Baron of the Trees

Did Zozobra’s Ray Sandoval wield the power to fell Fort Marcy trees alone, or is the safety of the annual event a lot more complicated than we thought?

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Certainly by now you’ve heard the tale of the Fort Marcy Park tree removal kerfuffle. If not, somehow, the broad strokes are that, after years spent citing concerns over security, high attendance numbers, safety measures and insurability, Zozobra Event Chair Ray Sandoval moved to have a dozen Siberian elm trees removed from the park’s arroyo and elsewhere under threat that Zozobra as we know it would possibly need to move to another venue or be outright canceled. City Manager Mark Scott approved the felling earlier this month, and on the morning of Aug. 5, the trees came down, setting off Santa Feans who felt they had no input into the matter. 

While true that the nonprofit Kiwanis that produces Zozobra has committed to planting a number of saplings and installing irrigation to offset the removal of the elms, and also true the company that insures the annual event—which Sandoval has declined to publicly name—penned a letter July 1 claiming it would no longer be able to underwrite the event unless the trees were removed and a safer ingress into the park adopted, online chatter and in-person scuttlebutt quickly turned to one main issue: Should one man, like Sandoval, have the power to so quickly make something like a tree removal happen? 

On Aug. 6, the day after the trees came down, Sandoval sent out a mass email addressing the situation, including a mention of a Kiwanis-sponsored public talkback event at Fort Marcy slated for 5:30 pm on Thursday, Aug. 21. In that missive, Sandoval tackled numerous concerns, including the timeline for the tree removal as well as just how many times Kiwanis attempted to engage with the public before removing the elms. He also cited the 2021 Travis Scott Astroworld concert during which nine concertgoers were killed and countless others trampled and injured during a massive crowd push toward the stage as the exact type of tragedy he hopes to head off at future Zozobra burnings. Chopping down the elms was only ever about installing a new bridge that would make Zozobra run more safely. Now, in the aftermath, Sandoval has repeatedly noted that Kiwanis has secured $200,000 for future tree and/or shade provisions based on community input. He also tells SFR that the tree removal process actually took years rather than weeks.

“I’m going to take you back, because we are hearing a lot of people saying ‘Hey you planned this and did it a month before Zozobra because you’re trying to leverage that,’” Sandoval says, “but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Sandoval explains that the earliest forays into the tree removal process actually date back to 2017. In documents provided to SFR, he presents a years-long and detailed account of numerous meetings both public and private spanning back to that year—when a record number of Zozobra attendees rushed from the soccer field at Fort Marcy Park, known as Magers Field, onto the baseball diamond where the main event takes place. 

“That center bridge that is about five feet across? It failed, and we were very lucky that some astute firefighters were near the bridge and saw it sagging and got the people off and closed the bridge,” Sandoval says. “When the bridge failed in 2017, we went and talked to the city about what a replacement would look like, and…they said we needed a 180-foot bridge that spanned from where the original bridge was to where the eastern bridge was, by the scoreboard at the baseball diamond.”

Kiwanis didn’t want to simply install a huge new bridge without speaking to residents, however, and so began the neighborhood outreach. Kiwanis protocol dictates that anything that happens during Zozobra affects those living in the neighborhood near Fort Marcy, and the nonprofit has adopted a 4,000 foot radius as its baseline for contacting residents to account for that. Sandoval says the city dictates they must only legally reach out to residents within 300 feet, “but we go beyond that.”

“We bring this up with residents in 2017,” he continues, “and have meetings through 2018—then we decide to compromise on a [90-foot] bridge.”

When Zozobra 2018 rolled back around, the 90-foot bridge had been installed, but it wasn’t enough. That also became the first year Kiwanis implemented what it called “mitigation tactics.” The first was a Jumbotron screen viewable from multiple locations throughout Fort Marcy. When the lights went out right before the burning, however, attendees once again rushed over the bridge in droves. 

“That could have caused people to get trampled, injured, even lose their lives,” Sandoval says. “We had to go to the neighbors and say our first mitigation tactic didn’t work.” 

Following the 2018 burning of Zozobra, Kiwanis conducted a survey of attendees about the Jumbotron, and the answers were fairly uniform: Why would someone buy a ticket to watch something on a screen from across the arroyo? 

The pursuit of safe ingress continued. In 2019, Sandoval says, Kiwanis hired 30 security guards to patrol the bridge and arroyo. When the lights went out? Another rush of attendees, all of whom ignored those guards outright, Sandoval says. In 2020, COVID-19 prevented Zozobra’s burning, but by 2021, organizers brought in the fire department to handle bridge traffic. 

“We had 40 firefighters in their formal attire—lights go off, people ignore them and cross the bridge again,” Sandoval says.

Fast-forward to 2022, when Kiwanis brought on the Santa Fe Police Department to patrol the bridge. Not even an announcement that anyone who crossed the bridge after the lights went out would be subject to arrest deterred that same old rush of Santa Feans.

“The cops were completely ignored,” Sandoval says. “We weren’t really going to arrest anyone, though.”

You can likely guess what happened during the 2023 burning of Zozobra. In December of that year, however, Kiwanis reached out to the New Mexico State Legislature with a funding request that

included a 42-point list of considerations for a possible Zozobra venue change. Organizers evaluated eight possible new locations that year, including Ragle Park, Santa Fe High School, Swan Park, the Rodeo Grounds, the HIPICO Santa Fe equestrian center and

others. Ultimately, however, it was decided none would be suitable. The solution? 

“In 2024, we asked the legislature if there was a possibility to build an outdoor events center in Santa Fe where we could do Zozobra or other big events, like concerts that skip Santa Fe for Taos or Albuquerque,” Sandoval says. “This was before Trump started stripping localities of funding, though. That conversation was dead in 2024, and it’s buried right now in 2025.”

Kiwanis was able to secure $5 million in funding for future Zozobra improvements, however. Which brings us to last month. Having conducted meetings with neighbors, the city and the state over safety concerns every year dating back to 2017, Sandoval says Kiwanis ultimately decided they were out of options—the Siberian elms needed to be removed to make way for the completion of that initially proposed 180-foot bridge across the Fort Marcy arroyo. Kiwanis met with neighborhood residents on July 1, then again on July 29. What followed, Sandoval says, was a sort of media blitz with interviews on The Richard Eeds Show, as well as numerous TV news stations.

“There was a story in the New Mexican, and…I mean, we just really wanted everyone to know what we were doing,” he says.

Even so, Santa Fe residents have clearly reacted strongly to the removal of the trees. And even more than the environmental aspect, much of the public discourse has seemed to revolve around one major concern: Should a man like Ray Sandoval have the power to have a dozen trees chopped down with little public input?

“I wish I had that kind of power over the city,” Sandoval tells SFR. “But what it’s called is professional competency. If you go back eight years, we have shared everything with Emergency Management, the police, the fire department—when you make the decision and go to parks and city management…we belong to a civic organization, and believe there’s a public process to these things, and that’s what Kiwanis asked of me.”

More than anything, Sandoval adds, the process has taken nearly a decade, and his main focus has always been safety. 

“To run an event of this scale where I have to think about all these safety risks? My job is not about how beautiful Zozobra is, or the fireworks or anything—it’s to make sure everybody gets home safely that night,” Sandoval says. “I’m not going to apologize for being competent and wanting that.”

But why all the hubbub about these particular trees? Sandoval has publicly noted that a similar tree removal took place when the city began building the Fort Marcy pickleball courts last year, and no one raised a fuss. Beyond that, Siberian elms are a known invasive species that strangle out native flora. 

“First things first, in their place, [Siberian elms] are an invasive species—that’s the nature of nature,” says retired arborist and self-proclaimed activist Eric Radack. “They are an essential part of our ecology now. They control erosion, they preserve the integrity of riparian zones like acequias, they absorb atmospheric carbon and, of course, they provide shade in a place where sunshine is intense.”

Radack says the $200,000 appropriation from Kiwanis was based on “really nothing,” and will fall short of covering long-term costs for new trees.

“The first question is, what’s the value of a mature, healthy, landscaped tree to the quality of life to Santa Fe in terms of years of producing oxygen, absorbing carbon and creating a livable environment, a green environment?” Radack queries. 

Further, he says, it remains unclear who will be on the hook financially and labor-wise for the long-term care of any new trees over the coming decades.

“They’re compounding the lost value of the trees with uncovered long-term expenses for the new ones,” he says. 

What we do know is that city manager Mark Scott alone made the final call to approve the tree removal.

“Removal of trees from a city park is a delegated authority to the City Manager in the Santa Fe municipal code,” Scott tells SFR in an emailed statement, adding that the city’s decision ultimately came down to safety. “I feel awful about losing shade trees. I couldn’t live with losing a child.”

Meanwhile, many Santa Feans have wondered aloud whether organizers could sell fewer tickets to alleviate some of the danger of a crowd that is regularly 50,000 strong—or more some years ago. According to Sandoval, much of the event’s funding comes from ticket sales and merchandise, so cutting attendance is a non-starter. It’s also about tradition.

“Fort Marcy has been Zozobra’s home since 1933,” Sandoval says. “As a kid who grew up here and who loves it, I don’t want Zozobra to leave. As event producer Ray, though, I understand the amazing challenges of an event that’s sure and safe.”

The costs to produce Zozobra each year are “astronomical,” Sandoval explains, and that’s before you get into the logistics of an event that draws tens of thousands. 

“Part of the due diligence when we looked at that 42-point matrix for a new venue, for example, was what we really mean when we talk about moving Zozobra,” Sandoval says. “Do we have access to a hospital? What about cellphones—does the area have the infrastructure for thousands of people to be streaming for Facebook and not crash the cell system for, say, 911? It’s very easy to simply say move it or sell fewer tickets…but running Zozobra is like playing 3D chess.”

Sandoval says that when he took over the event in 2012, no previous event chair had ever asked how many people could safely fit onto the Fort Marcy baseball diamond. Kiwanis safety models deemed the field could accommodate 71,000 attendees, but Sandoval and his crew ultimately settled on 65,000 in the name of safety. Even so, he says, numerous

attendees have raised concerns since his appointment in 2012, and organizers dropped to an attendance cap of 50,000 in 2024. 

“And that’s 15,000 tickets we didn’t sell,” Sandoval says. “We’ve even considered 40,000, but at that number we start losing sponsors, we can no longer allow kids in for free and the ticket price goes up to $67 for us to make it happen. You want to kill Zozobra in terms of a local event? That’s the easiest way to do it. Plus, Fort Marcy is still Fort Marcy, and even if we go down to 10,000, we still need road barriers, metal detectors, temporary lighting, security—like I said, 3D chess. 50,000 is the magic number for us.”

But perhaps even more pressing was the potential loss of an insurance underwriter. Sandoval won’t name the company that insures Zozobra, citing concerns that distraught tree lovers and citizens might harass its employees. 

“I’d rather be the town punching bag right now,” he says. “And honestly, I’d rather not have people killed at my event or have to call families, a grieving mom, and say I knew about the risks and ignored them.”

It’s not just about sightlines and bridges, he adds, as teens have climbed those elms every year at Zozobra without fail, adding to the potential danger with falling risk.

“Look, we’ve tried every mitigation tactic we could think of, and we talked to all the experts and everything came back that we should have stuck to the 2017 plan and that 180-foot bridge, and that means the trees had to come out,” Sandoval says. “This was not haphazard and I really feel like we did everything we could. But I get it—we’re a civic organization and we have to be held accountable. I just ask that you hold me accountable for my actions and not something someone said on Facebook.”  

And though residents from outside the Fort Marcy Park area were not given a shot at public input in the leadup to the removal of the Siberian elms, they’ll get their say at a city-run meeting at the Fort Marcy Park gazebo at 5:30 pm on Thursday, Aug. 21. 

“It’s a public meeting. Kiwanis secured those $200,000 in funds from the legislature for trees and possible shade, and they’ve already transferred that over to the City of Santa Fe, so the city will be running that meeting,” Sandoval says. “We were the conduit, but it’s up to the city and residents what they spend that money on. Kiwanis is a stakeholder, yes, but it really needs to be a conversation between the city and the residents.” 

That meeting will be run by the city’s Parks and Open Spaces Director Melissa McDonald.

“We’re planning on having a series of meetings, but we’re putting out shade and tree planting and care as specific parts of this one,” McDonald tells SFR. “We’re going to ask the community to identify parts of the park and what kind of shade they mean, and it could be a tree planting project, a gazebo, a covering on the bridge—this is the very first look at it, but we’re going to have more meetings, I’m guessing around three.”

McDonald reiterates that while earlier meetings about changes to the park erred toward residents near Fort Marcy Park, she is hopeful residents from across the city will attend on Aug. 21. 

“It’s basically for any stakeholder, anyone in the city,” she says. “It could be people who use the park, and it’s also Kiwanis and the Wine & Chile Fiesta. Everybody will have an equal voice.”

McDonald is aware that tensions are high within the community, though she also refers to the Siberian elms as an invasive species. Still, she’s a tree-lover herself who also understands the importance of shade in public spaces. 

“With climate change, we need trees, and the parks department is about taking care of trees and planting new trees and putting trees in the right place,” she explains. “The trees that were taken down weren’t necessarily planted there, at least some of them. If it’s in conflict like we’re dealing with now, we try to manage it to only take out elms when there’s a native species there that could grow back up. And community involvement and connection with parks is never a bad thing. We’re in it for trying to make this an excellent park.”

Sandoval notes that while Kiwanis paid to remove the trees, that cost did not come out of the $200,000 meant for new saplings and shade provisions.

“It’s whole and ready to be spent,” he notes.

As for the 180-foot bridge, it’s still in process. With $5 million from the state, Sandoval says, Kiwanis will complete the bridge, though only to the tune of $2.3 million.

“We decided to split that funding up,” he tells SFR. “So it’s $2.3 million for the bridge, $200,000 for new trees and shade and the other $2.5 million or so is to create ADA-compliant pathways and new bathrooms—things residents can use year-round.”

Kiwanis is also getting out of the tree-felling game after this. 

“We will not support a bridge design that requires any more trees to come down,” Sandoval promises.

Fort Marcy Tree and Shade Meeting

5:30 pm Thursday, Aug. 21. Free. Fort Marcy Park

490 Bishop’s Lodge Road, (505) 955-2105