Mary’s Lake Forest Health

The goal of this project is wildfire mitigation to protect water quality, infrastructure, private property, and access roads. The Marys Lake Forest Health Project will also be another mitigation example site for the Estes Valley community. The project site is in a mixed ponderosa pine forest that has old growth trees and wildlife habitat. Our partnership with the Colorado State Forest Service will help us to successfully plan and implement a project that can be an example of wildfire mitigation in the Estes Valley. EVWC plans to use this project to help with community outreach on forestry and wildfire impacts on watersheds. Our collaboration with property owners and other partners will help us maximize the benefits of this forest health project.

Project Goals:

• Tree density reduction
• Increase in spatial heterogeneity of openings and tree groups
• Fire behavior modification

Project status/Timeline:

Phase I: Identification of High-risk Fuels (Completed) – Spring 2020

Phase II: Forest Inventory – August 2021

Phase III: Analysis & Final Recommendation Report – December 2022

Phase IV: Begin Treatment – Q3 2022

Partner(s):

Estes Valley Watershed Coalition, Colorado State Forest Service, private landowners, Northern Water Conservation District