Restoring Healthy Forests and the Natural Disturbances that Sustain Them
Forest disturbances such as fire, outbreaks of endemic insects, drought and wind throw are vital to overall forest health, creating resiliency and fostering the sustainability of forests of the Southern Rockies. Colorado Wild works to protect and/or restore these natural processes across the forested landscape, particularly outside of the area immediately surrounding homes and community infrastructure.
Due to past management, some Southern Rockies’ forests are well outside their natural, historical condition (primarily low elevation forests with frequent fire return intervals). These conditions are expected to be exacerbated by climate change. In these areas, Colorado Wild advocates restoration activities to restore ecosystem condition, allow for the reintroduction of fire, and increase forests’ resiliency to future natural disturbances.
Collaborative efforts throughout Colorado to devise science-based strategies for restoring forests degraded by past management and fire suppression are paying off, literally. In this, the first year of a new federal initiative called the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, two Colorado projects were selected for funding out of only ten nationally.
Working with Carbondale-based Wilderness Workshop and the Wilderness Society’s Denver staff, Colorado Wild devised and implemented a number of public outreach and education efforts this year to help build support for conducting fire risk mitigation in the right areas.
Forest disturbances such as fire, outbreaks of endemic insects, drought and wind throw are vital to overall forest health, creating resiliency and fostering the sustainability of forests of the Southern Rockies. Colorado Wild works to protect and/or restore these natural processes across the forested landscape, particularly outside of the area immediately surrounding homes and community infrastructure. 
