Category: Projects

Aspen Hills Wildfire Preparedness

Posted on by

Home Address Signs

The Divide Fire Department has green reflective address number signs recommended by the Fire Inspector available.  The fire department provides these signs as a community service, and asks for a $10 donation.  The available signs are one-sided, so order two signs if you need to show your house number on both sides.  Signs can be made vertical or horizontal.  Having fire-resistant, visible address signs is important for responders to locate your home in the event of a wildfire or other emergency.

Aspen Hills neighbors are ordering address signs together, so please contact Tanna Hackney (tanna.hackney@gmail.com) by July 1 if you would like an address sign.

 

Street Signs

Aspen Hills neighbors banned together to prepare for wildfire season by working on street sign installation on Wildfire Preparedness Day!  Street signs are important to help emergency responders navigate neighborhoods during wildfires or other disasters. Thanks to Paul for re-grading entrances, and to Greg, John, Glenn, Curtis, Dana, Rick, and Tanna and her son for installing new street sign bases and helping remove old signs.

image004  image006

image021   image025

image022  image023

image024

 

 

 

 

Pile Burning Scheduled for 2/14 near Divide

Posted on by

The Coalition for the Upper South Platte’s fuels management crews are scheduled to pile burn on Friday, Feb 14.

Crews will begin burning piles located north of Divide within the Ute Lakes Fishing and Recreation Club.  Burning will occur as weather and conditions allow throughout the next few months.

Smoke may be visible. Smoke-sensitive residents should consider staying indoors and keeping doors, windows and outside vents closed.

Fuels management staff will post road signs around the areas affected by the pile burns and send Nixel notifications.  For more information please contact – cusp@uppersouthplatte.org, or call 719.748.0033

Pile Burning Scheduled

Posted on by

The Coalition for the Upper South Platte’s fuels management crews are scheduled to begin pile burning in the next few weeks.

Crews will begin burning piles located north of Divide within the Ute Lakes Fishing and Recreation Club, and east of Woodland Park at the Glen Aspen Boy Scout Camp, off of Loy Creek Road. Burning will occur as weather and conditions allow throughout the next few months.

Smoke may be visible on Highway 24, County Road 5, Highway 67, Rampart Range Road and Loy Creek Road. Smoke-sensitive residents should consider staying indoors and keeping doors, windows and outside vents closed.

Fuels management staff will post road signs around the areas affected by the pile burns and send Nixel notifications.  For more information please contact the Coalition for the Upper South Platte at cusp@uppersouthplatte.org or 719.748.0033

Biomass for Energy

Posted on by

Colorado Springs Utilities will be using less coal in the upcoming year.  Their pilot project will study replacing some of the coal at their Drake Power Plant with biomass.  What a great way to use biomass and generate cleaner energy! Read more in the following articles:

Springs Utilities to launch pilot program to burn wood biofuel by the Colorado Springs Gazette

Colorado Springs Utilities plans to use less coal next year by KRDO News 13

Colorado’s first biomass plant begins delivering electricity

Posted on by

While some residents in the small Eagle County town worry about the impact on air quality, supporters hail the plant as a way to boost renewable energy and improve forest health. The biomass facility will burn wood to heat water, and the resulting steam will power a turbine, generating electricity.

Read the full Colorado Public Radio story 

Forest Management Misguided?

Posted on by

In a recent article titled, “Front Range Forest Thinning May be Misguided,” researcher William Baker and Mark Williams of the University of Wyoming indicate that “current efforts to uniformly thin Front Range ponderosa forests and reduce fire intensity may be misguided and may not restore them. Instead, the aggressive management could take even farther from the natural historic range of variability with potential negative consequences for wildlife”.

This is an important addition to the research available regarding the management of our forests; however, the scientific community has already realized that the goals of forest management just for fuels reduction and wildfire protection was not ideal.  Today, the discussions relating to forest management focus on the concept of restoration.  Forest restoration seeks to protect forests by learning from the past, and managing forests for diversity of species, resiliency to disease and insects and fire.

To view the article in the Summit County Citizens voice Click Here.