A Year to Celebrate: 2024 Impact & Accomplishments

In 2024, CPRW staff and partners worked tirelessly to plan, implement, and monitor projects throughout the Cache la Poudre River Watershed. Our work ranges from post-fire restoration in the forested Upper Watershed to river restoration design on the plains of the Lower Watershed in Greeley. This work requires strong partnerships, science-based planning and prioritization, coordinated fundraising efforts, and dedicated staff and volunteers. Luckily, we have all that and more here in the Poudre Watershed!

Thank you to each and every person who helped make 2024 a successful year - we can’t thank you enough for your dedication to the Poudre Watershed.

Program highlights from the past year:

  • Wildfire Recovery

    • 2 post-fire river restoration projects completed in the Cameron Peak Burn Area - South Fork and Little Beaver Creek

    • 18 acres treated in the Cameron Peak burn area using point-based mitigation to reduce erosion and improve water quality.

    • 63 point mitigation structures installed in the Cameron Peak burn area - 10 Log Structures (each 20-30 feet long), 12 log jams (also 20-30 feet long), 18 wood roughness features, 8 BDA’s, 12 PALS , and 3 willow wattles.

    • 4,050 linear river feet ( 3,400 ft at South Fork and 650 at Little Beaver)

    • 8,020 ponderosa pine planted on 65 acres of private lands

    • First adaptive management work completed at Upper Elkhorn Creek site

      • Sediment captured at Upper Elkhorn between 2023 and 2024:

        • In floodplain - 32,650 cubic feet

        • In channel - 2,225 cubic feet

  • Watershed Planning

  • Forests Program

    • The Elkhorn Creek Forest Health Initiative (ECFHI) received the Starburst Award from the Colorado Lottery for collaborative forest restoration work at the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch

    • ECFHI awarded $81,403 from Great Outdoors Colorado and the Colorado Youth Corps Association for seven weeks of 2025 Larimer County Conservation Corps crew time to complete a paired forest management and stream restoration project on private conservation easement land in the upper end of Elkhorn Creek

    • Larimer County Office of Emergency Management and CPRW awarded a $9.7M Community Wildfire Defense Grant from the USDA to implement the Red Feather Lakes Area Wildfire Defense Project in the communities of Crystal Lakes, Glacier View, Poudre Canyon, and Cherokee Meadows

    • Led 24 acres of wildfire mitigation treatment at Ben Delatour Scout Ranch, cut and piled by the Larimer County Conservation Corps (LCCC), built 274 8’x8’x8’ slash piles for winter burning, funded by GOCO CYCA

    • Led 14 acres of wildfire mitigation treatment in the Windy Gap neighborhood near Red Feather Lakes, cut by LCCC, more than 500 cubic yards of slash hauled by a local contractor for winter burning, funded by COSWAP workforce development

    • Completed work on a 50 acre forest restoration project on the Lazy D Ranch near Pingree Park in partnership with Larimer Conservation District, funded by CSFS FRWRM, NRCS EQIP, City of Fort Collins Utilities, City of Greeley Water & Sewer, and the Lazy D Ranch.

      • 400 logs from this project were hauled by a local contractor to the South Fork river restoration project and used for in-stream structures

      • Created ecosystem service value from a monetarily low-value forest product by using these logs for stream restoration within 1.5 miles of cutting them for forest health benefit

    • Active member of the Northern Colorado Fireshed Collaborative with multiple staff serving in Fireshed leadership roles

      • Led 18 hours of NCFC North Larimer Operations Group monthly meetings where collaborative treatments and grant applications are discussed and designed

      • Participated in NCFC Investment Committee, delivering USFS funds to Fireshed partners for capacity and implementation projects

      • Led the Community Engagement & Outreach committee of the Fireshed and managed Fireshed marketing and communications

  • Rivers Program

    • Worked with Larimer Conservation District to install a beaver deceiver at the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch

    • Continued design for Reach 13 and Reach 16 on the Lower Poudre River to improve floodplain connection and aquatic habitat

    • Finalized 60% hydraulic design on Whitney-BH Eaton fish passage project

  • Science & Monitoring

    • 9 Community Scientist volunteers donated more than 304 hours for water quality monitoring in the Upper Poudre Watershed

    • 35 water quality sampling sites throughout the Upper Watershed

  • Community Outreach

    • 5,820+ citizens engaged at more than 65 education and outreach events throughout the year

    • Served on the planning committee and co-hosted the annual Poudre RiverFest – approx. 2,500 attendees

    • Co-hosted “Leave it to the Beavers” series with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers

    • Hosted “Where the River Flows” event at Signature Bluffs Natural Area in Greeley

    • 388 volunteers donated 1,861 hours of time to completing CPRW projects

    • Hosted or co-hosted 6 watershed and forestry tours

We hope you will continue to stay involved with out work in the new year - we have many exciting projects planned for 2025. Until then, happy holidays!

Megan Maiolo-Heath