WESTERN COLORADO
The Colorado West Land Trust has received a grant to develop a stewardship program aimed at educating and equipping private landowners in southwest Colorado with resources to protect their properties from wildfire.
Great Outdoors Colorado recently awarded the land trust a $111,854 grant for the program, which will be introduced in Ouray, Montrose, Delta, Gunnison, Mesa and San Miguel counties.
The grant is part of the inaugural round of GOCO’s Stewardship Impact Grants, which...
WESTERN COLORADO
The Colorado West Land Trust has received a grant to develop a stewardship program aimed at educating and equipping private landowners in southwest Colorado with resources to protect their properties from wildfire.
Great Outdoors Colorado recently awarded the land trust a $111,854 grant for the program, which will be introduced in Ouray, Montrose, Delta, Gunnison, Mesa and San Miguel counties.
The grant is part of the inaugural round of GOCO’s Stewardship Impact Grants, which aims to increase on-the-ground stewardship outcomes statewide through funding for collaborative, targeted stewardship projects. This program is the culmination of a multi-year effort by GOCO and the Colorado Outdoor Stewardship Coalition to create a foundational framework for advancing volunteer-based stewardship in Colorado communities.
Wildfire mitigation is often heavily focused on public lands, and private landowners sometimes lack the technical expertise and financial resources to protect their properties from fire. With western Colorado experiencing a hotter, drier climate than in years past, the risk of wildfire continues to grow, and the watersheds, wildlife habitat, and agricultural lands that exist on private properties are becoming increasingly threatened.
To address this problem, the Grand Junction-based land trust, in partnership with the West Region Wildfire Council, has designed a program to educate and equip private landowners with resources to protect their lands. The first step in this process will be to identify specific private, conserved properties in high wildfire risk areas. Landowners will be advised about forest treatment options as well as technical and financial resources to improve forest health and fire resilience.
The program includes two demonstration projects. Approximately 120 acres of a Ouray County property will be treated this year, with the second project planned for 2020. Its location will be determined as part of the initial analysis and planning efforts.
The $111,854 grant was part of $1.2 million in total grants given for the Stewardship Impact Grants program. Additional funding was funneled to programs in Gunnison and Lake counties and the cities of Colorado Springs and Trinidad.
