Wet spring weather rinsed away fears that Colorado’s forests could be a summertime tinderbox this year, but Gov. Bill Ritter still preached caution Friday to avoid destructive wildfires.
After emerging from his annual wildfire briefing, Ritter said state fire officials predict most of Colorado will see average fire activity this summer. But firefighters are still on high alert in parts of northwest Colorado, where predicted drier- than-average weather and swaths of bark-beetle-killed trees could provide fuel for large fires.
“Fortunately,” Ritter said, “the experts don’t expect us to see that perfect storm for fires where you have the fuels, the weather and the topographic conditions that are ideal for fires.”
But, regardless of the better- than-expected outlook this year, Colorado’s efforts to prevent wildfires continue to expand, with this past legislative session proving perhaps the most significant in history for the state’s forests.
Lawmakers passed at least eight bills this year intended to promote forest health or provide additional resources to fire departments on the front lines of the state’s wildfire threat. Bills that create guidelines for communities forging wildfire- protection plans, require towns and counties to work together on wildfire-prevention efforts, and give counties greater authority to increase property taxes for firefighting — with voter approval — already have been signed by Ritter.
A bill to provide incentives for volunteer firefighters is awaiting the governor’s signature. And, most significantly, lawmakers approved in the closing days of the session a bill that would put $3 million a year into a variety of forest- thinning and fire-mitigation projects.
That amount — coming in a year when lawmakers slashed hundreds of millions from the budget — is triple the amount of money the legislature put into such projects last year.
“The last two sessions have been really gratifying for a forester,” state forester Jeff Jahnke said. “I’m really glad people in Colorado are beginning to understand the importance of our forests.”
This tree spree at the state Capitol has crossed party and geographic lines, proving forests, at least politically, have become the thick green ribbon that binds the state together.
“It’s a fairly universal concern,” said Rep. Cheri Gerou, R-Evergreen. “A lot of people move to Colorado because of the beauty of our mountains and our natural landscape. I think everybody values that, no matter what party you belong to.”
The federal government, which has long focused its forest resources farther west, has begun directing more funding to the state as well. U.S. Forest Service deputy regional forester Tony Dixon said the feds have dedicated at least $8 million to Colorado specifically for forest-thinning projects.
Colorado’s U.S. senators on Friday announced that $12 million in stimulus dollars would be coming to the state for similar forest-health jobs.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
Five projects to get funding
Five hazardous-fuels reduction projects in Colorado forests and grasslands will receive $12.3 million in economic-stimulus money, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The department, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, on Tuesday announced it will spend $224 million on 110 fuels-reduction and ecosystem-improvement projects in 26 states and territories.
Hazardous-fuels reduction includes the removal of trees killed by pine beetles.
The Colorado projects are:
• $4.5 million for the implementation of a community wildfire-protection plan in El Paso County.
• $6.3 million for forest restoration and fuels mitigation in Gilpin County.
• $500,000 to create jobs for veterans in Dolores County, where returning service members will be employed reducing wildland-fire potential in several locations in the San Juan National Forest.
• $200,000 for a boundary- identification project in Teller County, in the Pike National Forest, designed to help increase the speed with which wildland fire risk is reduced in the wildland-urban interface zone.
• $820,000 for forest restoration and wildland fire management in the Girl Scout, Long John and Ridgewood stewardship areas in Teller County.
The Forest Service will ultimately release $1.5 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds that are expected to create 1,500 jobs for urban youth and individuals involved in urban forestry, restoration projects, fire prevention, roads, bridges, buildings and recreation facilities.
The Denver Post
