BIG THOMPSON WATERSHED COALITION

FOREST HEALTH AND MANAGEMENT GOAL: MITIGATING WILDFIRE RISK AND ENHANCING FOREST HEALTH THROUGH COLLABORATIVE FOREST MANAGEMENT PROJECTS. UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF OUR FORESTRY PROJECT MANAGER, OUR FORESTRY PROGRAM EXPANDED THROUGHOUT 2024. THROUGHOUT THE YEAR WE WORKED IN THREE BIG T COMMUNITIES TREATING FORESTS AND ROADWAYS, THINNING 70 ACRES BETWEEN THE GLEN HAVEN, WALTONIA AND STORM MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES. WE WORKED WITH 36 DIFFERENT PRIVATE LANDOWNERS TO MITIGATE WILDFIRE RISK, ENHANCE FOREST HEALTH, AND INCREASE EMERGENCY INGRESS/EGRESS ALONG PRIORITY ROADWAYS. WE EXPANDED OUR HOME IGNITION ZONE (HIZ) PROGRAM IN TWO HIGH-RISK COMMUNITIES IN 2024. WE DID HOME ASSESSMENTS FOR 17 GLEN HAVEN AND 6 STORM MOUNTAIN LANDOWNERS AND GARNERED INTEREST FROM 44 MORE LANDOWNERS. WE WERE ABLE TO REMOVE KEY LARGE TREES AROUND 9 HOMES IN GLEN HAVEN AND THINNED 3 MILES OF ROADWAY THROUGH VOLUNTEER AND COMMUNITY EFFORTS. WE STRENGTHENED PARTNERSHIPS AS A MEMBER OF THE BIG THOMPSON WATERSHED HEALTH PARTNERSHIP, WORKING TO IDENTIFY THE MOST STRATEGIC PLACES TO IMPLEMENT FOREST HEALTH AND FUELS REDUCTION PROJECTS TO MAKE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON THE LANDSCAPE WITH OUR MAIN FOCUS BEING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WILDFIRE READY ACTION PLAN (WRAP) AS PART OF COLORADO WATER CONSERVATION BOARD'S WILDFIRE READY WATERSHED'S PROGRAM.

DISASTER RECOVERY GOAL: HELPING OUR LANDS AND COMMUNITY RECOVER FROM FLOOD AND FIRE THROUGH COLLABORATION, RESTORATION, AND RESILIENCY BUILDING. AN IMMEDIATE NEED FOLLOWING CATASTROPHIC FIRES LIKE THE CAMERON PEAK FIRE IS TO REDUCE EROSION ON HILLSLOPES. HIGH SEVERITY FIRES BURN AWAY THE MAJORITY OF VEGETATION AND TOPSOIL ON HILLSLOPES LEAVING HYDROPHOBIC (WATER REPELLENT) SOILS AND BURNING THE SEED SOURCES FOR FUTURE VEGETATION GROWTH. HYDROPHOBIC SOILS WITH LITTLE VEGETATION CAN BE HEAVILY IMPACTED BY EVEN SMALL RAIN EVENTS LEADING TO SEVERE EROSION AND SEDIMENT, ASH, AND DEBRIS FLOWING DOWNHILL INTO WATERWAYS. WHEN OUR WATERWAYS ARE INUNDATED WITH EXCESS WATER, SEDIMENT, AND DEBRIS, POST-FIRE FLOODING OCCURS IMPACTING DOWNSTREAM VALUES, AQUATIC POPULATIONS, COMMUNITIES, AND ROADWAYS. WITH NO SEED SOURCES TO PRODUCE NEW TREE GROWTH, SOME AREAS MAY TAKE DECADES OR LONGER TO BECOME REFORESTED. TO ADDRESS THIS NEED IN 2024, WE TOOK A TWO-FOLD APPROACH FOCUSING ON STREAM RESTORATION AND REFORESTATION EFFORTS. LED BY OUR STREAM RESTORATION PROJECT MANAGER, WE CONTINUED OUR POST-FIRE RECOVERY WORK TO ADDRESS RESTORATION IN STREAMS THAT HAVE HIGH AMOUNTS OF POST-FIRE FLOODING, DEBRIS FLOWS, AND SEDIMENT TRANSPORT. OUR PROJECTS FOCUS ON INSTALLING WOODY STRUCTURES IN PRIORITY STREAMS TO SLOW THE FLOW OF WATER, CATCH DEBRIS AND SEDIMENT, AND SLOWLY RAISE ERODED STREAMBEDS TO RECONNECT THEM WITH THEIR FLOODPLAINS. THE IN-STREAM PROJECTS OCCURRED ON BOTH USFS LAND AND PRIVATE PROPERTIES. WE INSTALLED 89 IN-STREAM STRUCTURES AND INSTALLED 500 WILLOW STAKES ALONG RIPARIAN AREAS TO HELP RESTORE 2.1 MILES OF STREAMS. ALL OUR STRUCTURES INSTALLED TO DATE HAVE ALLOWED 141,500 CUBIC FEET OF SEDIMENT TO BE DEPOSITED BEHIND THE STRUCTURES (WHICH PROTECTS WATER QUALITY). TO COUNTER THE LACK OF TREE REGROWTH IN SEVERELY BURNED AREAS OF THE FIRE, WE HOSTED 3 VOLUNTEER DAYS (81 VOLUNTEERS AND OVER 400 VOLUNTEER HOURS) TO PLANT 1,950 PONDEROSA PINE SEEDLINGS ACROSS 25 ACRES OF SEVERELY BURNED AREAS OF THE BIG T WATERSHED IN 2024