Colorado Forest Health News Digest #38
(11 May 2011 edition)
Next Forest Health Task Force Roundtable (open to all)
7:30 to 9:00 am, Thursday morning, May 12, 2011
110 Third Avenue South, Frisco, Colorado
Topic: Forest Health Communications, Education and Outreach, including roles for
youth and the recreation community. Colorado-based Choose Outdoors
( will present an update on a national campaign to educatethe public about threats to public health and safety caused by the mountain pinebeetle epidemic as well as emphasize the importance of buying wood products frombeetle killed trees.
CU-Boulder researcher: Mitigation 'won't make fires go away'
Good forestry and good fire mitigation don't always align in the mountains of
western Boulder County. The forests along the Front Range have changed since
settlers first came to the area around 150 years ago. Commonly, that change is
described as a thickening of the forest -- an increase in the number of trees per
acres -- resulting from diligent fire suppression by the area's new residents. The
concern is that a fire in an unnaturally dense forest will burn more intensely than
fires did in pre-settlement times. Those intense fires may climb up smaller trees
and thick brush into the crowns of large trees, killing old trees that evolved to
survive smaller, less intense fires that generally burned across the ground.
Taxes may go toward fighting wildfires
(
Should Boulder County ask voters to support creating a sales-tax-supported
Forest Improvement District to fund efforts to reduce the risk of wildfires? That's
one of the ideas county commissioners are scheduled to discuss on Tuesday
afternoon, when they meet with members of an advisory team that's helping craft a
Boulder County Community Wildfire Protection Plan. "There are many projects and
initiatives required to reduce the risk of wildfire and maintain optimal fire
fighting efforts in the county," according to a written discussion of the Fire
Improvement District proposal — part of a packet of materials prepared for the
commissioners' Tuesday study session.
Boulder County needs a forest improvement district
A citizen advisory team is recommending that the Boulder County commissioners
ask voters to support the creation of a "forest improvement district," which would
raise money for wildfire mitigation projects. On Tuesday, the 16-member team
presented the commissioners with 13 recommendations for reducing wildfire risk.
The creation of a forest improvement district, which could raise money through a
property or sales tax, was one of the group's two top priorities. "We believe this
is an important recommendation because of the issue we have in connection with
funding fire mitigation initiatives," said team member Steve Szabo.
Mountain Pine Beetle Perched to Move Eastward
Click here: Mountain Pine Beetle Perched to Move Eastward | Nathan Rice | Travel &Outdoors | NewWest.Net
New research confirms scientists' fear: The scourge of Western lodgepole is now
gaining an appetite for jack pine, which could spread beetle kills through Canada's
boreal forest and beyond. Now that the mountain pine beetle has chewed through
some 70,000 square miles of forest in the western states and Canada, it seems the
voracious pest is expanding its palate. Beetles in Canada were recently discovered
attacking jack pines (Pinusbanksiana) for the first time, a break from their usual
diet of lodgepole (Pinuscontorta).
Requested firefighting funds down for 2012
The national budget for fighting wildfires may be cut next fiscal year,
according to federal budget documents. For fiscal 2012, which begins next Oct. 1,
President Barack Obama's administration is seeking $2.8 billion in appropriations
and discretionary funds for the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department. The
administration sought nearly $3.6 billion for fiscal 2011. About $3.4 billion was
approved for fiscal 2010, accordingly to Forest Service and Interior Department
budget documents. The funds are for fire suppression and preventive efforts such as
thinning trees.
Latest roadless rule sparks more debate over road building to reduce wildfire risk
Concern about an early and potentially explosive wildfire season in Colorado
has fanned the flames of debate over how far into the national forest crews should
build temporary roads to clear trees and reduce the fuel load around towns. The
release last week of another draft of the controversial Colorado Roadless Rule
further fueled the controversy. The rule would allow temporary road building a half
mile into the national forest surrounding communities and tree thinning without
roads another mile into the forest. Colorado conservation groups have opposed the
Forest Service allowing such wide latitude for fuel reduction projects, arguing a
much smaller defensible space around communities is adequate in the event of forestfires and that large-scale thinning doesn't do much to mitigate fire risk.
Public tries to come to terms with change to state roadless rules
The public has less than three months to comment on a complex regulationgoverning roadless areas in Colorado, but those passionate about such areas in
Northern Colorado say they are still trying to figure out the implications of theproposed rule. The U.S. Forest Service this month released a final draft of theproposed Colorado Roadless Rule, which will determine how more than 4 million acresof roadway-free national forest land in Colorado, including 154,000 acres in
Larimer County, are managed. At its heart, the proposed roadless rule keeps newroads out of mostly pristine and undeveloped national forest land, but there is alist of exceptions for wildfire prevention, the removal of some bark beetle-killedtrees and some mining and oil and gas pipeline development.
New draft Colorado Roadless Rule draws immediate heat
The State of Colorado and the U.S. Forest Service today announced yet another
draft version of the controversial Colorado Roadless Rule (pdf) that has been hotly
debated for nearly six years. Already environmental groups indicated the new draft
rule falls short of protecting some of the state's 4.2 million acres of roadless
national forest land. The release of today's draft plan and draft environmental
impact statement (pdf) starts the clock ticking on what may be the final 90-day
public comment period after nearly five and a half years and more than 200,000
public comments. The Obama administration hopes to finalize the Colorado Rule by
January of next year. "We're one step closer to actually having roadless protection
in this state," regional forester Rick Cables said on a conference call with
reporters. "[This rule] provides for durable and contemporary roadless protection
in Colorado and it allows for certain multiple uses and certain exemptions."
Environmental groups, sportsmen blast plan that weakens forest protections
(
Environmental and sportsmen's groups are mobilizing to toughen the government's
latest plan to protect remaining roadless national forest land in Colorado. A draft
plan unveiled Thursday by federal and state forest stewards weakens the current
national rule, they say, by making exceptions for new roads for coal-mining, ski
areas and tree-cutting to prevent wildfires in beetle-ravaged forests near towns.
The current national rule, established under President Bill Clinton, blocks most
road-building on 4.4 million acres of relatively pristine forest in Colorado, where
there are about 14.5 million acres of national forest. Nine Colorado environmental
groups rejected the updated policy.
When snow melts, wildland fires pose a risk for Summit County
With temperatures topping out in the 30s or low 40s and feet of snow still on
the ground, April in Summit County may not seem like the time to worry about
wildfires. But county emergency management and first responders are already doingjust that, looking ahead to what could turn out to be a risky season for fires.
The county has had record snowfall this winter, and National Weather Service
forecasters expect the spring to be a wet one, saying Summit might not begin to dry
out until June.
Summit County businesses turn beetle-kill to profit
Breathing new life into something considered dead and gone is no easy task, but
some Summit County businesses have done just that: by using the abundance of
beetle-kill trees as the foundation for their companies. "The wood was just sitting
around and getting wasted," said Andres Quinonez, co-owner of Azul Home Designs, anewly formed business that customizes siding using 100 percent beetle-kill. "What
we've been able to do is take a standing dead product that's seen as waste and
holds no value, and convert it into something that's marketable, attractive and
affordable." Quinonez and his business partner Javier Bravo only started the
company this past January. Quinonez also owns a tree cutting company, and Bravo
owns a wood manufacturing business.
Colorado fires could be bigger, more dangerous
(
Colorado wildfires may get bigger and more dangerous because of dry conditions
and dying trees, Colorado's state forester warned Thursday. State Forester Jeff
Jahnke said that high winds and dry forests are making it more difficult to send in
firefighters to fight blazes on the ground. He said they may have to rely more on
equipment. Jahnkesaidthe public needs to understand that not all fires can be
quickly contained. "If you take a standing dead tree that has been dead for five
years, you can't put a firefighter out in a stand of those trees if it's windy
because you threaten his safety. So we're going to have to incorporate those kinds
of concerns into our initial attack. I think the public may see fires getting
bigger and not understand why, and it's because we can't safely put a firefighter
in there. That could result in bigger fires and we're going to have to spend a lot
of time explaining why," he said.
Forests sequester more carbon than previously thought
Click here: Forests sequester more carbon than previously thought « Summit CountyCitizens Voice
Forests and other terrestrial ecosystems across the U.S. can absorb more carbon
than previously thought, but major droughts or other disturbances can affect their
ability to sequester emissions. Widespread droughts, like those in 2002 and 2006,
can cut the amount of carbon sequestered by about 20 percent, a group of
researchers concluded in a recent study that was supported by the National Science
Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy.
Botanical barbarians are waging the real "war on the West"
Click here: Botanical barbarians are waging the real war on the West — High Country News
If the phrase "war on weeds" seems over the top, consider this: Noxious weeds
infest over 100 million acres of North America -- an area roughly the size of
Montana. Like it or not, we're engaged in a battle to win back the Western
landscape. Weeds now conquer more than 3 million acres each year, invading an
estimated six square miles of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
lands every day. They've already claimed 7 million acres of our national parks.
Aggressive exotics like cheatgrass, leafy spurge, spotted knapweed and Dalmatian
toadflax have infested millions of acres of wildlife habitat and ranchlands,
undermining plant diversity and leaving the cupboard bare for large herbivores suchas deer, elk and pronghorn
Special Features
How a Bug's Dinner Could Help the West Win Its Battle With Knapweed
Knapweed, the much-maligned plant that has dominated whole swaths of the Westernlandscape, may have less of a hold thanks to some tiny insects. Research at theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder suggests knapweed may not be as uncontrollable asonce thought....
Summit Outside: the biology behind the lodgepole pine's blue stain
Click here: Summit Outside: the biology behind the lodgepole pine's blue stain |
SummitDaily.com
The Forest Health Task Force is a program of The Greenlands Reserve.
This newsletter is made possible by a grant from Choose Outdoors, the Rocky
Mountain Renewable Energy Fund and the U.S. Forest Service.
Forest Health Task Force Roundtable meetings are held on the second Thursday of
each month at the Frisco Community Center, located at 110 Third Avenue South (at
Granite Street) in Frisco, Colorado.