Colorado Statewide Forest Resource Assessment

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environment, many homes and other structures are built and/or maintainedin this environment without regard to wildfi re. With more people living inand using the wildlands, a greater chance of fi re starts exists. The currentcondition of many forests in Colorado often means that once started, wildfi reswill burn intensely and be diffi cult to control. As a result of this equation,land managers see potential for greater loss of life and property, moresignifi cant damage to natural resources and increased demand for public fi resuppression funding. 37More than 1 million people currently live in Colorado’s WUI where forests andother vegetation are at high risk to wildfi re. The WUI also includes essentialcomponents of community infrastructure, such as power and communicationslines that may be of concern relative to fi re. The size of the WUI is projected tonearly double by 2030, with the majority of this expansion occurring on privateland. Fortunately, individuals and communities can take a number of stepsto reduce their risk from wildfi re which, in turn, increases fi refi ghters' ability tosafely do their jobs and decreases the amount of public resources that mustbe spent on wildfi re suppression.At least 144 Colorado communities have developed Community Wildfi reProtection Plans (CWPPs) that identify and prioritize fuels treatments andother measures that will reduce the community’s exposure to damagingeffects from wildfi re. 38 Many individual homeowners also have implementeddefensible space, such as clearing trees and brush around homes, cleaningroofs and gutters of pine needles and leaves, stacking fi rewood away fromstructures and replacing such fl ammable building materials as cedar shakeshingles with more fi re-resistant options. These and other proactive stepsmust continue and dramatically increase if Colorado is to address its growingWUI challenge.Analysis: Strategic fuels reduction combined with the implementation ofdefensible space around homes and structures can signifi cantly reducewildfi re risk to people and communities. To assist the CSFS in identifyingareas that could benefi t from forest management to protect communities andessential infrastructure, the assessment team combined data on the currentand projected extent of the wildland-urban interface with two measures ofwildfi re risk, one focused on susceptibility to fi re and the other on the potentialfor wildfi re intensity. 39 The initial layer on the extent of the wildland-urbaninterface includes a community buffer zone of two miles, which identifi escommunities associated with forest vegetation at risk from wildfi re; morethan 1.6 million acres in Colorado are included in this layer. Forty-onepercent (674,742 acres) of this land is within one mile of a communityboundary. These numbers are projected to jump to nearly 4 million acresby 2030; 67 percent (2.6 million acres) are located within one mile of acommunity boundary. The majority of these acres are in private ownershipwith USFS-managed lands close behind. The predominant forest type isponderosa pine, followed by aspen, mixed conifer and lodgepole.37Living With Fire: A Guide for the Homeowner can be found at http://csfs.colostate.edu/pdfs/LWF51303.pdf.38For more information on Community Wildfire Protection Plans, including the CSFS CWPP: Guide to Implementation,please see http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/community-wf-protection-planning.html and a list of approved CWPPs canbe accessed on this webpage.39For more information on wildfire risk layers, please see the section titled “Restore fire-adapted lands and reduce riskof wildfire impacts” beginning on page 26.44
Map 16 – Wildland-Urban Interface (2000)Forest Type 0.5 mile 1 mile 2 mile TotalSpruce-Fir 10,779 24,529 103,725 139,033Lodgepole 39,736 53,658 132,461 225,854Aspen 42,468 64,480 176,508 283,456Mixed Conifer 49,282 59,654 127,007 235,944Ponderosa Pine 96,644 99,778 213,943 410,365Montane Riparian 16,172 16,540 37,380 70,091Piñon-Juniper 24,528 35,927 94,979 155,434Oak Shrubland 14,392 18,873 49,905 83,169Plains Riparian 560 367 574 1,500Introduced Riparian 2,702 2,675 4,728 10,105Total 297,262 376,480 941,209 1,614,952Table 16a – 2000 Wildland-Urban Interface by Forest Type (acres)45
Page 1 and 2: Colorado Statewide ForestResource A
Page 3: Table of ContentsI. Executive Summa
Page 6 and 7: II.BackgroundThe Colorado Statewide
Page 8 and 9: National Guidance for Statewide For
Page 10 and 11: III. Overview of Colorado’s Fores
Page 12 and 13: Spruce-Fir 9Spruce-fi r is among th
Page 14 and 15: Mixed Conifer 14The mixed conifer f
Page 16 and 17: Oak ShrublandsOak shrublands cover
Page 18 and 19: Windbreaks, shelterbelts and their
Page 20 and 21: Owner Spruce-Fir Lodgepole Aspen Mi
Page 22 and 23: forest management costs per acre ha
Page 24 and 25: include standard ownership data and
Page 26 and 27: The second metric is an estimate of
Page 28 and 29: Map 4 - Colorado Forest Legacy Area
Page 30 and 31: NATIONAL THEME: Protect Forests fro
Page 32 and 33: Map 7 - Wildland Fire Susceptibilit
Page 34 and 35: Map 8 - Wildland Fire Intensity Ind
Page 36 and 37: ot (CSFS 2001 and 2002). Some insec
Page 38 and 39: Map 10 - Insect and Disease Mitigat
Page 40 and 41: is legally mandated, as well as dal
Page 42 and 43: change, including species extinctio
Page 44 and 45: transport of materi als that can ad
Page 46 and 47: Map 15 - Post-Fire Erosion RiskMap
Page 50 and 51: Owner 0.5 mile 1 mile 2 mile TotalU
Page 52 and 53: Map 18 - Wildland-Urban Interface w
Page 54 and 55: Map 20 - Wildland-Urban Interface w
Page 56 and 57: They also are important partners in
Page 58 and 59: Forest TypeAcres for Wood Products
Page 60 and 61: of fragmentation to help forest man
Page 62 and 63: Forest Type Low Moderate High Very
Page 64 and 65: Map 25 - Important Habitat for Econ
Page 66 and 67: ACRESImp. Habitat for Econ.Imp. Spe
Page 68 and 69: Forest Type Low Moderate High Very
Page 70 and 71: Map 28 - Community Forestry Opportu
Page 72 and 73: Enhance Public Benefits from Trees
Page 78 and 79: VI. ReferencesAlexander, K. [Intern
Page 80 and 81: Neely, B., Comer, P., Moritz, C., L
Page 82 and 83: VII. Statewide Assessment Steering
Page 84 and 85: APPENDIX A - Colorado Statewide For
Page 86 and 87: • Identify and conserve high prio
Page 88 and 89: assessments and resource strategies
Page 90 and 91: National Theme: Protect Forests fro
Page 92 and 93: Protect, conserve, and enhance wild
Page 94: States are encouraged to draw from

Colorado Statewide Forest Resource Assessment

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