Living with fire: protecting communities and restoring forests: findings and recommendations of the Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership Roundtable
Date
2006-05
Authors
Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership Roundtable, author
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Abstract
The Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership Roundtable has worked together since 2004 to develop a long-term vision and roadmap for protecting communities from the risks of wildfire and restoring forest health in 10 Colorado Front Range counties (Boulder, Clear Creek, Douglas, El Paso, Gilpin, Grand, Jefferson, Larimer, Park and Teller). The results of the Roundtable's work show that the challenges posed by Front Range forests are significant. The Roundtable identified approximately 1.5 million forested acres along the Front Range that require treatment to protect communities or restore forest health, which the Roundtable refers to as fire risk mitigation and ecological restoration. At current treatment costs, achieving these goals could cost approximately $15 million annually over a 40-year period, a sum that vastly exceeds the approximately $6 million currently available each year for forest treatments. This challenge falls on individual landowners as well as governmental land managers because a significant portion of acres that need treatment are on private land. While the challenge is daunting, the combined goals of reducing fire risk and restoring Front Range forests to good health are achievable. Success depends on leadership and action by federal, state, and local governments, as well as the proactive involvement of Front Range communities. The Roundtable has formulated a specific set of initiatives designed to provide additional resources for forest treatments, reduce treatment costs, drive local leadership and planning, and establish common priorities for forest treatments. Roundtable members will continue to work with federal, state, and local decision-makers to advance these initiatives and help catalyze the changes needed to protect and restore Colorado's forests. This report is a product of the Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership Roundtable, a coalition of individuals from state and federal agencies, local governments, environmental and conservation organizations, the academic and scientific communities, and industry and user groups—all with a commitment to forest health and fire risk mitigation along Colorado's Front Range.
Description
May-06.
Rights Access
Subject
ecological restoration
Colorado
fire risk mitigation
forest treatments