Aerial Mulching - Cameron Peak Fire Burn Area

Project Overview

The goal of aerial mulching is to mitigate the negative consequences of wildfire to high priority watershed values including water quality and supply, river ecosystem function and health, and to reduce flood impacts to downstream communities in both the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson watersheds.

At 208,913 acres, the Cameron Peak Fire (CPF) is the largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history. The USFS Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) report estimated 36% of the Cameron Peak Fire perimeter has high or moderate soil burn severity. The report determined that it was ‘nearly certain (90% - 100%)’ that water quality would be impacted by post fire debris flows, run-off, ash flows, sedimentation and nutrient loading within 1-3 years following the fire.

Aerial application techniques make it possible to apply mulches more efficiently and to treat inaccessible burned areas, making it a viable treatment alternative for the large fires that occur in the mountainous western U.S.

More than 10,000 high priority acres have been identified for aerial mulching in the Poudre watershed and 1,500 acres in the Big Thompson watershed on both public and private lands.

High priority project areas were identified using science-based information and modeling, as well as collaborative data input from partners of the Larimer Recovery Collaborative. Aerial mulching is part of a larger program of recovery work intended to provide holistic post-fire mitigation on a total of 20,000 acres in high priority sub-drainages in the CPF burn scar.

This aerial mulching operation, a joint effort between the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW), City of Fort Collins, City of Greeley and the Big Thompson Watershed Coalition (BTWC), is the largest wood mulch operation in the United States. Funding for aerial mulching operations is provided by federal, state, municipal and local foundation and donor sources.

“Aerial mulching is really one of the best ways we can treat a large, high severity burn area at the landscape-scale, which is why it has been our main focus over the past two summers,” said Hally Strevey, Executive Director for the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed.

Mulching operations began in the summer of 2021 and will continued through the fall of 2022. The aerial mulching project is supported by monitoring efforts led by Colorado State University, the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute and U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station as well as landowner engagement and outreach led by the watershed coalitions.

For questions regarding aerial mulching operations please contact Hally Strevey, Executive Director, at hallys@poudrewatershed.org.

Total Acres Mulched - Poudre Watershed:

9,200 acres

Total Acres Mulched - Big Thompson Watershed

1,954 acres

Project Goals

• Mitigate the negative consequences of the wildfire to high priority watershed values including water quality and supply, river ecosystem function and health, and to reduce flood impacts to downstream communities in both the Cache la Poudre and Big Thompson watersheds.

Project Partners

• City of Fort Collins Utilities

• City of Greeley

• City of Loveland

• Big Thompson Watershed Coalition

• U.S. Forest Service

• JW Associates

• Ayres Associates

Project Funders

• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) - Emergency Watershed Protection Program

• U.S. Forest Service

• Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB)

• Community Foundation of Northern Colorado - NoCo Fires Fund