Wildfire Prevention

Mountain communities stuck with helping to foot bill for Front Range hail hazard. Listen to "Morning Edition" host Michael Lyle, Jr. discuss this article with Steamboat Pilot reporter Suzie Romig and read the entire story at the link below.

Wildfires in Colorado have become more frequent and more intense. But funding to reduce the impacts of fire hasn’t been keeping pace. Which is why some conservation groups have proposed using sales taxes collected on outdoor gear sales to pay for wildfire prevention efforts. We hear more about the idea – and how it might show up on your ballot later this year.

Pano AI, a San Francisco company installing dozens of the cameras, has been busy this summer working to expand coverage from the Front Range to Routt County.

For millennia, Indigenous peoples have intentionally set fires to care for the land. Colonization and fire exclusion largely put an end to those practices, though the tradition endured. Now, California tribes have opened the door to a new era of cultural burning - a potential model for the rest of the West.

Private landowners have recently supported large fuel mitigation projects and homeowners associations have pursued Firewise USA certification.

Colorado State Forest Service wildfire preparedness programs and FireWise USA would lose funding under the Trump administration’s proposed federal budget, according to officials.

Mountain View Fire Rescue moved its headquarters to a building in Niwot last week. The department renovated it to create more space for operations and to address firefighter needs.

As fire leaders train for wildfires, they say homeowners can help. So some Northern Colorado residents are embracing fire-resistant homes and sharing tips to make their communities stronger.

Prescribed burns can be a valuable tool when preventing damage from increasingly destructive and wildfires driven by climate change. These projects, however, require significant staffing and logistical planning, making their future uncertain as the federal government looks to slash federal agencies.