Red Feather Lakes Area Wildfire Defense Project

A community member helps build slash piles at a workshop hosted by CPRW (Photo credit: Evan Barrientos)

Project Background

The Red Feather Lakes Area Wildfire Defense Project will improve the wildfire defense of the entire Red Feather Lakes area, accomplished through specific risk reduction and preparedness activities. Project activities will occur within the geographic boundaries (see map below) defined in the four current Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) (see below) and are designed to meet goals outlined in these current CWPPs. Project activities will include: wildfire mitigation treatments in open space, along roadways and on private properties; education on home ignition zone concepts and mitigation work to establish or improve defensible space; improvements to community wildfire evacuation routes, plans and procedures; and enhancing of community capacity to deal with post-treatment woody biomass. All components together will dramatically reduce wildfire risk in the Red Feather Lakes area, to save lives, protect property, improve forest and watershed health, and improve the resilience of the Red Feather Lakes area.

Project Goals

To implement wildfire mitigation treatments in open space, along roadways and on private properties
Education on home ignition zone concepts and mitigation work to establish or improve defensible space
Improvements to evacuation routes, plans and procedures
Enhancing of community capacity to deal with post-treatment woody biomass
Improvements to community wildfire preparedness and building of social capital to improve community resilience

Implementation of Community Wildfire Protection Plans

This award, and the CWDG grant program in general, will help to fund priorities outlined in the Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) written and adopted by these project communities: Cherokee Meadows, Crystal Lakes, Glacier View and Poudre Canyon. CWPPs are authorized and defined in the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA), and they represent one of the best opportunities we have to address the challenges of the wildland-urban interface (WUI) in a way that brings about locally-centered and -supported solutions in a comprehensive manner through shared stewardship and collaboration.

Monthly Project Updates

Contact

Daniel Bowker, Forests Program Manager, Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, daniel@poudrewatershed.org
Josh Roberts, Mitigation Coordinator, Larimer County, josh.roberts@larimer.gov