Voices from the Poudre: Bert Belew

Bert and her grandson, Christopher, on their property located in the Monument Gulch area of the upper Poudre watershed. The property was severely burned in the Cameron Peak Fire of 2020.

My family and I have owned land in Monument Gulch since 1968. We love the seclusion, wildlife and nature that are a part of the land. My sons and I have so many wonderful family memories of our fifty-some years up there, such as my boys, when they were pre-teens, whooping with delight as they sledded down what we called "Wild Bill Hill" flanked by tall pine and spruce trees; family ice hockey games on the frozen lake in winter; and hiking through a stand of pines only to come face-to-face with a great bull elk standing protectively between us and his herd (a bull elk never seems larger than when you're feet away from one deciding whether he will charge!)

Years pass, and sometimes, like last year with the Cameron Peak Fire, nature reminds us that change is inevitable whether we like it or not.  But we also know that nature provides for renewal and new growth, and new memories to be made. The best impulses of human nature work in concert with the land, and caring for it.

I cannot express all the love and thanks I owe to the Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, Larimer County Conservation Corps, Daniel Bowker and the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, Lori Hodges, and Megan Maiolo-Heath. There are many others who have helped start healing the land in the fire's aftermath. I do appreciate Daniel’s willingness to listen to our concerns, and I appreciate the group that developed, planned, and implemented restoration activities. Their efforts, from placing wattles on steep slopes, building retention basins to catch ash, to cutting down burned trees, have provided a great first step in the restoration and recovery of the land. We are thrilled by the first signs of renewal already this past summer, including patches of green grass and ground cover creeping up the mountain sides flanking our property, and the tiny aspens already springing up in the meadow.  And although my sons and I observed, with some consternation, that deer or elk seem to have been feasting on some of the young aspens, stripping their leaves, we know that it means wildlife is returning, too.