page_title: Philmont Scout Ranch
section_title: Ponil Complex Fire
hierarchical_section_title: Philmont Scout Ranch / Natural disasters / Ponil Complex Fire
caption_attribution_description: Dansk: Nicolai Emil Johansen and other staff cleans up after the 2015 philmont flood
context_page_description: Philmont Scout Ranch is a ranch located in Colfax County, New Mexico, near the village of Cimarron; it covers 140,177 acres of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Rocky Mountains. Donated by oil baron Waite Phillips, the ranch is owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America. It is a National High Adventure Base where crews of Scouts and Venturers take part in backpacking treks and other outdoor activities. By land area, it is one of the largest youth camps in the world. During the season, between June 8 and August 22, an estimated 22,000 Scouts and adult leaders backpack through the Ranch's extensive backcountry. More than 1,130 seasonal staff are responsible for the Ranch's summer operations.
  Philmont is also home to the Philmont Training Center, the National Scouting Museum and the Seton Memorial Library. The Training Center is the primary location for BSA's national volunteer training programs. Philmont is a working ranch, maintaining small herds of cattle, horses, burros, and bison.
  The only documented Tyrannosaurus rex track in the world was discovered within the camp's boundaries in 1993 in North Ponil Canyon by the Anasazi Trail Camp.
context_section_description: The Ponil Complex Fire started on June 2, 2002 and burned until June 17. The burn zone covered 92,000 acres (370 km²) total; 28,000 acres (110 km²) of Philmont, 4,000 acres (16 km²) of the Elliott Barker Wildlife Area, 25,000 acres (100 km²) of the Valle Vidal, 20,000 acres (81 km²) of the WS Ranch and 15,000 acres (61 km²) of the UU Bar Ranch. One third of the burn zone was totally burned while another third was only lightly to moderately burned. About one third of the burn zone escaped relatively unharmed, due to being sections of valleys that the fire jumped over or being not as dried out and likely to burn because of nearby water.
  The burn zone is currently revegetating, some areas of which were reseeded while others began recovering naturally.
caption: Staffmembers clears a trail after the 2015 flash flood
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