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Advantages of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program

Advantages of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program. New funding not otherwise available to Colorado / these forests Leverages scarce federal resources with non-federal and private dollars and contributions

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Advantages of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program

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  1. Advantages of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program • New funding not otherwise available to Colorado / these forests • Leverages scarce federal resources with non-federal and private dollars and contributions • Encourages utilization of forest restoration by-products to benefit local rural economies and improve forest health • Provides a level of certainty for forest businesses, supports local industries, new job creation opportunities • Facilitates focused treatment over ten years in a high priority landscape (if appropriation continues) • Builds support for forest management among wide variety of stakeholders / reduces opposition and delay • Facilitates the reduction of wildfire management costs, including reducing the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire Source: Photo from http://www.google.com/imgres?q=colorado&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4DMUS_enUS275US351&tbm=isch&tbnid=-OvmEThHImkF1M:&imgrefurl=http://codeword.org/2011/07/colorado-beauty/&docid=2_2PW2g-ILYdLM&w=1600&h=1200&ei=AANpTtqfPKzRiALDyuC5Dg&zoom=1&biw=1280&bih=604&iact=rc&dur=390&page=1&tbnh=127&tbnw=157&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0&tx=6&ty=62

  2. Colorado and the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program Breakfast Briefing, Washington, D.C. Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2103 Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 7:30-8:45 am Hosted by the Uncompahgre Partnership and the Front Range Roundtable Co-hosted by Congressman Mike Coffman and Congressman Jared Polis

  3. Today’s Objectives • Share how the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program positively impacts Colorado; • Highlight lessons on fire risk mitigation and forest restoration; and • Discuss ideas for federal policies and legislation

  4. The Value of CFLRP to Colorado • Perfectly suited to needs of Colorado forests and collaboratives • New, competitive, designated funding (not earmarks) • Colorado received 2 of first 10 projects awarded nationally: $5.8 million to date; could receive up to $45.6 million if fully funded over ten years

  5. Background: Colorado Forests • Forests and woodlands cover 24.4 million acres in Colorado (more than 1/3 of the state) • Diverse range of forest types • Complicated land management (68% federal, 47% USFS) “Subalpine”: Lodgepole Pine and Spruce Fir “Upper Montane”: Mesic Ponderosa Pine and Mixed Conifer “Lower Montane”: Dry Ponderosa pine and Dry Douglas fir

  6. Colorado Forest Conditions: Risk Assessment

  7. Colorado Forest Conditions: Example Historical photos from Woodland Park show effects on long-term fire suppression Source: Woodland Park Healthy Forest Initiative. These photos were taken from the same location in Woodland Park, Teller County

  8. Colorado Forests – Values at Risk People Water and Safety Natural and Economic Resources • 1,731 communities1 • 1 million people(more than 20% of Colorado’s population)2 • 9.4 million acres of forest watersheds important for drinking water (65% at risk for post-fire erosion)3 • Thousands of miles of roads, transmission lines, gas pipelines • Hundreds of communications towers • Critical habitats: 18 million acres for imperiled species/15 million acres for economically significant species • Recreation: 19 million acres • 80% of Colorado forests have recreation opportunities5 attracting some of Colorado’s 28 million overnight visitors spending $10 billion annually, making tourism the second- highest employment sector in the state, with 143,000jobs5 1 Federal Register (as of January 4, 2001) 2 2005 Census (ESR 3 Colorado State Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy. 2009. Colorado Statewide Forest Assessment (in preparation). 4 ESRI, 2007 5 “State spending on tourism a hot potato for lawmakers,” Rocky Mountain News, January 12, 2009. 6 166,000 bdt/y (Jefferson County Biomass Facility Feasibility Study, McNeil Technologies Inc , January 2005 ) * $30

  9. Colorado’s Fire Seasons Thousands of acres of wildfire per year, 1995-2008 (Total = 1.3 million acres of wildfire) Includes Hayman fire: 138k acres, $238 million of total costs Large economic losses even when fewer acres burn Includes Fourmile fire: Colorado’s most expensive fire in property losses Includes Fourmile fire: 6,200 acres, $217 million in property losses Sources: Rocky Mountain Area and Coordination Center Annual Activity Report (2001-2004); Wildland Fire Activity by Cause, Combining Federal and Non-federal Agencies Within Each State (www.fs.fed.us/r2/fire/oo_annual_report.pdf)

  10. Hayman Fire, 2002 • 138,000 acres burned (largest fire in Colorado to date) • 38,000 people evacuated • Destroyed 134 homes and more than 400 other structures • Total costs: $238 million • Rehabilitation: $74 million • Suppression costs: $44 million • Property loss: $38 million • Water storage loss: $37 million • Timber loss: $34 million Hayman Burn Teller County Pikes Peak 14,110 ft. 7,300 ft.

  11. Missionary Ridge Fire, 2009 • 70,485 acres burned • $40.4 million in suppression costs • Destroyed 56 homes + more than 20 other structures Sources: photo at top left from http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/5365; photo at rightfrom http://www.google.com/imgres?q=missionary+ridge+fire&hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1W1GPEA_en&tbm=isch&prmd=ivns&tbnid=0LS12_fZsg8huM:&imgrefurl=http://www.city-data.com/forum/general-u-s/600928-worst-natural-disaster-hit-your-state.html&docid=Bf7Hz1mSYXj72M&w=500&h=375&ei=YZdnTueNKIeGsgKf8bSBDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=975&vpy=290&dur=2969&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=213&ty=51&page=1&tbnh=153&tbnw=190&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:0&biw=1280&bih=604

  12. Fourmile Canyon Fire, 2010 • Began Labor Day, September 6, 2010 • Estimated $217 million in personal property losses and damages: fire destroyed 169 homes • “Without past mitigation activities, the outcome could have been worse.” Source: Photo at top from http://www.google.com/imgres?q=fourmile+fire&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4DMUS_enUS275US351&tbm=isch&tbnid=maRjcQAe-6wAZM:&imgrefurl=http://statter911.com/2010/09/14/colorado-fourmile-canyon-fire-believed-accidentally-started-by-veteran-volunteer-firefighters-home-among-those-destroyed/&docid=YGvJ0e0C9G6x1M&w=320&h=204&ei=RZhnTr2yLMiKsQKe-fi0Dg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=328&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=202&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=105&ty=35&biw=1280&bih=604; Photo at right by John Bustos, a public affairs officer for the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee Buttes National Grassland in Fort Collins, CO.

  13. Summary of Treatment Challenges • Mix of ownership • Costs of treatment • Restoring fire • Development in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) • Limited funding Source: Photo of homes from http://www.google.com/imgres?q=wildland+urban+interface+colorado&um=1&hl=en&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4DMUS_enUS275US351&tbm=isch&tbnid=EXJL5DFgslbYoM:&imgrefurl=http://www.today.colostate.edu/story.aspx%3Fid%3D1646&docid=Zn6Y_e9LkuCCKM&w=275&h=282&ei=1ytpToznI4SPsQKQutn6DQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=234&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=143&start=0&ndsp=19&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=85&ty=85&biw=1280&bih=604; Photo of prescribed burn from Boulder County, photo of pile burns from Colorado State Forest Service

  14. Collaboration Sedgwick Larimer Logan Moffat Jackson Weld Phillips Routt Morgan Boulder Grand Yuma Rio Blanco Washington Gilpin Adams Clear Creek Denver Arapahoe Summit Eagle Jefferson Garfield Elbert Kit Carson Douglas Pitkin Lake Mesa Park Lincoln Teller Delta Cheyenne El Paso Chaffee Gunnison Montrose Kiowa Fremont Crowley Ouray Pueblo Saguache Custer San Miguel Bent Hinsdale Prowers Otero San Juan Dolores Mineral Huerfano Alamosa Rio Grande Montezuma Las Animas Baca La Plata Costilla Archuleta Conejos

  15. Front Range Roundtable • The Front Range Roundtable was formed to “serve as a focal point for diverse stakeholder input into efforts to reduce wildland fire risks and improve forest health through sustained fuels treatment along the Colorado Front Range.” • The Front Range roundtable has reached consensus that 1.5 million acres of Front Range forests require treatments to reduce fire risk and/or achieve ecological restoration • Mission Ecological Restoration Goals Fire Risk Mitigation Goals Vision ~400,000 acres ~400,000 acres ~700,000 acres Overlap of goals Values • Respect for human safety • Healthy landscapes • Collaborative strategies • Economic and policy factors • Community engagement

  16. Uncompahgre Partnership • Initiated in 2001 as a collaborative partnership between the US Forest Service, BLM, Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, Western Area Power Administration, Tri State Gen. and Trans., and the Public Lands Partnership (which represents Montrose, Delta, San Miguel and Ouray counties, city governments, forest industry, recreationalists, and environmental and wildlife organizations. • Statement of Purpose: To develop a collaborative approach to improve ecosystem health and natural functions of the landscape using best available science, community input and adaptive management. • Focus the majority of our work on the 1.5 million acre Uncompahgre Plateau landscape • Four main program areas: Landscape Scale Restoration, Native Plant Program, Invasive Species Management and Education and Outreach. • Accomplishment Highlights: • In the past 10 years, over 300,000 acres of prioritized landscape restoration projects completed or underway • 2006 US Forest Service Regional Honor - Caring for the Land Stewardship Award • 2005 National Fire Plan Award • 2005 Winner of the Secretary of the Interior's Four C's Award

  17. Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) • Established under Title IV of Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to encourage collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes. • Authorized at $40 million per year for 10 years. • Colorado received 2 of first 10 project awarded nationally. • Colorado Projects have received $5.8 million to date; could receive up to $45.6 million if fully funded over ten years.

  18. Advantages of CFLRP • New federal funding • Non-federal match • Rural economic benefits • Forest health • Collaboration • Reduced risks and costs

  19. Benefits to Colorado from CFLRP CFLR treatments have also produced hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of biomass for the timber and renewable fiber industries.

  20. Summary • Good Neighbor Authority • Stewardship contracting • Other Valuable Tools CFLRP • Key message: Continued support for full funding of CFLRP

  21. Questions?

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