CPRW Interactive Project Map
Click on the points to explore CPRW’s completed and in progress projects throughout the Cache la Poudre Watershed.
Watershed Planning
Upper Poudre Watershed Resilience Plan
Published 2024
Lower Poudre Watershed Resilience Plan
Published 2017
SITE CONSERVATION TEAM (SCT) - PREBLE’S JUMPING MOUSE
The Poudre SCT aims to work with the local community to achieve the best solutions for people and PMJM.
Community Outreach
Poudre River Mural
A community-based, collaborative art project at Chappelow Arts Magnet School in Evans, Colorado.
River Restoration Projects
CPRW’s river restoration work is conducted to improve the health and resilience of the Poudre River, in support of biodiversity, recreation, flood management and landscape development.
Godfrey Ditch Restoration Project
The Godfrey Ditch Restoration project will improve the resiliency of a section of the Middle South Platte River by redesigning and restructuring the Godfrey Ditch diversion.
Whitney & B.H. Eaton Ditch Restoration Project
This is a multi-objective planning and design/build project that will further river resiliency goals on the Cache la Poudre River, while providing immediate benefits to local ditch companies.
“Reach 13” Phase 2 Design Project
CPRW has been awarded funding from the Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program to continue design work on one of our priority reaches as identified in the Lower Poudre Master Plan.
Forest Restoration Projects
We work collaboratively with partners to reduce the risk of high severity wildfire in the Poudre River watershed at a landscape scale.
Swanson Ranch Forest Restoration
The 200 acre mechanical forest restoration treatment unit is near South Lone Pine Creek, an important water supply for the City of Greeley, which serves approx. 140,000 people. Mitigating wildfire risk on these properties will directly protect this vital water supply.
W.O.L.F. SANCTUARY WILDFIRE MITIGATION PROJECT
The WOLF Sanctuary Wildfire Mitigation Project will use hand thinning, slash piling, pile burning, and chipping to reduce forest density and mitigate wildfire risk on 38 acres of private land located between the communities of Red Feather Lakes and Glacier View Meadows, in Larimer County, Colorado.
LAZY D RANCH FOREST RESTORATION
The Larimer Conservation District and the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed are partnering on this 50 acre forest restoration project at Lazy D Ranch, a 388 acre private property along Fish Creek and the S. Fork of the Cache la Poudre River near Pingree Park, CO. The forest type in the project area is ponderosa pine and dry mixed-conifer.
HORSETOOTH MOUNTAIN PARK
CPRW worked with partners at Larimer County Natural Areas and the Colorado State Forest Service to reduce high severity wildfire risk around Horsetooth Reservoir.
ELKHORN CREEK FOREST HEALTH INITIATIVE (ECFHI)
In 2015, CPRW partnered with Larimer County Conservation Corps, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch and the Nature Conservancy, collectively forming the Elkhorn Creek Forest Health Initiative (ECFHI).
LORY STATE PARK FOREST MANAGEMENT
A forest health and fuels reduction project to reduce wildfire risk within portions of Lory State Park, located to the west of Fort Collins.
Post-Fire Restoration Projects
Since the High Park and Hewlett Gulch Fires in 2012 and, most recently, the Cameron Peak Fire of 2020, we continue to implement post-fire restoration projects in the Upper Poudre Watershed. These projects are focused on both reducing erosion and preventing excess sediment from entering the river, stabilizing stream banks, protecting important infrastructure, and reestablishing native vegetation.
CAMERON PEAK Post-Fire Restoration
These projects implement a mosaic of best management practices at a landscape scale to reduce hillslope erosion and the resulting negative impacts in the highest priority sub-drainages.
SEAMAN RESERVOIR DELTA STABILIZATION PROJECT
The Hewlett Gulch Fire in 2012 burned in high severity above Milton Seaman Reservoir which is owned and operated by the City of Greeley.
SKIN GULCH Post-Fire Restoration
The Skin Gulch watershed was severely burned during the High Park Fire followed by severe summer rains in 2012, 2013 and the historic flood in September 2013.
UNNAMED TRIBUTARY 3
Unnamed Tributary 3 (UT3) is a 210-acre sub-watershed that was severely burned in the High Park Fire. UT3 is located above the Poudre River, CO HWY 14, and near the Munroe Tunnel.