Hand Thinning
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Saddle Back Wildland Fire Mitigation – Clear Creek North

Total Project Area: 16 acres

Project Description:

The Saddle Back area has 151 homes that would be directly affected by a wildfire coming from the west. This project will reduce the risk of fire moving from the Saw Mill drainage into the Saddle Back Neighborhood.  Any fire within this area would directly affect the Beaver Brook watershed to the south and the Clear Creek watershed to the west. Clear Creek High School is directly east of this neighborhood and would be directly threatened by any fire within this area. This project area was selected to protect the area to the west that is part of the Clear Creek watershed. The Clear Creek watershed supports the City of Golden, City of Arvada, and the Standley Lake IGA municipal water users.

Photo Credit: Clear Creek Fire Authority

The project unit totals 16.06 acres, of which 4 acres will be thinned and patch cut and 5.7 acres along the power line will be thinned according to utility company standards. Vegetation treatments will include reducing biomass, thinning trees and shrubs, and/or removing ladder fuels. By breaking up vertical and horizontal vegetation-fuel continuity of the forest stands, fire suppression resources are afforded better opportunities to control fire rate of spread and contain wildfires. To create the fuel break, dead, diseased, weakened, and malformed conifer trees will be removed.

 

Project Goals:

  1. Reduce the available ground fuels within the project area.
  2. Establish a fire break on the west side of the project area.
  3. Thin the existing canopy to produce a 10-15 foot spacing.
  4. Thin the area under the power lines and install fuel breaks.

 

Project status/Timeline:

In progress – Clear Creek Fire Authority began opening access roads in early November, 2021; work will proceed weather-permitting through winter and spring 2022.

 

Partners:

Clear Creek Fire Authority, Clear Creek County Commissioners, Evergreen Fire Rescue, City of Arvada, City of Golden, Standley Lake IGA Cities (Thornton, Northglenn, Westminster), and the Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership