BLM Colorado | Fire | General Accomplishments

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Colorado



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General Accomplishments

During the fire season, which in Colorado is typically from May through September, BLM engines and crews are staffed 5-7 days per week. Crews are staffed in staggered shifts to provide full-time coverage. In addition to the agencies’ regular initial attack forces, BLM Colorado also hosts a 20-person interagency hotshot crew based in Craig. The Craig Hotshots are a national fire suppression resource available to go anywhere in the United States. Other specialty resources include a Type 3 helicopter (a local resource) based in Rifle; and the 7-person Unaweep Fire Use Module (a national resource) based in Grand Junction.

Annually, the BLM completes dozens of fuels reduction projects totaling over 15,000 acres per year. These projects are designed to minimize wildland fire threats to communities and property, and to enhance ecosystem health.

Between fire seasons, BLM Colorado devotes staff and resources to rehabilitating burned landscapes, reseeding vegetation, protecting watershed quality and preventing the spread of noxious weeds following severe wildfires.

Fire Home

Throughout the year, the BLM assists Colorado counties to complete wildfire protection plans by offering technical expertise and assistance agreements. The BLM and its cooperators have completed several hundred community-based, interagency educational workshops to support community wildfire preparedness, planning, and hazard mitigation. In western Colorado and the San Luis Valley, the American Red Cross (ARC) is a key partner in fire preparedness and mitigation education efforts. The ARC typically works with local fire departments to organize and host community meetings. The BLM and other agencies provide speakers, assist with demonstrations, and provide technical advice to neighborhoods and communities-at-risk during these meetings.

Since 2002, the BLM has contributed several million dollars in assistance funding to rural fire departments for personal protective equipment, communications equipment, hand tools, and firefighting training.

The BLM works closely with the Colorado State Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service, and the Western Forestry Leadership Coalition to generate a catalog of funding and technical assistance sources that counties and communities may apply for and use towards community wildfire preparedness and mitigation efforts. The funding catalog can be found on this website: www.rockymountainwildlandfire.info

Working with a vast array of cooperators, the BLM assists in presenting a number of workshops around the state on county and community wildfire protection planning. BLM Colorado also prepares a series of short interpretive papers on fire and fire ecology concepts for fire information officers, mitigation and prevention education specialists, public affairs officers, and others to help improve public understanding of wildland fire, planning and management. Such papers can be found at this website: www.rockymountainwildlandfire.info In addition, BLM Colorado supports the Colorado State Forest Service efforts to train rural fire department volunteers to assist with fire education and home-site inspections.