Occasionally we catch up with our colleagues at Boulder Reporting Lab about the stories they're following. Climate and Environment Reporter Tim Drugan joined us to talk about wildfire mitigation happening in and around Boulder.
In Boulder, both prescribed burns and forest thinning efforts are currently underway. Historically, ponderosa pine forests burned every 10 to 20 years at a low intensity as part of their natural cycle. The process helped break down materials that don't decompose in the region's semi-arid landscape.
Fire mitigation efforts by the city have decreased the frequency of those fires, however, which in turn has allowed vegetation to grow more freely in the area.
“Fire really returns nutrients from dead and dying plant matter back to the soil,” Drugan told KUNC. “But 100 to 150 years ago, we took that fire out of the system, so we have a real buildup of fuels on the landscape.”
Given the importance of fire to the local environment, Boulder officials have taken to proactively burning parts of the landscape in prescribed burns. But in some areas, prescribed fire is a little risky. In such cases, thinning projects are able to mimic many of the benefits of prescribed burns while reducing the risk of high-intensity fire.
Thinning doesn't bring all of the same ecological benefits that fire does in breaking down plant material, but it does reduce the risk of fires that get out of control, especially on the western side of town. The practice of thinning and prescribed burning is effective in forests, but not as much in grasslands, since grasses and other vegetation grow back much more quickly than trees. That has led residents in some parts of Boulder County to raise concerns.
“There has been a real outreach from community members that live in eastern Boulder County on the plains worried that the priority for fire mitigation is solely focused on the forest,” Drugan said. “And historically, it has been.”
A new working group focused on fire mitigation in Boulder County includes ditch companies and scientists. The group is considering the potential effectiveness of suggestions from the community regarding fire prevention. Ideas include grazing and increased mowing to keep plant matter under tighter control.
