Boulder County’s Forest Health Outreach Program

& Saws and Slaws

Ryan Ludlow - Outreach Forester Boulder County, Colorado Land Use Department

Western Adaptation Alliance Webinar

Webinar Overview

ü Forest  Health  Outreach  Program  ü Lessons  Learned  

ü  2010  Fourmile  Fire,  2013  Flash  Flood  ü Community  Driven  Saws  and  Slaws    ü Ques=ons  

Forest Health Outreach Program

for Private Landowners Program  Launched  in  Fall  2008  

Why?  Mountain  Pine  Beetle  What?  Engage  local  communi;es  with  Ed.  &  Outreach  Goal:  Encourage  all  landowners  to  be  great  stewards  of  their  backyard  forest.    County  Overview:  Boulder  County,  Colo      Keys  to  Success/Outcomes:  ü Residents  are  engaged  ü Residents  are  educated  ü Change  Behavior  

ü Form  Partnerships    ü Create  Resilient  Communi;es  ü Healthier  Forests  

ü Community  Mee=ngs  and  Workshops  ü Wildfire  mi;ga;on,  bark  beetle  management,  forest  health  improvement  ü We  go  to  the  community  –  host  programs  in  their  neighborhood  

ü Ac;ve  eNewsleKer  with  640  individuals  signed  up  ü Individual  One  on  One  Site  Visits    ü Mini  Neighborhood  Workshops  ü Always  available  by  Email/phone  ü Forest  Health  Outreach  Webpage  ü Firewise  Communi=es  

Mul=pronged  Approach  to  Outreach  

Forest Health Outreach Program

for Private Landowners

ü Wildfire  Mi;ga;on  Challenge  ü Community  Chipping  Events    ü Community  Forestry  Trainings  and  Workshops  ü Hikes  and  Volunteer  Forestry  Events  

October  Wildfire  Awareness  Month  

www.BoulderCountyWildfireAware.org

Community  Chipping  Reimbursement  Program  –  Seed  money,  community  driven  –  50%  Reimbursement  –  2012  -­‐  Awarded  $17,500  to  9  communi;es    –  2013  –  Awarded  $26,700  to  9  communi;es    

Community  Chipping  Days:  ü 2012  –  Events  in  Bar  K,  Le[hand,  Fourmile,  and  Coal  Creek  Canyon    

ü 2013  –  Events  in  Jamestown,  Bar  K  

“Turning Outreach into Individual Action”

Forest Health Outreach Program

for Private Landowners

Community Forestry Sort Yards • Free location to dispose of wood (slash and logs) • Promotes forest stewardship on private land

ü  Bark Beetle Management ü Wildfire Mitigation ü  Forest Health Improvement

“Turning Outreach into Individual Action”

Community Forestry Sort Yards

“Turning Outreach into Individual Action”

Two Locations: • Allenspark – North County Site • Nederland – South County Site

Sort Yard Program

• 2012 season was a record setting year • Saw an 82% increase in usage from prior years • Over 6500 individual loads of slash and logs dropped off • 2011 and 2010 season received 6268 loads • Increased private land mitigation!

Fourmile Canyon Fire

When:  Sept.  6,  2010  Where:    Foothills  5  miles  W  of  the  City  of  Boulder  Evacua=on:  3500  Homes  Results:  169  Homes  Destroyed,    6,181  acres  

Home Survival during Fourmile

ü  65%  of  homes  in  burn  perimeter  survived  

ü  306  out  of  474  homes  ü  Well  mi;gated  homes  helped  

save  others!  

Homes Don’t Have to Burn: 20+ years of Research

Key  Findings:  ü Fires  are  inevitable  but….  ü Research  strongly  suggests  we  can  s;ll  have  large  fires  without  the  large  numbers  of  homes  lost.  

ü Homeowners  must  take  ac;on!

You can change the way fire behaves on your land.

Examples  of  Homes  that    Survived  Fourmile  

This Homes Building Materials Probably Saved it!

This Homes Defensible Space Probably Saved it!

Landowner  Ac=on  Helps  Save  Homes  near  Gold  Hill  

Fire Start

Home Owner Mitigation

Landowner  Ac=on  Helps  Saves  Homes  near  Gold  Hill  

Fire Start

Homeowner Mitigation Changed Fire Behavior

Landowner  Ac=on  Helps  Save  Homes  near  Gold  Hill  

Fire Start

Homeowner Mitigation Changed Fire Behavior

Individual Action à Community Action ü Many  Individuals  were  taking  ac;on  on  their  own  land  ü But…  to  see  no;ceable  change  we  need  community  ac;on!  

The  Answer:  Crea;on  of  à    

What  is  it?    

 

Program  Launched  in  Spring  2011  Founded  by:  Community  Members  in  Coal  Creek  Canyon

ü  Similar to an Amish Barn Raising, but… No Amish and No Barn…

Goal  à    Building  a  Stronger  Community  Through  a  Healthier  Forest    

ü Neighbors working with neighbors Saws = Chainsaws | Slaws = Coleslaws

How  it  Works:  ü One  project  per  month  ü Neighborhood  Champions  find  project  sites    ü Work  4  hrs  (SAWS)à  break  à  Potluck(Slaws)  Where  did  the  idea  come  from?    •  Residents  who  agended  a  Forest  Health  Outreach  Program  

•  Community  Driven  Idea!    

The  Program  is  “Catching  Fire”    •  Spread  to  town  of  Nederland  in  2012  •  Spread  to  Sugarloaf  in  2013  Program  Stats:  April  2013  •  Over  1000  volunteer  hours  •  Over  32  homes  mi;gated  •  93  enthusias;c  par;cipants  •  Oodles  and  gobs  of  slash  removed  from  the  forest  

Crea=ng  more  Resilient  Communi=es  •  Crea;ng  an  “army”  of  trained  sawyers  •  Learning  hands-­‐on  forestry  skills  •  Being  part  of  ac;ve  forest  management  •  Seeing  before  and  a[er  mi;ga;on  September  2013  –  Flash  Flood  •   17  inches  of  rain  in  5  days  •  Floods  washed  out  every  major  canyon  in  the  county      

Crea=ng  more  Resilient  Communi=es  September  2013  –  Flash  Flood        

A  Thank  You  Note  from  Flood  Survivors    “Thank  you  very  much  to  you  and  your  crews!  Patti  and  I  can’t  tell  you  how  much  we  appreciate  your  coming  all  this  way  to  help  us  out.  I  don’t  have  to  tell  you  how  important  the  work  you  did  is.  And  pretty  much  everything  your  crews  did  was  stuff  that  was  either  beyond  my  abilities  as  a  cutter,  or  was  a  lot  easier  with  your  equipment,  or  the  kind  of  thing  that  required  a  raft  of  folks  who  know  their  way  around  the  mountains  and  chainsaws.  (We  have  had  a  lot  of  very  kind  and  wonderful  folks  come  up  to  help  us  out,  but  they  are  mostly  from  town  and  frankly  they  lack  the  skills  that  we  mountain  dwellers  take  for  granted).  I  do  hope  our  paths  wills  cross  again!”                                  ~Thanks  again  Rob  and  Pak.    

   

Crea=ng  Resilient  Communi=es  

Safety  Training  •  Safety  is  of  utmost  importance  •  Require  sawyers  to  agend  a  chainsaw  safety  course  before  cukng  

•  They  only  work  4  hrs  for  a  reason    •  Safety  talk  and  debrief  before  and  a[er  each  project      

Liability  •  Volunteer  Release  Waivers  •  Town  of  Nederland  provides  insurance  coverage  

   

Boulder  County  Forest  Health  Program  Connec=on  •  We  help  fund  part  of  Saws  and  Slaws  through  our  chipping  reimbursement  program  

•  Offer  technical  tree  marking  prior  to  each  project  •  Offer  Educa;onal  Trainings  to  gain  support  of  projects.        

Why  Saws  and  Slaws  is  Working  •  Truly  Community  Driven  •  Contagious  –  volunteers  want  to  come  back!    •  Seeing  what  effec;ve  mi;ga;on  looks  like  •  FUN!    •  Building  community  around  forestry!  •  Neighbors  meet  each  other!!!      

July  4  Coal  Creek  Canyon  Fest  

Like  the  idea?  Start  it  in  your  community!    •  Designed  to  be  easily  replicable  •  They  want  to  spread  the  program  to  others  •  Visit  them  online:      

www.SawsandSlaws.com  www.facebook.com/SawsAndSlaws    

     

Ryan Ludlow Forestry Education & Outreach Coordinator

Boulder County Land Use - Colorado

 

Sign up àForest Health Outreach eNewsletter www.BoulderCounty.org/ForestHealth

Email: rludlow@bouldercounty.org

Phone: 720.564.2641

Thank You! Questions?