Many of us live in Colorado to enjoy the rugged naturalness of the mountains. Wildfire is a natural - and necessary - process in the ecosystems of the Southern Rockies. Fire cleanses the forest of dead material and insects and disease, opens cones, releases seeds and nutrients and, through the mosaic effect of most periodic burns, infuses the forest with a greater diversity of wildlife habitat. Dead wood on the forest floor is consumed as flames scorch the ground, preventing fuels from accumulating to produce hotter, more damaging blazes that are slow to regenerate. As fire releases nutrients in the form of ash, soils become more habitable to plants that revegetate the forest floor.
When fire is delayed or suppressed, fuels accumulate, allowing fires to burn too intensely. The canopy burns, trees are killed rather than singed, soils are damaged and destabilized, giving way to erosion which threatens life, safety, and infrastructure downstream and delays regeneration as the foundation of regrowth washes away with each storm.
With more and more of us living in and below these fire-adapted forests, it is crucial for landowners and communities to be prepared for wildfire and to encourage forests around homes and infrastructure that are more resilient to fire.
When fire is delayed or suppressed, fuels accumulate, allowing fires to burn too intensely. The canopy burns, trees are killed rather than singed, soils are damaged and destabilized, giving way to erosion which threatens life, safety, and infrastructure downstream and delays regeneration as the foundation of regrowth washes away with each storm.
With more and more of us living in and below these fire-adapted forests, it is crucial for landowners and communities to be prepared for wildfire and to encourage forests around homes and infrastructure that are more resilient to fire.
