This Edition Includes
- 2022 Sort Yard Operating Schedule
- Level 1 Fire Restrictions
- Drought Update
- Fire Regimes of Life Zones in Boulder County
- Wildfire Partners
- Office of Emergency Management
- Additional Resources
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2022 Community Forestry Sort Yards(CFSY) Operating Schedule
Nederland CFSY
291 Ridge Road
Phone 303-258-3622
- Operating Schedule: Wednesday - Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- Last Day: Saturday, October 22
- CFSY may have additional closures dependent upon weather, staffing training, and administrative requirements
Meeker Park CFSY
8200 Hwy 7
Phone: 970-586-3259
- Opens: Wednesday, June 1
- Last Day: Saturday, October 15
- Operating Schedule: Wednesday - Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
- The Meeker Park sort yard opening will be delayed due to a staffing shortage. An announcement with an opening date will be made when this issue has been resolved.
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Boulder County Enacts Level 1 Fire Restrictions
Forecast for continued warm temperatures, wind, and dry conditions has increased fire danger.
Sheriff Joe Pelle has enacted Level 1 Fire Restrictions for all areas of unincorporated Boulder County. The fire restrictions are being implemented due to increasing fire danger, lack of moisture, and the forecast for warm temperatures.
The fire restrictions PROHIBITS:
- Building, maintaining, attending, or using an open fire, campfire or stove fire (including charcoal barbecues and grills) on public land;
- The sale, use and possession of fireworks, including permissible fireworks;
- Shooting or discharging firearms for recreational purposes, except for hunting with a valid and current hunting license on public land;
- Smoking, except in an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable materials;
- Operating a chainsaw without a USDA or SAE-approved spark arrester properly installed and in effective working order. A chemical, pressurized fire-extinguisher must be kept with the operator, and at least one round-point shovel with an overall length of at least 35 inches must be readily available for use;
- Welding or operating an acetylene or other open-flame torch, except in cleared areas of at least 10 feet in diameter, and with a chemical, pressurized fire-extinguisher immediately available for use;
- Using an explosive; and
- Parking motorized vehicles in grass or vegetated areas that can come in contact with the underside of the vehicle.
Learn More
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The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.
NOAA forecasts the drought will persist due to precipitation outlook leaning 40-50% below normal and 40-50% chance of above normal temperatures.
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Fire Regimes of Life Zones in Boulder County
By: Patrick Morgan
Boulder County is home to a diverse array of landscapes. The dramatic rise in elevation results in a variety of ecosystems, each with their own unique characteristics. These ecosystems, or life zones, have a specific relationship with fire, or what is called a fire regime. Understanding the fire regimes across the different life zones of Boulder County can help its residents become more adept at living in this unique region of the world.
The major life zones that most Boulder County residents live in are the Plains, Lower Ecotone, and Montane. Each of these life zones has its own fire regime. A fire regime is a summary of fire occurrence, behavior, and fire effects within a specified area. Some characteristics of a fire regime are frequency, intensity, and severity. Each of these aspects create a picture of how fire has behaved historically in a given location.
Plains
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In the Plains life zone, located in the eastern portion of the county below 5,300 feet in elevation, fires occur at an interval of one to 5 years. They typically burn at a low severity, which is characterized by some consumption of woody material and the renewed growth of grasses from their root system. They were often caused by lightning strikes or spread from the forest to the west, though indigenous peoples occasionally started grassland fires to attract game with new growth. Today, the fire regime of the Plains is mostly absent, as the presence of urban development and agriculture has severely altered it. It is not completely gone, however, as evident in the disastrous Marshall Fire of 2021.
Lower Ecotone
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In the Lower Ecotone, located at elevations between 5,300 and 6,400 feet, the character of fire changes as the vegetation transitions from grasses to shrubs and scattered trees. This zone is dominated by grasses and shrubs with a few ponderosa pine and Rocky Mountain juniper trees present. The fire regime is highly variable depending on slope, aspect and fuel conditions. Fires carried by the grasses could occur as frequently as every few years while the shrubs and trees burned more infrequently when conditions were favorable. Severity and intensity were also highly variable, from a low intensity grass fire to higher severity where shrubs dominated. This varied severity allowed for a diverse mix of plant and animal species to utilize this life zone. Due to fire suppression in the 20th century, this life zone has become less dominated by grass and shrubs as higher density ponderosa pine forests have been allowed to take over. This has led to higher severity fires occurring in a life zone that is located just west of the major population centers in our county. An example of a Lower Ecotone fire is the east portion of the Cal-Wood Fire of 2020.
Montane
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The fire regimes of the Montane life zone are much more diverse. This ecosystem is located at elevations of roughly 6,000 to 9,000 feet and it tends to become wetter at higher elevations. The variety of trees found here mean that certain areas burn in different ways. Ponderosa pine forests dominate in the lower elevations while Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine tend to dominate in the higher elevations. The drier forests would burn roughly every 5 to 30 years with mixed severity. These dryer forests are more open with a grass understory resulting in a lower severity fire, mainly on the ground. The wetter forests at the higher elevations are denser, which means there can be some severe burns in these areas. On the extreme end of fire behavior is the lodgepole pine forest. These forests burn infrequently (about every 75 to 250 years), but at a high intensity and severity. The long fire interval means these trees grow up very dense, and when they burn it typically wipes out the entire lodgepole forest. A recent example of one of these fires is the Cold Springs Fire of 2016.
Fire has always played a significant role in the life zones of Boulder County, but it hasn’t been until recently that its impact has been fully understood. Since fire suppression was the dominant management practice of the 20th century, many of the fire regimes in these ecosystems are highly altered. Now when fires start in these altered systems the fire behavior can be unpredictable. As more people move into these fire-adapted landscapes, the risk of destructive fires becomes even greater. We need to adapt our lives and property to living in these zones so that we can co-exist with fire.
Sources:
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Could your home survive a wildfire? Don’t miss out! Wildfire Partners is offering free assessments through a special grant with FEMA. Apply today and find out what actions you can take to protect your home.
Wildfire Partners Program
303-441-1420
info@wildfirepartners.org
wildfirepartners.org
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Office of Emergency Management
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Thank you for reading!
The next newsletter will be mid-June.
Wayne Harrington
Sort Yard Coordinator
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