Draft Decision released for St. Vrain Forest Health Project
Boulder, Colo., July 20, 2023 – The Roosevelt National Forest’s Boulder Ranger District has released a draft decision notice for the St. Vrain Forest Health Project that considers management actions across the St. Vrain Valley, from Lyons to Meeker Park. This collaborative project is within one of the identified landscapes in the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy, addressing at-risk areas.
“Input received during the two scoping periods from our partners and interested community members has been instrumental in getting us to this point in the St. Vrain Project.” Boulder District Ranger Kevin McLaughlin said. “Forest management is critical across our landscape and work in this area helps compliment efforts happening on neighboring private and public lands.”
The St. Vrain Forest Health Project creates a framework for National Forest management activities across the landscape that would create a more resilient forest, complement work on neighboring lands, maintain healthy watersheds and support local Community Wildfire Protection Plans. Proposed work includes thinning the forest and prescribed fire, among other forest health treatments. Utilizing a “conditions-based approach,” this proposal would allow the Forest Service to be responsive to future community requests for forest management in this area while remaining adaptive to a changing environment and protecting forest resources. Project documents, including the final Environmental Assessment, are available online.
Previously there were two scoping periods for this project, the second of which ended in April 2023. The next step in the planning effort is the 45-day objection period, where those who have commented can review the response to comment and, if those are not satisfactory, can object to the draft decision. At the end of the objection period, the Forest Service has 45-days to address objections. A final decision could be signed as soon as fall 2023.
To learn more about the St. Vrain Forest Health Project, check out the interactive Storymap produced by the St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership. This site will be key as we move forward towards the implementation phase to continue collaboration.