At The Fireshed Fund, we’re proud to see our funding at work strengthening local wildfire resilience across Larimer County.  

Recently, three responders from Rist Canyon Volunteer Fire Department (RCVFD) wrapped up an S-212 Chainsaw Course lead by The Ember Alliance. The training helped bring together participants from Glacier View, Poudre Canyon, and Rist Canyon volunteer fire departments. 

The St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership (SVFHP) recently hosted a community field tour to the Coulson Gulch area, giving community members the opportunity to learn more about the USDA Forest Service’s St. Vrain Forest Health Project and how collaborative forest management efforts are shaping the future of the St. Vrain Watershed. 

Earlier this month work started on the first roadway treatment within the Red Feather Lakes Area Wildfire Defense Project, a multi-year, $9.7M grant co-managed by NoCo Fireshed partners: Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW) and the Larimer County Office of Emergency Management. Funding from this grant is available to treat up to 10 miles of roadway in the project area.

Clear Creek County has not experienced disturbance in the form of wildfire in over a hundred years. As Forest and Mitigation Manager for the Clear Creek Watershed & Forest Health Partnership, Kelby is working to change that trajectory.

On August 1, the Northern Colorado Fireshed Collaborative, in partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF) and the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, will debut Fire Lives Here on PBS streaming platforms. This powerful new documentary explores Colorado’s evolving relationship with wildfire and the growing movement to return planned fire to the landscape as a strategy to reduce the risk of destructive fires and create more resilient forests.

Following four years of planning, public involvement and environmental assessment, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service has approved plans to conduct forest management across 43,000 acres of National Forest within the 625,000-acre St. Vrain Watershed west of Lyons, Colo.

A recent survey by The Watershed Center, found strong public support for a wide range of wildfire risk reduction strategies, particularly those focused on proactive forest management in the St. Vrain watershed.

Since 2023, The Northern Colorado Fireshed Fund, in partnership with the National Forest Foundation, has awarded over $2.3 million to support community-led wildfire resiliency work in landscapes across Northern Colorado. In the latest grant cycle, the Fireshed Fund awarded over $1,045,000 to community groups to make our forests more resilient, our communities safer, and keep our water supplies reliable.

More than 60 acres of some of Rocky Mountain National Park's most heavily trafficked terrain was set aflame intentionally as firefighters worked a prescribed burn.

Every prescribed fire plan is a unique recipe of specific and precise conditions that must be in place prior to ignition. Customized for the unique components, conditions, and needs of each individual burn unit, ingredient choice is guided by fuel types and density, soil moisture, topography, aspect, access, infrastructure, natural fire breaks, safety, and project goals.

“Why can’t we just cut it and skip the fire part?” Here’s a quick primer on why partnering with fire instead of banishing it again will always provide better outcomes for nature, society, and the future of both.

Guest Post by Daniel Bowker, Forests Program Manager, Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed

During 2023 and 2024, the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW), the Larimer County Conservation Corps (LCCC), and The Ember Alliance (TEA) partnered on an ongoing wildfire mitigation project on the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch in northern Larimer County, just west of the community of Glacier View Meadows.

Forests across Colorado provide invaluable social, economic, and ecological benefits, and ensuring their resilience requires coordinated efforts. The Colorado Forest Resilience Planning Guide offers a framework for agencies, private landowners, and local collaboratives to align their forest management strategies, leverage resources effectively, and sustain forest health.

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?

The Forsythe II Project is a collaborative prescribed fire project happening across Forest Service lands, Boulder County, and private landowners.

United by Fire is a ten-part series about living with wildfire in a warming world. Through in-depth interviews and storytelling, “United by Fire” explores the catastrophic 2020 wildfire season, when the East Troublesome and Cameron Peak Fires tore through Colorado and challenged what we thought we knew about wildfire behavior.

CBM focuses on maintaining responsiveness and flexibility from planning to implementation in natural resource management and has recently been applied for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance.

The Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Roosevelt National Forest completed the decision for the Salt Cabin Prescribed Burn Project located south of Rustic and Highway 14. This project will improve timber stands by thinning and prescribed burning to reduce natural fuel build-up and hazards.

The recent announcement of the 2024 cycle Community Mitigation Grant awards offer a good time to showcase the bona fide energy and community spirit contributing to resilience within our communities. After a careful evaluation process a total of 19 deserving recipient communities in Larimer County were awarded varying amounts distributed from a total funding pool of $100,000.