In the News

By: Bill Folsom Posted at 12:00 PM, Oct 09, 2021 and last updated 12:00 PM, Oct 09, 2021   COLORADO SPRINGS — There is new fire mitigation technology at work above North Catamount Reservoir on the north slope of Pikes Peak. “We’re getting rid of a lot of infected trees,” said Eric Howell, Forest Program Manger for Colorado Springs Utilities. The Spruce Bud Worm has been really bad up here.” The work is a Colorado Spring Utilities project to better protect the water supply in the reservoir by thinning out dead and compromised trees from the surrounding forest. Cutting out vegetation with heavy …

TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — Removing dead or dying trees from steep mountain slopes can be a time-consuming and dangerous job, but new technology is making the process easier and safer on the north slope of Pikes Peak. Colorado Springs Utilities has hired an Oregon company to use two pieces of state-of-the art machinery that will remove trees from 35 acres above North Catamount Reservoir. Continue Reading Here

Project salvages beetle-kill trees on steep slopes to reduce wildfire risk, protect water resources While the Upper Arkansas Valley has received plenty of rain this summer, smoke in the air has served as a reminder that the threat of wildfire is never far away, a situation made more urgent by the brown forest of beetle-kill trees around Monarch Pass. Thanks to a collaborative effort led by the U.S. Forest Service and the Arkansas River Watershed Collaborative (ARWC), the threat of catastrophic wildfire is lessening around Monarch Pass.  With 90% of mature trees in the area killed by spruce beetles, the …

STEPPING UP TO FIRE By Jan Jackson When Lee Miller, president and CEO of Miller Timber Services in Philomath, Oregon, sees a need that isn’t being met, he gets his team together and does something about it. His recent project was working with Ponsse to turn his regular forest machines into impressive pieces of firefighting equipment. It has taken two years, but they’ve done it. Ponsse, the privately owned Finnish company specializing in forest products and equipment, employs more than 1,800 people in 10 countries. They have years of experience coming up with quick, easy, and simple ways to equip their …

There is nothing more disheartening than being called a hero during fire season and then slandered in the media or overregulated outside of fire emergencies. Firefighters are not just 20-person handcrews, hotshots and smokejumpers. They are also loggers, ranchers, road builders and much more. Forest contractors are being enlisted by public firefighting agencies to help stop the blazes across the state. In fact, the Oregon Department of Forestry and its federal partners rely heavily on the skilled labor that loggers and other contracted service people provide during fire season.  

$350,000 in new funding this week expected to ramp up annual work The forests in and around the ski slopes on Bald Mountain are under attack by Douglas-fir beetle, dwarf mistletoe, white pine blister rust and other infestations. A combination of deadfall and canopy overgrowth has increased fire risk, as wide swathes of trees have died and gone brown in the last few years. The landscape, in other words, is struggling. But a new, multi-faceted initiative aims to aid it in its fight. Click HERE to view full article.