In The NoCo

Research shows aspen trees often slow the spread of wildfire. Should more mountain towns plant aspen groves?

By In The NoCo,

Erin O'Toole, Brad Turner, Ariel Lavery

Published August 20, 2026 at 5:35 AM MDT

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Camille Stevens-Rumann, Assistant Professor of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship and Assistant Director of the CFRI, does research on the burn scar from the Cameron Peak Fire. July 20, 2021. Her research looks at better ways to ensure successful replanting of forests after wild fire. — Camille Stevens-Rumann, Assistant Professor of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship and Assistant Director of the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute.

Could planting aspen groves slow the spread of wildfires in Colorado’s forests?

It’s an idea that could help some mountain communities seeing increased threats from wildfires.

And it’s backed up by several recent studies, including one that looked at 20 years of data from more than 300 wildfires in Western states. It found that large aspen groves often slowed the spread of forest fires. That’s partly because aspen contain more moisture than other trees in mountain forests.

So, should mountain communities across Colorado plant aspens on the outskirts of town?

To find out, Erin O’Toole talked last year with Camille Stevens-Rumann. She’s a professor of forest and rangeland stewardship at Colorado State University and was the principal investigator on the 2025 study. We’re listening back to that conversation today.

For more on aspen trees, listen to this episode about why aspens rarely thrive when planted in yards.

A large grove of aspen trees with yellow leaves spread across a valley in front of a mountain. A few conifer trees are sprinkled throughout.

In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC’s news program and podcast In The NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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Brad Turner

Brad Turner is an executive producer in KUNC's newsroom. He manages the podcast team that makes In The NoCo, which also airs weekdays in Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His work as a podcaster and journalist has appeared on NPR's Weekend Edition, NPR Music, the PBS Newshour, Colorado Public Radio, MTV Online, the Denver Post, Boulder's Daily Camera, and the Longmont Times-Call.

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Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

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