Announces Plans for Prescribed Burns
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Sept. 26, 2025 – The Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands are planning prescribed fire operations this fall, as early as September 30th through December, pending all required approvals. See attached map.
We estimate this work to continue through the fall and early winter as weather conditions allow. Prescribed (Rx) fire helps reduce overgrown vegetation to protect local communities, infrastructure and natural resources from catastrophic wildfires.
Prescribed fire planned as early as September 30:
Sandia Ranger District:
– David Canyon Prescribed Fire: 285 acres of broadcast burning in the David Canyon area, in the Manzanita Mountains. David Canyon is located west of Hwy 337 and West of the Mars Court trailhead. Smoke may be visible from Albuquerque, Tijeras, Edgewood and Moriarty, NM.
– Cedro Unit Prescribed Pile Burn: 15 acres of piles within the Cedro unit in the Sandia Piles Rx plan. The pile burn area is in the Manzanita Mountains. Cedro is located south FSRD 462, east of HWY 337. Smoke may be visible from Albuquerque, Tijeras, Edgewood and Moriarty, NM.
– Sulphur Unit Prescribed Pile Burn: 18 acres of piles within the Sulphur unit in the Sandia Piles Rx plan. The pile burn area is in the Sandia east mountains, north of I-40, west of NM-14 and south of NM-536. Smoke may be visible in the surrounding areas of Albuquerque, Tijeras, Edgewood and Moriarty, NM.
Public Surveys on the Cibola and Gila National Forests
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – September 25, 2025 – Beginning October 1, the public may encounter contract employees conducting public surveys on the Gila National Forest and Cibola National Forest & Grasslands in developed and dispersed recreation sites and along forest service roads. Surveys will be conducted through September 30, 2026.
The National Visitor Use Monitoring survey is a Forest Service program designed to estimate how many people actually recreate on national forests and grasslands, what activities they engage in while there, and how satisfied people were with their visit. These surveys are conducted on a national forest every five years.
Contract employees will be out in all types of weather conditions, wearing bright orange vests and be near a sign that reads “Traffic Survey Ahead”.
Surveys are voluntary and all responses are confidential; names are not included, and interviews last about 10 minutes.
Questions asked include where you recreated on the forest; how many people traveled with you; how long you were on the forest; what other recreation sites you visited while on the forest, and how satisfied you are with the facilities and services provided. About a third of survey participants will be asked to complete a confidential survey on recreation spending during their trip to measure the economic impact to local communities.
Information about the National Visitor Use Monitoring program can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/nvum.
Member Messages
Welcome, New FOSM Members!
William Gruner – October 13
Dana Price – October 11
Don Fisher* – October 8
Deb C. Hall – September 12
Megan Batchelor – September 1
Nelly Taveras – August 31
Christopher Cudia – August 26
Douglas Binder – August 19
Susan Morro* – August 8
Iris Meyer-Guthman – July 12
Jon Cooper – June 2
Bart Vanden Plas – May 29
Jay Wulf – May 23
Scott Forman – May 5
Nancy Gloman – April 27
John Braly* – April 11
*Life sponsor
Volunteer Opportunities
Paint Crew Leader – Thanks, Anne Hickman for your years of faithful service as leader of the paint crew. Anne has stepped down due to other commitments. Please use the form on the referenced pages if you would be interested in assuming this leadership position.
Time to Report Volunteer Hours for September
Expect a monthly call for hours going forward during Forest Service fiscal year 2025 (October-September).
*The weekly crew leaders (Bob, Sam, Laura) have already provided their crew’s hours by individual into our FY2025 FOSM hours tracker, so if you signed an attendance sheet, your hours are already covered.
*Basically, report any and all individual time spent in a FOSM activity which pertains to the District.
Additional guidelines for reporting hours can be found here.
