Cameron Peak Fire Update: CPRW’s Role in Post-Fire Recovery & Restoration
On August 13, 2020, the Cameron Peak Fire (CPF) ignited in the Upper Poudre River Watershed near Cameron Pass between Cameron Peak and Chambers Lake within the Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forest. Over the course of 112 days, the fire burned 208,913 acres, becoming the largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history. The historic fire is still imprinted on the minds of hundreds of thousands of northern Colorado residents and on the landscape that it has forever changed.
Wildfires have burned nearly 300,000 acres in the Cache la Poudre River Watershed over the past 10 years, impacting water quality and forest health for many years to come.
“After the fires are put out, from a watershed’s perspective, that’s when the problems really start. We start seeing these really big changes in the post-fire environment and in how the water moves through our systems.” – Jen Kovecses, Former Executive Director, CPRW
Since the Cameron Peak Fire ignited, the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW) has been deeply involved in post-fire recovery, mitigation and restoration efforts, working to ensure that we have the resources needed to help the watershed recover from this fire and become more resilient in the face of future natural disasters.
What have we done so far?
Brought critical partners together to plan, prioritize and fundraise for Cameron Peak Fire recovery, starting within 10 days of when the fire ignited in August of 2020
Facilitated the “Water Recovery Work Group” within the Larimer Recovery Collaborative Wildfire Team
Worked with partners and consultants to complete a Cameron Peak Fire Watershed Hazards, Treatments and Targeting Prioritization to identify and prioritize post-fire hazards to water supply, helping to guide restoration work on the ground moving forward.
Actively fundraised, successfully securing donations and grants from private donors, businesses, foundations, county, state and federal agencies to complete critical post-fire restoration work
Community Outreach & Education – landowner outreach, webinars, and media interviews
Coordinated GIS mapping for Cameron Peak Fire working groups
Volunteers with CPRW’s partner, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV), work to install wattles on private land burned in the Cameron Peak Fire of 2020.
Daniel Bowker, CPRW Forest & Fire Project Manager, gets ready to plant Ponderosa pine seedlings on land severely burned by the Cameron Peak Fire.
What projects are we currently working on?
Organizing and implementing aerial mulching on 10,000-15,000 acres of land within the burn area in partnership with the Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program, City of Fort Collins and the City of Greeley beginning in July 2021
Hiring a Post-Fire Mitigation & Recovery Project Manager to help manage and coordinate CPRW’s growing post-fire mitigation work
Working with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV) to train landowners and volunteers in post-fire restoration techniques
Working with landowners to complete post-fire restoration on private lands including installing wattles, check dams, seeding, and mulching
Co-organizing reforestation efforts within the burn area – 300 trees planted to date with plans to plant tens of thousands more trees in the coming years
Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring Program – working closely with the Rocky Mountain Research Station and volunteers to help monitor the impact of fire on water quality within the Upper Poudre Watershed
Continuing our fundraising efforts to ensure we have the resources needed to complete post-fire restoration work that has been identified through careful planning and analysis
Community outreach to landowners impacted by the Cameron Peak Fire
Community outreach and education about post-fire impacts to watershed health throughout Northern Colorado and beyond
Supporting the “Fireforest” visual storytelling project to document long-term recovery within the burn area
How can you help?
Restoring the Poudre River Watershed has been, and will continue to be, a community-wide effort. The Poudre Watershed was already facing many challenges, and now our work has become even more critical with the impacts of the historic Cameron Peak Fire of 2020. A strong northern Colorado economy and our vibrant communities depend on a healthy watershed. Please join us in improving and maintain the ecological health of the Poudre River by donating to CPRW’s post-fire restoration efforts!