Hello there!

Our BWC summer has been a busy one, full of hosting events that strive to support greater connection with the land while cultivating resilient communities. It’s been great to see so much developing activity in the watershed this season!

As BWC moves forward with community-driven wildfire planning and mitigation, we are excited to see that Boulder County’s Board of County Commissioners has been responsive to public opinion expressed in their annual survey by considering a ballot initiative in November to support new sales taxes for wildfire mitigation and emergency response. We know that there is significant need across communities for increased funding for mitigation work to effectively scale up the incredible work already occurring throughout the watersheds.

We held our first urban community preparedness meeting in partnership with City of Boulder’s Fire-Rescue Department, the Office of Emergency Management, and the Melody-Catalpa neighborhood in North Boulder in July. It was inspiring to see how this neighborhood had built a strong community email communication network and to experience their motivation in promoting urban mitigation practices to protect their community from future wildfire. Boulder Fire Rescue led groups through their curbside assessment to help homeowners better understand manageable changes they can make in and around their homes to improve their home’s resilience to embers from wildfire. You can find some of the helpful resources shared that day at this page. Share it with your neighbors! We are already in the planning stages to replicate this workshop in other neighborhoods (and for farmers too!) and looking forward to seeing the community resilience that comes from those as well. If your neighborhood is interested in hosting an event, please reach out!

In anticipation of the new Community Wildfire Defense Fund grants, we are excited see numerous fire districts and communities updating their Community Wildfire Protection Plans. To support Nederland and Timberline Fire District’s update, BWC is working with three University of Colorado Master’s of the Environment Program students who are conducting stakeholder engagement to support the Plan update. Four Mile, Sugarloaf, Sunshine, and Gold Hill Fire Districts have partnered for a collaborative CWPP update. If you live in one of those districts you can take their survey here. These updated, collaborative Plans will help those communities move forward with strategic mitigation strategies to better protect the landscape and communities.

Join us for even more BWC events this season and/or take a listen to Rocky Mountain Adaption: Adapting to Climate Change the Colorado Way to hear local Boulder organizations, including the Boulder Watershed Collective, Left Hand Watershed Center, and Wildfire Partners, discuss climate change, adaptation, and disaster recovery.

Hope to see you out and about soon!

In gratitude,
The BWC Team