Good Disturbance: The Key To Thriving Forests
This article is as printed in the Estes Valley News on Feb. 12, 2025
By: The Estes Valley Watershed Coalition
This is the first article in a four-part series on the fascinating dynamics of forests and fires in the Estes Valley.
One of the most impactful ways the Estes Valley Watershed Coalition (EVWC) supports the vibrant water and thriving wildlife of the Estes Valley is by investing in healthy forests – but what does that truly mean? Diverse forests in Colorado have unique connections with the changing landscape, soil types, and moisture levels. To understand them, we need to delve into the historical strategies our forests have used to maintain their delicate balance and recognize how our actions have shaped them. This understanding is crucial in grasping the intricate relationship between fire and forests in our area.
The Colorado State Forest Service describes our forests as “disturbance-driven.” This means they’ve historically “evolved with a cycle of natural disturbance such as wildfire, insect infestations, flooding, avalanches, windstorms, and disease infections” (CSFS, n.d.). These natural disruptions, or disturbance events, play an essential role in rejuvenating our forest ecosystems, fostering biodiversity across the landscape, and maintaining the health of our forests. In Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir forests like ours, low and medium-intensity fires occurred on average every 5-20 years.
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) was established in 1905 with the sole mission of fire suppression – a dramatic shift from the natural ecology and evolution of disturbance-driven forests. It wasn’t until 1974 that the Forest Service acknowledged fire as a natural process, altering its policy from fire suppression to fire management. For nearly 120 years, forests have been disconnected from the natural processes that once ensured their optimum health, posing a significant challenge for fire mitigation today.
Present-day practices like thinning and prescribed fire mimic the benefits of low-grade natural disturbances (Read more at www.nocofireshed.org/forest-treatments/. Thinning can be accomplished by hand or machine depending on the terrain and modifies fire behavior by reducing forest density. Prescribed fire is planned fire, also sometimes referred to as a “planned burn” or “broadcast burn”. By decreasing canopy closure, tree density, and removing accumulations of ground fuels, wildfires will decrease in intensity when they enter areas that have been treated. These strategies also improve wildlife habitat, open the forest canopy, allow greater access to nutrients, and regenerate fire-dependent vegetation.
The mission of the Estes Valley Watershed Coalition (EVWC) is to bring together local, state, and federal partners to collaborate on projects that support the water, forests, and wildlife of the Estes Valley. Visit us at evwatershed.org
Learn more about fire ecology and the fascinating history of forest management here:
• Colorado State Forest Service, (n.d.) Fire Ecology in Colorado
• van Wagtendonk, J.W. (2007) The History and Evolution of Wildland Fire Use
• Putting Fire to Work for Us, www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUDijSEd8ZQ, Northern Colorado Fireshed Collaborative