The Monarch Pass Forest & Watershed Health Project has been a collaborative effort to address extreme forest degradation in the Upper Arkansas River Basin, along the Continental Divide.
In 2021, the Monarch Pass Forest & Watershed Health Project successfully completed 466 acres of fire mitigation treatments to protect watershed health and vital infrastructure in the headwaters of the South Arkansas River. The project demonstrated the effectiveness of new cut-to-length (CTL) technology at addressing the threat from wildfire near Monarch Pass in the hope that this equipment may help address forest management challenges in other parts of the state.
The project represents a collaborative response by federal and state agencies, local governments and nonprofits to a spruce beetle outbreak that killed approximately 90% of mature trees near Monarch Pass. The dead trees created excessive fuel loading near municipal and agricultural water resources, major electric power infrastructure and a federal highway. Prior to treatment, the area was vulnerable to high-severity wildfire with little chance of suppression. The project successfully removed dead trees from the treated acreage with minimal impact to delicate alpine soils.
The project also delivered 3.5 million board feet of timber to Montrose Forest Products, Pueblo Wood Products, Blanca Forest Products and various local firewood retailers. Not only does the timber from 72,880 trees no longer have the potential to fuel a wildfire, it instead is being utilized to frame buildings, create freight pallets and provide firewood for home heating.
A key to the success of this project was an effective, productive partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.
In 2021, the Monarch Pass Forest & Watershed Health Project successfully completed 466 acres of fire mitigation treatments to protect watershed health and vital infrastructure in the headwaters of the South Arkansas River. The project demonstrated the effectiveness of new cut-to-length (CTL) technology at addressing the threat from wildfire near Monarch Pass in the hope that this equipment may help address forest management challenges in other parts of the state.
The project represents a collaborative response by federal and state agencies, local governments and nonprofits to a spruce beetle outbreak that killed approximately 90% of mature trees near Monarch Pass. The dead trees created excessive fuel loading near municipal and agricultural water resources, major electric power infrastructure and a federal highway. Prior to treatment, the area was vulnerable to high-severity wildfire with little chance of suppression. The project successfully removed dead trees from the treated acreage with minimal impact to delicate alpine soils.
The project also delivered 3.5 million board feet of timber to Montrose Forest Products, Pueblo Wood Products, Blanca Forest Products and various local firewood retailers. Not only does the timber from 72,880 trees no longer have the potential to fuel a wildfire, it instead is being utilized to frame buildings, create freight pallets and provide firewood for home heating.
A key to the success of this project was an effective, productive partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.
Cut-to-length equipment harvests beetle-killed spruce trees on the slopes of Monarch Pass.
