Colorado Statewide Forest Resource Assessment

forest management costs per acre have increased signifi cantly during the last20 years. Maintaining viable markets for wood products is a key componentof continuing forest management. We currently are investing signifi cant publicresources to treat forest lands at a net cost to the landowner. Balancing therevitalization of uses for forest products with the need for management canprovide a cost-effective method to conserve Colorado's forest lands.The state’s private landowners are diverse; however, their managementobjectives tend to emphasize wildlife, recreation and scenic benefi ts,rather than traditional wood products. Because they compose one-thirdof Colorado’s forests, these private landscapes are an important sourceof forest-related benefi ts and services. The CSFS administers a number ofprograms that provide technical and fi nancial assistance in support of privateforest landowners, including the Forest Stewardship, Forest Legacy, TreeFarm and Forest Agriculture Tax benefi t programs. 17 Unfortunately, only asmall portion of private landowners take advantage of these resources. As of2009, only 1,100 private forest owners (less than 1 percent) had active foreststewardship plans for their properties, while only 600 were participating in thestate’s agriculture tax program. More than 280 Colorado forest landownersalso participate in the American Tree Farm System.Both the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes also actively manage theforest resources on their lands. Activities supported by the tribal governmentsinclude timber and woodland management, wildfi re rehabilitation, prescribedburning, cottonwood propagation and greenhouse development, andcommunity wildfi re protection planning and services.Managing forests on non-federal lands also is strongly infl uenced by rapidurban growth, which has had a signifi cant impact in terms of fragmentingformerly large parcels of forest into smaller parcels with multiple ownersand managers. As urban development expands into forests, options forforest management become more limited and complex, while the need tosuppress fi res to protect human safety and essential infrastructure increasesdramatically.The need to understand and mitigate or adapt to the impacts of climatechange is a new challenge facing all of Colorado’s forest owners andmanagers. Scientists expect that a continuation of warming temperatureswould exacerbate existing stresses, which suggests that Colorado may seemore and larger fi res, continued insect and disease epidemics, and changesin species dynamics and range.17For more information on CSFS landowner assistance programs, please see http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/programs-home-land-owners.html.18