Today’s forest health outreach update covers the following topics:
* Forest Stewardship Tip of the Day: Do you have Effective Defensible Space?
* New and Additional Fire Restrictions: Extreme Fire Danger Exists County-Wide
*Summary Article about our Series of Community Training on “The Keys to Creating and Maintaining Effective Defensible Space”

Forest Stewardship Tip of the Day: Do you have Effective Defensible Space?
Forestry Tip of the Day: Extreme fire danger exists countywide and now is an incredibly important time to make sure your home and family are prepared. 

A short (non-comprehensive) list of important actions to take: 
* Have you cut all grass to a height of less than 6 inches within 30 feet (or more) of your home?

* Have you cleaned your gutters and roofs of flammable debris?
* Have you moved everything flammable from on top of and under your deck (flammable rugs, dog beds, fluffy cushions, brooms, kids toys, fire wood, scrape lumber etc. etc.)?
* Is your firewood pile located 30 feet or more from all structures?
* Do you have 3-5 feet of space surrounding all sides of your house and deck cleared of everything flammable (this includes, pine needles, grasses, wood piles, scrap lumber – basically anything that can start on fire from direct flame contact or ember showers).
* Have you created effective zones of defensible space (tree thinning, low limbing and ladder fuel removal)?

See the through articled linked at the bottom of this email for more on wildfire mitigation! Or visit the Colorado State Forest Services wildfire mitigation webpage:http://csfs.colostate.edu/pages/wf-protection.html

Why is this important??  You can greatly increase the likelihood of your home surviving the next fire if you take precautionary action. Folks in Larimer County who are being impacted by the High Park Fire are likely wishing they had time to do more to prepare. Wildland Fire researchers like Dr. Jack Cohen, USFS, strongly believe that we can continue to have large wildfires without the associated large number of home losses if you, the landowner, take action!

**New and Additional Fire Restrictions: Extreme Fire Danger Exists County-Wide**
Press Release from Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle:

Ongoing dry and windy conditions, and Red Flag Warnings on a daily basis, have pushed us into extreme fire danger regionally and county-wide.  Additionally, huge fires in Larimer County, Wyoming, New Mexico, and throughout other parts of the State have strained fire-fighting resources locally and regionally.

The forecast shows no signs of immediate relief.

With these conditions in mind, we are upgrading our current ban on open-fires.  Effective at 5pm June 11, 2012 there will be no open burning of any kind allowed anywhere in unincorporated Boulder County.  This includes slash piles, agricultural burning, camp fires, bon fires, charcoal grills, etc. regardless of location, (mountains or plains). Only liquid gas or propane fired cooking stoves will be allowed for outdoor use. The use and sale of fireworks is also banned throughout the unincorporated county.

Violation of this order may result in a $500 fine for the first offense and escalates with subsequent violations.

Deputies will begin enforcing this resolution immediately, and informing campground hosts, etc. of the new rules while they make their rounds.  www.BoulderSheriff.org

Reference: http://www.bouldercounty.org/find/library/government/2012junefireban.pdf (6/11/12)

Summary Article about our Series of Community Training on “The Keys to Creating and Maintaining Effective Defensible Space”
In the past few months we partnered with 6 communities (Pine Brook Hills, Sugarloaf, Gold Hill, Nederland, Coal Creek Canyon and Allenspark) and held local trainings focused on Wildfire Mitigation. Over 230 folks attended and many landowners left feeling motivated and empowered to take action on their land.

Gene Mackey, Editor of the Allenspark Wind put together a great, well written article summarizing the key take away messages from these trainings. We highly recommend you read the article here: http://www.bouldercounty.org/find/library/build/allensparkwindjune2012.pdf (466K).

If you missed the first round of trainings don’t worry, we are working to schedule more. Stay tuned for additional training dates.

Cheers,
Ryan

Ryan Ludlow | Forestry Education & Outreach Coordinator 
Boulder County | Land Use Department
P.O. Box 471, Boulder CO 80306
O: 720.564.2641 | F: 303.441.4856
rludlow@nullbouldercounty.org | www.bouldercounty.org/ForestHealth
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