Learn more about The Timberline Home Owners Association Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Forest Health including desired future conditions and values at risk.

1. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk:
FOREST HEALTH
Timberline View Estates CWPP Meeting
Seventh Day Adventist Church, Durango, CO
February 19, 2014
Kent Grant,
District Forester
Durango District, Colorado State Forest Service

2. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk:
FOREST HEALTH
Values at Risk to Wildfire Typically Include:
o
Number of lives at risk
o
Number of residences and density
o
Other economic values – additional structures and facilities,
watersheds, and municipal water supplies
o
Social Values – views, pets, livestock, livelihood, cultural,
historic, and recreational resources, and others
o
Ecological values – biological diversity, wildlife habitat, T&E
species, endemic species, soil, air, water quality, and
ecosystem health

3. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Major Vegetative Types of Timberline View Estates:
Piñon-Juniper (Pinus edulis; Juniperus scopulorum,
Juniperus osteosperma)
oElevation range is 4,900 to 8,000 feet (Plains to Foothills Life
Zones)
oUsually occurs on lower, more arid sites below the Gambel oak
zone.
oAnnual precipitation typically 10-15 inches.
oSagebrush a common understory species
oCommonly Rocky Mountain juniper, but can be a mixture of RMJ
and Utah juniper
oOften requires strong winds to carry a wildfire, but then will burn
very intensely
oMajor Insects: Piñon ips (P), piñon pitch mass borer (P), western
cedar bark beetle (J), juniper borer (J).
oMajor Diseases: dwarf mistletoe (P), black stain root disease (P),
Phoradendron mistletoe (J).
Piñon-juniper woodland.

4. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Major Vegetative Types of Timberline View Estates:
Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)
oElevation range is 6,000 to 9,000 feet (Foothills
to Montane Life Zones)
oUsually occurs between PJ and cool, moist mixed
conifer vegetative types
oAnnual precipitation is typically 15-22 inches
oImportant wildlife species
oAnchors soil on steep hillsides
City of Durango’s Twin Buttes Open Space
oReadily reproduces by suckering (sprouts) from
property.
root system
oMajor Insects: Gambel oak borer, gall forming insects,
leafrollers
oMajor Diseases: Anthracnose, leaf blister, root rot
oFrost Damage: Often happens during cold snaps in spring
after leaf emergence
oDrought: Top kill

5. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Major Vegetative Types of Timberline View Estates:
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)
oElevation range 5,800 to 9,800 feet (Foothills to Montane
Life Zones)
oAdapted to high temperatures and low moisture
oHighly resistant to low-intensity fire
oCommonly found on north and east aspects in its lower
range, south and west aspects at higher elevations
oShade intolerant, often occurring in even-aged stands
oMany second growth (blackjack) stands in San Juan Basin
area approximately 100 years old
oSecond-growth stands are often overstocked
oGamble oak is a common understory species in southwest
Colorado
oImportant timber species
oMajor Insects: mountain and western pine beetles
oMajor Diseases: dwarf mistletoe
Mancos State Park north of Mancos
in Montezuma County.

6. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
What is Forest Health?
o
There are many descriptions of forest
health that vary depending upon
perspective.
o
Often based on personal or group values
and management objectives.
o
A perceived balance between natural
ecological processes and human values.
o
Forest Health, like many modern issues,
involves complex social, economic, and
environmental interactions.
Banded Peak Ranch SE of Pagosa Springs in Archuleta
County.

7. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
What is Forest Health? (continued)
o
More recent definitions of forest health range between
utilitarian (anthropocentric) and ecosystem (ecocentric)
perspectives.
o
The utilitarian perspective emphasizes forest conditions which
directly satisfy human needs, while the ecosystem perspective
emphasizes the maintenance of sustainable ecosystems over the
landscape.
o
“Consistency with objectives” is a theme common to both utilitarian and ecosystem definitions
of forest health. Failure to meet objectives, stated by either human uses or ecological
conditions, indicates an unhealthy forest.
(From the paper: Forest Health from Different Perspectives; T.E. Kolb, M.R. Wagner, and W. W. Covington.)

8. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Benefits of a healthy
forest include:
o
Clean Air and Water
o
Abundant Wildlife Habitat
o
Multitude of Forest Products
o
Variety of Outdoor Recreation
Opportunities
o
Productive Range for Livestock
o
Pristine Wilderness Areas
o
Attractive Scenery
o
Resiliency and Less Susceptibility to
Severe Wildfire, Forest Insects/Diseases
San Juan National Forest northeast of Mancos in Montezuma
County.

9. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Current Forest Conditions:
o
Aggressive fire suppression has interfered with fire’s natural role in the environment,
particularly in fire-adapted forest ecosystems like the ponderosa pine type.
o
Build up of dead and live fuels due to years of fire suppression and lack of
thinning/harvesting.
o
Stands frequently lack diversity and are largely homogeneous, comprised of trees of similar
size and age classes.
o
Many stands are overstocked with tree tops in close proximity to each other, creating
significant crown fire potential.
o
Stands are stressed by drought, longer and warmer summers (global warming?), and
overcrowding.
o
Insect and disease problems are increasingly impacting overly crowded, aging stands.
o
Human development further taxes natural ecosystems and forest processes.
o
Higher likelihood of major, intense wildfires like the Missionary Ridge Fire of 2002 and the

10. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Human Activities that Impact Forest Health:
o
Population growth
o
Fragmentation of ecosystem
o
Construction damage
o
Pollution/toxins
o
Invasive species (plant and insect)
o
Improper forest management
o
Poor livestock grazing practices

11. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Consequences of Poor Forest Health: (continued)
o
Other public safety issues (floods, debris flows) and
infrastructure.
o
Lower aesthetic values, quality of life.
o
Losses to economy, tourism industry.
o
Reduced property value and property tax revenue.
o
Poorer air and water quality.
o
Degraded wildlife habitat.
damage to
Ponderosa pine killed by western pine
beetle east of Durango in La Plata
County.

12. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Forest Management (Stewardship):
o
Forest management is the implementation of planned
activities that improve and protect forest health, reduce
wildfire danger, and protect other forest benefits.
o
Examples of forest management include:
Commercial timber harvesting
•Forest thinning (commercial and pre-commercial)
•Prescribed fire (broadcast burns and pile burns)
•Wildfire hazard mitigation/fuels treatments
•Reforestation (natural, seeding, planting)
o
Other management activities, such as regulating
development within fire-prone forest types may be
equally effective in improving the condition of some forests.
o
Forest management is a tool to direct the forest toward a
desired condition, and can be especially crucial within the
wildland urban interface (WUI).
Thinned ponderosa pine stand on
private property on Haycamp Mesa
in Montezuma County.
Prescribed burn on private property
on Haycamp Mesa east of Dolores.

13. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Recommendations:
o
Strive to address the causes and not the symptoms of forest health problems. Utilize
available technical expertise.
o
Consider the potential impacts of decisions upon forest health, possible public safety
consequences, and options for mitigation.
o
Adopt sound land use planning requirements for defensible space, wildfire hazard mitigation,
and emergency access.
o
Avoid ordinances or regulations that prohibit or limit forest management options.
o
Support collaborative programs and initiatives that promote forest health, wildfire
prevention, and hazard mitigation (i.e., FireWise Council of Southwest Colorado, FireWise
Neighborhood Ambassadors, San Juan Tree Farmers, Forest Agriculture Property Tax
Classification, and San Juan Public Lands and CSFS projects).
o
Promote implementation of defensible space and the use of firewise construction design and
building materials, and CWPP’s, especially in the wildland urban interface (WUI).

14. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Recommendations: (continued)
o
Make information about forest health and wildfire hazard mitigation readily available to
new and existing landowners and encourage application.
o
Support local forest industry and forestry service contracting businesses (i.e., wildfire
mitigation companies).

15. Desired Future Conditions and
Values at Risk: FOREST HEALTH
Some Closing Thoughts:
o
A forest is dynamic, ever changing. Sometimes this change
and imperceptible, and at other times very rapid
o
You can’t take a snapshot of a forest and expect it to remain
over time.
o
If we don’t manage the forest then nature will do it for us,
in a manner we would prefer.
o
A hands off, leave it to nature approach does not ensure
array of ecosystem services upon which the
depends.
o
If a wildfire impacting a subdivision can be limited to a less
intense surface fire, many of the trees should survive
and the area will still be an attractive place to reside.
is very slow
and cataclysmic.
the same
and perhaps not
the broad
public’s welfare
McPhee Park on the San Juan
National Forest northeast of Dolores
in Montezuma County.

16. Contact Information:
Kent Grant
District Forester
Colorado State Forest Service
FLC 7233
1000 Rim Drive
Fort Lewis College Campus
Durango, CO 81301-3908
PH: 970-247-5250
FAX: 970-247-5252
E-Mail: kent.grant@colostate.edu
http://www.csfs.colostate.edu

17. Healthy Forests,
Healthy Communities
Fireweed along Forest Road 611 on the San Juan National Forest in Dolores County.