Leading our wildfire preparedness effort
Wind and fire are shaping the American West’s future. Prolonged dry conditions paired with vicious wind events are causing destructive fires from Colorado to California to Hawaii. Now called “megafires,” they start in the surrounding landscape — a downed power line, an errant campfire — on a day when the wind is blowing so hard that the fire cannot be extinguished before it moves into an urban area and burns home after home to the ground, sending people running for safety.
Such an event could occur in the Upper Arkansas River Basin. Our acres of dead and dying trees, warmer temps, drier seasons and bigger wind events pose a big threat to life, property and infrastructure. Foresters and firefighters say it’s just a matter of time before the next wildfire. Whether it ignites during strong winds is a matter of chance.
Fire Mitigation Efforts
The Upper Arkansas Forest Health Council works collaboratively, using the most modern science and data, to identify the most important lands to treat to reduce the chance of a wildfire. The goal is to reduce the potential effects of a wildfire on the most important community assets by selectively thinning trees as mapped and prioritized by the council members. The solutions reduce wildfire risk and ultimately improve forest health.
The Upper Ark Forest Health Council is comprised of professionals from land management agencies and organizations concerned with forest management and wildfire response in the watershed. Wildfire mitigation is planned and completed collectively so that each project and program is more effective than it could have been if done independently. Since 2020, more than 15,000 acres have been treated.