USDA Forest Service approves St. Vrain Forest Health Project
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. This work will help prepare forests and communities to survive wildfire while securing fresh air, clean water and healthy forests for current and future generations.
“With this project, the Roosevelt National Forest is doing our part, alongside community members and local partners, to promote resilient landscapes through strategic fuels reduction,” said Boulder District Ranger Kevin McLaughlin. “Front Range residents value their National Forests as places to recreate, as sources of clean water and air, and for the wildlife that live here. This project will help protect these resources.”
Forest management projects within these 43,000 acres, including thinning and prescribed burning, will be implemented over many years as funding becomes available. Work will be prioritized in strategic locations that have been collaboratively identified as providing the greatest benefit to community values and can be complemented by efforts across land ownership boundaries.
The St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership supported the development of this plan through an intensive public engagement effort that included nine community meetings, multiple public webinars and field trips, mailers to 4,500 area residents and formal public comment opportunities. Scientists from multiple agencies and organizations participated in providing input to the project and peer reviewed the science used in writing the environmental assessment.
The Forest Service will continue to engage communities and partners in the development of forest thinning and prescribed burning projects in this planning area. To learn more about this project, visit The Watershed Center’s Story Map where you can sign up for news, updates and field tours, which typically happen in late summer or early fall.
Project documents can be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/projects/61372