Firewood runs low, MREs confound some

The Navajo Nation this week issued a couple of warnings in connection with the recent heavy snowfall on parts of the Navajo Nation.

The first was to stay out of forests because of the danger of getting stuck far from help. The second deals with the MREs (meals ready to eat) that emergency workers have been dropping off to stranded Navajo households.

Emergency officials have received reports of people getting stuck in the snow when they went into the forest to cut wood. Some forested areas received 3 to 4 feet of snow, and even in lower elevations are likely to be unsafe because it's easy to bog down when the forest floor is wet.

Selena Manychildren, a spokeswoman for the tribe's Emergency Operations Center, said Navajo Nation police and emergency personnel don't have the time to help people who get stuck after ignoring advice to avoid roadless areas. If that happens, people will be on their own.

Forest Management Director Alexis Becenti said his crews, who have four-wheel drive vehicles and tire chains, are even getting stuck.

"So if you don't have chains or four-wheel drive, you are definitely going to be stuck," he said.

While there's no law to prevent you from entering the forest if you have a permit to gather firewood, he urged people to be "very careful" and stay on the main roads or roads that have been graded.

Officials have not had to issue this kind of warning in past years, but aside from the snow it's an unusually cold winter and firewood supplies are getting low at many homes. The Forestry Department, which normally has ample supplies to last the winter, has no more firewood for sale. It turned over all it had left to Emergency Management, Becenti said.

Information: 928-871-6883 or 928-871-6918.

For many families who depend on wood to heat their homes, there may be no choice but to go out and cut their own, given the prices at commercial dealers such as T&R Market near Gallup.

A cord of piñon or cedar costs $245 plus tax at T&R, almost twice the price charged by roadside vendors or the Forestry Department.

The tribe itself is going to outside vendors to purchase additional wood to distribute to Navajo families who are stranded.

Manychildren said the tribe has purchased 274 cords of wood from T&R Market. Volunteers and emergency workers divided the wood into small bundles, each containing enough for one evening's fire, and these are distributed by emergency personnel or by helicopter to the stranded families.

She said because emergency funds were limited, they had to give T&R Market an IOU, which was redeemed when the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise gave the tribe $100,000 to be used for emergency operations.

The emergency food distribution also ran into a glitch when, on Wednesday, the tribe said some people are throwing out food because they can't figure out how to prepare it.

The tribe has distributed 3,322 cases of MREs, or "meals ready to eat," for decades a staple of American GIs in battle. Each case contains 12 packages and although they are "ready to eat," some items need to be heated or prepared with hot water.

The packages contain a variety of foods, such as spaghetti and meatballs, chicken dinners, macaroni and cheese, vegetables and desserts and beverages such as tea and hot chocolate.

These come with a small container of solid fuel, but the instructions are in English, leaving some Navajos perplexed.

Emergency Management officials are trying to get the word out not to throw away these MREs.

Those who need help should contact their chapter or someone they know who has been a soldier, police officer or firefighter to see how to turn the packets into a meal.

Under no circumstances should the MREs be thrown away because if returned to the chapter, they can be redistributed to families who can make use of them, Manychildren emphasized.

She added that chapters are getting requests for "real food" from some who received MREs and are allowing them to exchange the MREs for food if they can reach their chapter house.

On Wednesday, Manychildren and Ernie Watson developed an eight-minute video showing how to prepare the MREs. It will be posted on the snow emergency Web site, www.osf2010.navajo.org.

They are also developing an audio version in Navajo that will be provided to local radio stations to play.

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