MacGregor Ranch 1

After over 100 years of fire suppression in the Estes Valley, the forest in this project was over populated with many trees that would not historically of been present. In ponderosa habitats a small surface fire would of historically came through the ecosystem every 5-50 years keeping the populations in check. Because of the lack of fire, the trees compete for a limited amount of resources (sun, water, and nutrients) and are not as healthy due to the competition. Our goal for this project was to restore the forest back to its historic density and improve the habitat for the enjoyment of both humans and animals.

Benefits

• Reduced risk of catastrophic fire
• Improved forage for animals such as elk and mule dear
• Increase in understory biodiversity (forbs, grasses, and shrubs)
• Increase in survival rates for ponderosa pine in future fires.

Cheley Camps of Colorado 1

This ~200ac project was completed on the Cheley Camps of Colorado's main summer camp property. This camp host kids of all ages for a wide array of outdoor summer activities. The forest composed of lodgepole pine, Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, and quacking aspen. Historically the site would of contained a larger proportion of ponderosa and aspen than current conditions allow. Due to modern-day fire suppression, the lodgepole pine and douglas fir was enabled to encroach on the historical forest types and essentially take over. This site had a very high risk of a catastrophic wildfire occurrence and a mechanical forest treatment has benefited the entire Big Thompson watershed and town of Estes Park. Through removing heavy fuel loads and restoring the forest back to historic reference conditions, the conservation district was able restore species composition and tree vigor, enhance wildlife habitat, and mitigate heavy fuels loads to reduce the risk of wildfire spread.

Benefits

• Return to historical species compositions
• Reduced risk of catastrophic fire
• Increase aspen populations
• Improved forage for animals such as elk and mule dear
• Increase in understory biodiversity (forbs, grasses, and shrubs)
• Increase in survival rates for ponderosa pine in future fires

Meadowdale Ranch 

Meadowdale Ranch consisted of three landowners located right off of highway 36 and next to Hermit Park open space. A good chunk of the properties on this project focused on meadow restoration. Due to years of fire suppression young trees remain in meadows that would of normally been killed by frequent fire running through. To combat this we pushed back the ecotone of meadow and forest back to its historical position using evidence on the ground as well as imagery from INSERT YEAR. Like much of the rest of the Estes Valley species composition was a concern and Douglas-fir and Spruce were in higher in density than historically present. With out fire these species will out compete ponderosa pine and aspen which is a huge resource concern. 

Benifits

• Improved fire resistance for the community and residual forest structure
• Improved habitat for elk which are a staple in the Estes Valley, as well as deer and other vertebrates
  
• Return to historical densities before fire suppression
• Increase aspen and ponderosa recruitment
• Increase resistance to pine beetles and other disturbance events

Hell's Canyon 

Hell's Canyon is a forest service road off of highway 36 that definitely earns its name. A project was completed at the top of this road totaling 71 acres treated. The challenges of this road made this project unique and BTCD had to get creative with ways to get material out of the property. A combination of making a log deck and masticating smaller trees and stumps was decided on and the property is rebounding very nicely. The main ecological concern for this property was dwarf mistletoe which is a parasite that once on the tree can multiply rapidly hindering growth and seed production and in unhealthy trees eventually cause mortality. The parasite also commonly cause "witches broom" which is a clump of abnormal branching that resembles the bottom of a broom. Because there was so much dwarf mistletoe on this site and was also a huge concern for the landowner we took every single tree identified with the parasite out of the system and only marked healthy trees to stay.

Benefit

• Improved forest health and resistance from dwarf mistletoe
• Return to historical species composition
• Improved resistance to catastrophic fire 
• Improved habitat for ungulates

Pole Hill

Pole Hill was a unique project and consisted of INSTERT # landowners all within a community. The WUI (wildland urban interface) is an area that is particularly of concern in Colorado because so many people are moving into the forest to enjoy all the great outdoors has to offer. The only problem with this is that landowners are sometimes not able to properly manage their land due to such a high volume of trees on their property and the costs associated as well as knowledge to do so. This is where BTCD comes in. To say Pole Hill has a problem with young trees is an understatement as there were stands of ~10 year old trees that were not even possible to walk through. Using aerial imagery we learned that the densities of trees were way to high for the area and needed to cut ALOT of trees. There was also a wildfire that stopped just short of the community so the land owners were definitely ready to be good stewards of the land as well as protect their houses from future wildfires

Benefits

• Protection of the community from future wildfire
• Get closer to historical population densities
• Increase aesthetics
• Increased wildlife habitat for turkeys and ungulates

Below is the imagery from 1938 and 2017 showing the dramatic difference between before and after fire suppression in the area 

Cheley Camps of Colorado 2

This project is right below the first Cheley camp project but has a lot more ponderosa within as well as being a lot more flat. Like the Hells Canyon project this site also has dwarf mistletoe really bad and is a huge resource concern. Species composition is also a problem and there is a higher density of Douglas-fir in the area. Because of this high density of fir, spruce budworm was also able to infect a pretty good amount of trees in the area. BTCD is going to come in and mark healthy trees to simultaneously help forest health as well as put the landscape back to correct species composition further increasing the resistance of the forest for both dwarf mistletoe and spruce budworm. This project is slated to start in the winter of 2020. 

Husted Ranch 

Husted Ranch is a historical ranch in the Dry Gulch area of the Estes Valley that is going to total in at about 200 acres. Because this area is so large it encompasses a wide variety of forest types including lodgepole and over populated ponderosa, as well as meadows that need to be pushed back due to fire suppression. 

Forest Restoration’s benefit to the local economy:
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Hiring a local logging company to complete these forest restoration projects has contributed to the local economy. Healthy Forest Initiative projects can be used as an educational demonstration site and will encourage similar future projects throughout Larimer County and Colorado – further benefiting the larger landscape and community.
This photograph shows a log landing at MacGregor Ranch where the logger brings trees to process into saw-logs, wood chips, and other products. Wood products from our forests also represent an economic opportunity as they are sold back into the community. This log landing will be restored and monitored for weeds in the coming years to ensure that the logging equipment does not have a negative effect on the land and soil.