Friday, June 19, 2015
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Feds prep for late but potentially big wildfires, urge funding fix

By Bruce Finley
The Denver Post

For Colorado, an exceptionally rainy May has kept the potential for severe wildfires below average this month, federal forecasters said. But rapid growth of grasses and shrubs, due to moisture, primes forests with fuel for bigger, fast-moving fires starting in July.

The dilemma is getting ahead of an escalating long-term problem of out-of-balance forests and more people, leading to increasingly ruinous wildfires. Vilsack, Jewell and Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell gathered with firefighters at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge and focused on a growing need for forest health work to boost the resilience.

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Colorado senators' report: Bureaucratic squabbles hurt wildfire prevention

By Ryan Maye Handy • 

Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner brought a report on wildfire mitigation back to Washington D.C. last week after the report found that congressional squabbles and federal bureaucracy are among the obstacles standing in the way of healthier forests.

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West Fork fire
Tour and Discussion

at Wolf Creek Ski area - June 20

contributed by
Dan Wand
Colorado State Forest Service
Durango

• The history of the fire.
• The ecological, social, and economic impacts of the fire.
• Hoe our communities can prepare for the future.

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HB15-1008, Ag Land Destroyed by Natural Causes

contributed by

The bill specifies that if agricultural or forest land is destroyed by natural causes after January 1, 2012, the land will retain its agricultural classification for a period consisting of the year of destruction and the next four tax years. During that period, in the case of forest land, the owner must comply with an approved forest management plan.

Status: Signed by the Governor (4/10).

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Officials preach fire preparedness

by TOM KUGLIN Independent Record

Dana Hicks, fire management specialist at British Columbia Public Service talked about his experience in beetle-killed forests where infestations predate Montana’s by five to 10 years. Hicks’ presentation was followed by Brett Lacey, fire marshal from Colorado Springs, Colorado, who oversaw forest fires that scorched homes and evacuated tens of thousands. The evening was anchored by local officials from the Tri-Country FireSafe Working Group, and what they see and would like to see residents do to protect their homes.

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Evacuating an Entire City to Prep for Fire Season

by Kyle Dickman

contributed by
Kathy Westra
Your Week in Trees

Incline Village wasn’t burning—at least not yet. On Saturday, May 30, the town held a citywide fire drill meant to rehearse what everyone should do if a catastrophic wildfire threatened the town’s 9,000 residents. Ever since the 2007 Angora fire, a blaze that burned 200 homes in South Lake Tahoe, Brown and other officials have been aware that a fire of similar size could cost Incline Village half its homes. And, given that the Angora fire cost $11.7 million to contain, Brown also knows that fires in the region demand a swift interagency response—the kind of thing that’s hard to coordinate without practice.

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Juniper Bushes Dying

contributed by
Vicki Norton, Tree Farmer

Any idea what may be causing the juniper bushes around Evergreen/Genesee to be dying off?  We've got some really large old ones that were perfectly green all winter and just a few weeks ago turned yellow, seemingly overnight. The bark is really peeling away from the limbs.

Answer:

contrbuted by
Greg Zausen
Colorado State Forest Service
Fort Collins

I’m seeing individual plants that are dead on one side and healthy on the other.  Last November 10 we had a hard freeze (sub-zero) that was preceded by unusually warm fall weather.  This caused much damage to conifers and some deciduous trees and shrubs on the Front Range that were not completely shut down for the winter.  I think it is possible that this event may have caused some damage to trees and shrubs in the foothills and mountains as well.

I also heard several reports from landowners after the High Park Fire that the voles and ground squirrels had become much more of a problem.  Perhaps this was due to the disturbance of their habitat.  Voles are known to gnaw on ground juniper stems and cause girdling.  I think this may be a contributing factor as well because of a change in ground vegetation after the fire.

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Forget April showers, this May was wettest in US records

By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON (AP)

Feeling soggy? Last month was the wettest on record for the contiguous United States, according to federal meteorologists.

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