SANTA FE, N.M. — While our state lawmakers obviously can’t do anything about the wind, they do know there are ways to get rid of the extra fuel before the next wildfire strikes.

Experts say more are coming. However, they also say there are ways to make sure our homes, buildings and other properties are prepared to withstand those flames.

A bipartisan plan at the Roundhouse could possibly spark change.

“We’ve had our lessons and we’re not learning from them. And I’m tired of watching people’s properties and lives go up in flames,” said state Rep. Harlan Vincent, R-District 56, Ruidoso.

Vincent, a former Ruidoso fire chief, witnessed the destruction of last year’s South Fork and Salt Fires firsthand. He believes another disaster like that is growing in New Mexico’s state forests.

“We should have roughly around 50 trees per acre. Right now we have like 1,000 trees per acre, and we have to reduce the fuel,” Vincent said. “We have to make it safer for our people. We have to make it safer so that we can get insurance on our homes.”

Vincent and other state lawmakers backing the Wildfire Prepared Act. It’s a $20 million bill aimed at ramping up the state’s wildfire mitigation efforts by expand the state’s fire planning task force. That would give the state more resources to do things like forest thinning on state lands and helping New Mexicans properly prepare their homes.

“We’re not going to stop wildfires altogether. We can reduce them and Senate Bill 33 gets us at the things that we actually can control. And that is the vegetation around our property,” said Laura McCarthy, the New Mexico state forester.

Harlan says property owners and local groups could apply for grants to help pay for those wildfire mitigation efforts. The hope is to give insurance providers some peace of mind.

“What they have said to us consistently is that if New Mexico gets an effective wildfire mitigation program in place, which is exactly what Senate Bill 33 is, then they will do their part as well,” McCarthy said.

The Wildfire Prepared Act already cleared the state Senate. It has bipartisan support in the House, likely giving it a clear path to the governor’s desk.

“They know that it’s not a Democrat and Republican problem. It’s a right and wrong problem. We need to go in there and fix it, and they’re with me,” Vincent said.