The Nature Conservancy in Colorado - Wildfires and Ecosystem Health, Fire Management in Colorado and Beyond

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Mt. Evans State Wildlife Area after a prescribed burn was conducted in the spring of 2001. The burn removed debris and encouraged the growth of desirable plants. © Vaughn Jones, Colorado State Forest Service

Fast Facts About Fire

On average, wildfires burn 4.3 million acres in the U.S. annually.
For millennia, lightning has ignited fires in the Rocky Mountains.
2002 was a record year for fire, with major wildfires in Colorado, Arizona, California, and Oregon.
Between 1995 and 2004, approximately 1,009,000 acres have burned in Colorado.
In 2004, researchers discovered that exposure to smoke from burning plants actually promotes germination in other types of plants.
Wildflower displays are often most prolific after fire.
Smokey Bear, an icon for fire suppression policy, was first developed by the Wartime Advertising Council in 1944, and later updated by the U.S. Forest Service.
Native Americans in many parts of North America often lit fires to clear brush and encourage the growth of grasslands and thereby the health of the game they hunted.
More fire facts & tools.

In Colorado, many prescribed fires are conducted after snowmelt and before new, green grasses grow. © Jen Chase, Colorado State Forest Service

This prescribed fire in Elk Meadow Park in Evergreen reduced fuels and released nutrients that helped new grasses grow. © Jen Chase, Colorado State Forest Service

A Colorado State Forest Service firefighter works in grasses and other fine fuels that ignite and spread quickly. © Jen Chase, Colorado State Forest Service

Extinguishing smoldering materials near a fire's perimeter is an important element of prescribed fires and fire suppression. © Jen Chase, Colorado State Forest Service

Lightning started the 2002 Big Fish Fire in the Flat Tops Wilderness of northwest Colorado. The fire was managed to provide ecological benefits and is often referred to as a “wildland fire use” fire. © Jen Chase, Colorado State Forest Service

The Ecology of Fire

Fire season is upon us. It has come earlier and perhaps fiercer than anyone can recall. Each morning’s paper seems to carry news of a new fire burning. However, The Nature Conservancy is working together with policymakers, public agency staff and private landowners to reinstate fire into its natural place in our ecosystem.

Unpredictable Wildfires and Unnatural “Fuels” Build-up

Many fire experts say that a new breed of unpredictable wildfires reflect both record drought conditions and forests that are more dense than they have ever been due to a century of fire suppression.

Dating back to the early 1900s, the U.S. Forest Service began work to suppress all fires. This approach was strengthened in 1935 when the U.S. Forest Service tried a nationwide experiment called the “10 a.m. policy” requiring managers to extinguish all wildfires by 10 a.m. the day following their ignition.

Burning Is A Natural Part of Ecosystem Health

Ecologists point out that many of the most symbolic landscapes in Colorado co-evolved with fire. Ranchers emphasize that fire nourishes grasslands and often can help control invasive species. Prescribed burns allow landowners and ecologists to reap the benefits of fire in a safe and controlled way.

These fires have a number of benefits including:

a reduction of fuel build-up;
creating more sunlight and space for growth in crowded forests;
helping fire-dependent seeds burst and germinate; and
creating an environment that favors native species and diversity of wildlife.

The result is a landscape with a “patchy mosaic” of grasses, flowers, shrubs and trees.

“The Fire Roundtable”: A Balanced Approach to Fire Management With an Emphasis on Human Safety

Thirty wide-ranging organizations, including members of the academic and scientific community, local governments, and federal and state agencies have come to together to create an inclusive forum that promises to shape fire policy in Colorado for the better. The Conservancy has been a leader in the Roundtable, working to reduce wildland fire risks and restore forest health.

A recent report by the Roundtable, endorsed by Colorado Governor Bill Owens, identified more than 1.5 million acres that need to be managed more intensively, with either mechanical thinning or prescribed fire, to protect Front Range communities from catastrophic fire and to restore forest health.

The Nature Conservancy’s Role in Using Fire to Fuel Ecosystem Health

In November, we completed our first burn in southern Colorado at the Bar NI Ranch. While small in size, this burn promises to have a major impact on the larger landscape.

Using the site to demonstrate the benefits and importance of restoring the forests, the Culebra Range Community Coalition, a group of private landowners, timber interests and land management agencies, plans to highlight prescribed fire as an important conservation tool.

Two more prescribed burns are in the works, and both promise to provide important training and research that will move fire management forward in Colorado, acre by acre.

Bringing fire back to Colorado in its natural role is the culmination of many years of hard work. We know that we still have a long road to travel, but we are particularly proud to be a part of the Roundtable’s effort that holds so much promise for our state.

Support our Conservation Work in Colorado

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For more information:

Press Release: Governor Owens Endorses Report on Front Range Wildfire Risks and Forest Health
Press Release: Governor Owens to Keynote the Rollout of New Information on Front Range Wildfire Risks and Forest Health
Listen to Brian McPeek, Deputy State Director of the Colorado Chapter, discuss the Fire Roundtable report on Colorado Matters.
Faces of Conservation: Read about the Conservancy's Colorado Fire Initiative program manager, Mike Babler, and its Purgatoire River project director, Ryan Boggs — both of whom include fire and fire management as part of their daily work.
Learn more: Review the recommendations and visions outlined in The Fire Roundtable's report
How We Work: Learn more about why fire is such an important conservation tool.
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