Today’s forest health outreach update covers the following topics:
* Forestry Tip of the Day: Enjoy the Snow and Watch this Animated Forestry Video
* Reminder: Applications for the 2013 Community Chipping Reimbursement Program are due Friday
* Reminder: Tax Subtraction “Wildfire Mitigation Subtraction Measures”

* Forestry Tip of the Day: Enjoy the Snow and Watch this Animated Forestry Video
Forestry Tip of the Day: We hope everyone is enjoying the fresh blanket of snow! We sure needed the moisture. Hopefully this spring will brings many more upslope storms.

Today we thought we would share a short video produced by the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies titled “What’s Happening to our Forests”. This 4 minute animated short film outlines the issues affecting our forests on a national level. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1vQAWmduM4&feature=youtu.be

Why is this important?  …videos are fun… Here is another cool video by local Boulder photographer James Balog showing time lapse footage of lodgepole pine decline. Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtYGJQiv8tY&feature=youtu.be

* Reminder: Applications for the 2013 Community Chipping Reimbursement Program are due Friday March 1
Applications for the 2013 Boulder County Community Chipping Reimbursement Program are due this Friday, March 1. We have already received several great community applications. Make sure to not miss out on this exciting program!

This reimbursement program encourages mountain communities to come together and conduct community-based chipping events. Boulder County encourages all residents to perform effective wildfire mitigation on their land and to be active stewards of their backyard forests. Subject to prior approval, the County will reimburse up to 50% of direct costs up to a maximum of $4,000 per community application.

Complete details about the 2013 program and an application are available on our website here:http://www.bouldercounty.org/live/environment/land/Pages/chippingreimbursement.aspx

* Reminder: Tax Subtraction “Wildfire Mitigation Subtraction Measures”
Tax time is once again upon us so we thought we would repost information about the State of Colorado “Wildfire Mitigation Measures Subtraction” program; available for the income tax years 2009 through 2013. You might be eligible to subtract from your federal taxable income 50% of the costs incurred while performing wildfire mitigation measures that meet the specified qualifications.

Complete details about this program including qualifications and limitations are available on the Colorado Department of Revenue’s FYI Income 65 fact sheet.  Weblink: http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1251781330468&ssbinary=true

Please contact the State of Colorado directly if you have questions. The program is administered by the State of Colorado Department of Revenue. In case you were curious, all forest landowners in Boulder County have an authorized Boulder County-wide Community Wildfire Protection Plan. This is a requirement to participate in this program. Many landowners in the county also have a locally approved Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

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
*Please visit our website to sign-up to for our Forest Health Outreach email communication list. Learn about upcoming forestry community meetings, wildfire mitigation, bark beetle management tips and more!