Summit County Citizens Voice

The scale of the beetle-kill in Summit County is evident in this picture, from the trees along the shore of Dillon Reservoir to high up the slopes of the Ten Mile Range. Click on the image for the full-size view.

Fitzwilliams to discuss forest health plans at Jan. 13 meeting in Frisco

SUMMIT COUNTY — White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams isn’t afraid to talk about ecosystem restoration on a landscape scale. One of his recent initiatives includes a project in the Roaring Fork Valley that includes re-introducing fire to the landscape as a way of improving wildlife habitat.

Fitzwilliams will share his vision of a healthy, sustainable forest at the Jan.13 meeting of the forest health task force, set for 7:30 a.m. at the Frisco Community Center.

As the featured speaker, Fitzwilliams will lead a discussion about ongoing and planned initiatives to improve the condition of a forest devastated by a bark beetle infestation that has already destroyed three million acres of lodgepole pine trees in the state. He will  emphasize the role of public-private partnerships in addressing the increased risk of catastrophic wildfire due to high fuel loading both in the backcountry and its adjacent wildland-urban interface.

Also included on the agenda i an update on a proposed rail siding facility in Kremmling designed to provide loading capacity for wood and wood products for state, national and overseas markets; discussion about a user-friendly online catalog that would feature products made from “Colorado Blue Pine,” a brand identity for beetle killed lodgepole pine; as well as a preview of upcoming 2011 Forest Health Roundtable topics.

The Forest Health Task Force is a grassroots organization dedicated to sustaining healthy forests and watershed in Summit County and neighboring Colorado mountain communities. Meetings, which are free and open to the public, are conducted, every second Thursday of the month, usually at the Frisco Community Center, 100 Third Avenue South (at Granite Street), Frisco, Colorado.

The Forest Health Task Force is a program of The Greenlands Reserve. This month’s meeting is made possible through a grant from Choose Outdoors and the Rocky Mountain Renewable Energy Fund.

Filed under: Colorado, Dillon Ranger District, Environment, Forest health, forests, Summit County Colorado, US Forest Service, White River National Forest Tagged: | beetle kill, Forest health, lodgepole pines, Scott Fitzwilliams, Summit County Colorado, White River National Forest