2016 REPORT ON THE HEALTH OF COLORADO’S FORESTS FIRE AND WATER Director’s Message January 2017 intervention to manage forests for their ability to provide safe, clean water reduced wildfire risk has evolved as to Colorado residents in a cost-effective, we seek to coexist within forested consistent manner. In this report, environments. Fire Adapted we take the opportunity to highlight Communities® initiatives, supported collaborative partnerships and projects through such programs as Firewise with Denver Water, Northern Water, Communities/USA® and Community the City of Ouray and professionals Wildfire Protection Plans, are facilitated implementing Colorado’s Water Plan. by the Colorado State Forest Service I invite you to absorb this and other organizations to provide information, and its implications, so fire mitigation assistance to Colorado you can weigh in on the all-important landowners. discussions facing our legislators and Michael B. Lester, State Forester and In this report, we are pleased to share citizens in directing the management of Director. Photo: Society of American a related success story about residents our forests. Foresters of Jackson County who have worked to better protect their community from Fire and water. The words themselves wildfire. A fire they faced in 2016 was evoke contrasting forces of nature – fire, the Beaver Creek Fire – a 38,000-acre Michael B. Lester often viewed as an all-consuming inferno wildfire northwest of Walden, much of State Forester and Director of destruction; water, a quenching and which occurred in areas dominated by Colorado State Forest Service life-sustaining means of rejuvenation. beetle-kill lodgepole pine – that burned But such generalizations are not always from mid-summer until well after snow accurate, especially in Colorado. Fire began to fall. The fire could serve as a is necessary to the ecology of healthy case study to offer insights regarding forests, and can be a useful wildland future forest management actions and Table of Contents firefighting tool for containment and associated impacts on fire behavior in Executive Summary 2 fuels reduction, while life-giving streams areas containing large amounts of dead and rivers may turn into raging torrents timber, to proactively develop strategies Wildfire in Colorado: 4 that cause heavy erosion and loss of to protect property and save lives. A Rising Challenge property and life. Fire has significant impacts on people So important are these two natural and forests; less obvious are the effects it Statewide Insect and 13 elements that we’ve chosen them for the has on the quality and quantity of water Disease Update focus of this year’s forest health report, available for human and agricultural Water Supplies and Forests: An 23 to give you a better understanding of consumption. The demand for water, of Interdependent Relationship their impacts on Colorado’s forested particular concern in rapidly developing lands. Fire and water are integrally linked sections of our state, underscores the References and 31 as necessary components in shaping a need to work across organizational Acknowledgments healthy, natural forest environment; in boundaries to develop effective return, both are heavily influenced by solutions. Interagency efforts highlight forests themselves. the importance of forest management to Front cover photo: 2012 High Park Fire near The role of wildfire in Colorado’s safeguard water supplies from post-fire Horsetooth Reservoir, Larimer County. Photo: forests has a long history. Human erosion so water providers can maintain Ryan DeBerardinis, Shutterstock.com The Role of the Colorado State Forest Service For more than 60 years, the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) has been living out its mission: To achieve stewardship of Colorado’s diverse forest environments for the benefit of present and future generations. This is made possible not only by actions within the forestlands of Colorado, but also by initiating face-to-face conversations with surrounding community members, landowners and other agencies. Areas in which the CSFS offers leadership and guidance include forest management; wildfire mitigation and community planning; wood utilization CSFS Community Forestry Program Manager Keith Wood teaches an urban and and marketing; outreach and education; community forestry workshop, with Boyd Lebeda, CSFS Fort Collins District and insect and disease detection, forester. Photo: Grace Mirzeler, Council of Western State Foresters surveys and response. The agency offers technical assistance in urban and community forestry, including tree care and management plans, and is Colorado’s primary provider of seedling trees for conservation purposes such as creating living snow fences and windbreaks, reforesting areas after wildfire and enhancing wildlife habitat. The CSFS works through 19 district and field offices statewide, with a headquarters located in Fort Collins. The agency operates within the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University and fulfills the responsibilities of the Division of Forestry within the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. Assistant District Forester Kathryn Hardgrave, CSFS Salida District, on a site visit to a landowner’s property. Photo: Grace Mirzeler, Council of Western State Foresters Fire and Water 1 Executive Summary Annual reports on the health of Colorado’s forests provide information to the Colorado General Assembly, stakeholders and citizens by summarizing the current health and condition of forests across the state. This year’s report offers a special focus on how forests impact and are conversely affected by wildland fire and water flowing through forested watersheds. Between broader sections on fire and water, the report offers a detailed review of 2016 insect and disease activity in Colorado forests. Colorado’s 24.4 million acres of forestland provide immeasurable social, economic and ecological benefits to its citizens and visitors. Forests offer a sustainable wood products industry, diverse wildlife, fresh water and ample recreation opportunities. But they face numerous threats, and can present risks to citizens and visitors. These Ice forming on the creek near Willis Gulch Trail, Chaffee County. Photo: Joy Jackson risks, ranging from increasingly large, severe wildfires and insect infestations Fire Adapted Communities®, or Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant (WRRG) to long-term droughts, are likely to be those taking personal responsibility Program in 2013 to assist with funding amplified in the future, as climate model and implementing actions to reduce community-level and statewide actions projections predict statewide warming wildfire risk, provide another way to deal throughout Colorado. To date, the between 2.5°F and 6.5°F by 2050. with WUI challenges. Actions residents WRRG Program has awarded nearly In the face of changing climatic take not only reduce their wildfire risk, $12 million in grants to reduce risk of conditions, a long history of fire but also increase forest health through damage to property, infrastructure and suppression already has altered historic sound forest management practices. The water supplies on non-federal lands. fire cycles and led to the dangerous Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) A key source of information for these build-up of fuels in some areas. offers or assists with many programs reports is the annual aerial forest health Population growth into the wildland- and resources for landowners and survey, a cooperative project between the urban interface (WUI) – the area communities working to become fire- CSFS and the Rocky Mountain Region where structures and other human adapted, including Community Wildfire of the USDA Forest Service. Other data developments meet or intermingle Protection Plans (CWPPs), Firewise sources include information derived with wildland fuels – presents further Communities/USA® and the online from CSFS field inspections and contacts challenges. More than 2 million people Colorado Wildfire Risk Assessment with forest landowners, and the Colorado live in Colorado’s WUI, and this number Portal. As testament to the importance Forest Inventory and Analysis Program. is expected to increase significantly. of these and similar programs, the In addition, the CSFS cooperates with Compounding this challenge is that Jackson County CWPP played a other agencies including the Colorado wildland fuel conditions are changing significant role in helping wildland Department of Agriculture and USDA in the state’s forests, in part due to the firefighters prepare for and manage Animal and Plant Health Inspection accumulation of bark beetle-killed trees. Colorado’s 38,000-acre Beaver Creek Fire Service in conducting special surveys to Forest management, including thinning in 2016. ensure early detection of exotic insect trees to improve forest resiliency and To help increase funding species that threaten both urban and reduce or alter fuel loads available for opportunities to mitigate wildfire risk native forests. wildfire, is imperative to effectively in the WUI before a fire starts, the Colorado’s most destructive forest address threats to forest health and Colorado General Assembly created the pests in 2016 continued to be several public safety. 2 2016 Report on the Health of Colorado’s Forests species of bark beetles that attack CSFS Nursery also grows more than partnerships described in this report and kill conifers. Spruce beetle was 500,000 seedling trees and shrubs each include those with Denver Water,