Plans for the Forest, now and more than 50 years ago

Over the decades, Forest plans morph to include greater threat of wildfire

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

The wheels turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.
I thought about that when considering plans for Pike National Forest — recent plans, and those from 50 years ago.
In 2014 in a meeting at Ute Pass Cultural Center in Woodland Park, I asked Pikes Peak District Ranger Oscar Martinez about any specific areas of concern as it pertains to the threat of wildfire.
He  tabbed the Upper Monument Creek landscape.
"We are just beginning a modelling project to take that landscape and look at how to fragment the way that fire moves there. Our intention is to manage the landscape so that we might be able to design treatments to put speed bumps in place should a major wildfire occur."
Carin Vadala, NEPA Planner for the Forest Service is the lead for the Upper Monument Creek Project, and said things were just beginning.
"The Front Range Roundtable identified this area as a high priority treatment area to reduce the risk of large severe fires and to increase the function of the watersheds. They have worked to garner funding through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project which will help fund the work done on the forest. The estimated costs are approximately $10 million over a ten-year period or about $1 million a year to implement. The main objective is to create a forest structure that is varied across the landscape and is also resilient to disturbances. The timeline is not completely set because the district is currently working on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which will be released to the public for review later this year. Once the EIS is finalized it is anticipated that projects will continue for about 10 years," Vadala says.
According to a description in Forest Service reports, "The landscape is highly urbanized with the Colorado Springs metropolitan area dominating on the southeast border and the community of Woodland Park on the southwest. Two smaller communities, Monument and Palmer Lake, border the landscape to the northeast. The U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a significant presence on the landscape’s eastern boundary. The USAFA also maintains the private 655-acre Farish Recreation Area as an inholding within the landscape itself. The northern portion of the UMC landscape includes approximately one-quarter (4,407 acres) of the U.S. Forest Service’s Manitou Experimental Forest and 3,409 acres of designated Colorado Roadless Area. The 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire burned across approximately 11,000 acres at the landscape’s southern tip.
Based on these analyses, it recommended over the next 7-10 years, the USFS use a combination of mechanical, manual and prescribed fire treatments to manage conditions on approximately 18,000 acres within the UMC landscape.Back in July of 1966, the USFS released grand plans of another project, perhaps much larger in scale, but having effects in the same area.
"Rampart Range Road could become one of the top scenic attractions in the country if plans now being developed by Pike National Forest planners become a reality," wrote Dave Richter of the Colorado Springs Free Press at the time.
Thomas Evans, Pike National Forest supervisor then, said the project, called the Rampart Range Recreational Way, is recognized nationally as a priority project. He said then that an impact survey of the affected area was being carried out and would be forwarded to the Denver regional office by Nov. 1 (1966) an after study, sent to the Forest Service chief in Washington and eventually to the Bureau of Budget for Congressional appropriation.
The Rampart Range Recreation Way was tied into development of the Monument Rock Recreation Area on the the site of the abandoned Monument Nursery, and the enlargement and proposed opening to the public of Northfield Reservoir No. 5, (part of the Homestake Project)  and construction of Two Forks Reservoir on the South Platte River north of Deckers. At the time, it was noted that not any of the projects had been appropriated.
The Monument Rock area was to have provided all types of recreation facilities, including game areas, an amphitheater, visitor information center, camp and picnic grounds, group picnic concessions, and parking for 560 cars.  It was to be built on the old nursery beds, which are divided from one another by rows of mature trees.
Supervisor Evans said that the idea of a highly developed recreation area was new to the Forest Service then, noting that historically it concerned itself with more rustic facilities as part of multiple use of the forest. "The idea of such recreational facilities, with their concentration of people and activities, is more in line with the National Park Service philosophy," he said.
Also in the works, at the time, was plans for a connecting road between Monument and Rampart Range Road, although no grade had been picked.
"The road could use the old Mount Herman Road or follow a road being built by American Telephone and Telegraph for access to a relay station," it was reported.
"The idea is to provide access to the recreational way for visitors to the Monument Rock area without a long trip via Colorado Springs or Sedalia,"
Plans for further development along the Pikes Peak Toll Road were also included in the proposed recreational study, and it was suggested that Rampart Range Road would be paved and a strip of land on both sides would of the road would be left in a natural state. Private land along the road would be bypassed by new construction, so that no commercial development, which would ruin the road as a scenic way, could occur.
The route was to provide a scenic alternative to Interstate 25 for travelers between Denver and Colorado Springs, Evans said back then, and it would be easily accessible to residents between Fort Collins and Pueblo on the fast-growing Front Range.
About 80 percent of the state's population resided on the Front Range at the time.
"The effect of the recreation way on the economy of the region would be large. Some small cities, such as Woodland Park, which is at the end of the upper portion Rampart Range Road, may receive a substantial economic shot in the arm from the project," it was reported in 1966.
"It is possible the recreation way, which will be similar to a larger one already in existence along the crests of the Great Smokey Mountains, may become important to the tourist industry as the Air Force Academy and Pikes Peak are now."

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Photo 1: Along Rampart Range Road, mid-December, 2015.

Photo 2: Pikes Peak District Ranger Oscar Martinez.

Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Problems are historic, aim is for resilience

Upper Monument Creek has experienced increasingly severe and costly impacts from wildfire

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

What many organizations and government agencies call the the Upper Monument Creek (UMC) landscape has been identified as a potential problem area for some time by several groups. Historically in fact, it has experienced increasingly severe and costly impacts from wildfire, including the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire that burned across the southern edge.
The Front Range Roundtable (a collaborative group that has been working on such initiatives since 2004) identified this area as a high priority treatment area to reduce the risk of large severe fires and to increase the function of the watersheds.
The UMC landscape is located on the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) Pike National Forest and participants in the UMC Landscape Restoration Initiative (the Initiative) worked together for more than a year to develop collaborative, science-based management recommendations aimed at restoring forest resilience and reducing wildfire risks to communities in the area.
Among those agencies and groups working on the initiative are: Coalition for the Upper South Platte, Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado State Forest Service, Colorado State University, Rocky Mountain Tree Ring Research, The Nature Conservancy, The Wilderness Society, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, West Range Reclamation LLC.
The Initiative submitted their report and recommendations to the USFS in early 2014. The Report provides background on the natural and human history of the UMC landscape, describes current forest conditions and challenges, and details the spatial and non-spatial analyses conducted by the group through their collaborative process.
Based on these analyses, the UMC Collaborative recommended that the USFS use a combination of mechanical, manual and prescribed fire treatments to manage conditions on approximately 18,000 acres within the 67,000 acre UMC landscape over the next 7-10 years. The estimated ten-year budget needed to implement these recommendations totals slightly over $10 million, or about $1 million average cost per year.
According to reports developed by the Roundtable and the organizations involved, the area's history is partially responsible for some of its challenges.
"The Upper Monument Creek (UMC) landscape was used seasonally by several indigenous groups, human settlement in the area did not begin in earnest until approximately 1860. Early settlers established and expanded timber operations in conjunction with mining activity. By 1867, several large-scale saw mills were operating in the area in response to the rapid pace of development. General William Jackson Palmer, anticipating railroad-driven economic growth, initiated development of the Colorado Springs area in 1871. A full-scale timber boom ensued as harvesters raced to meet the needs of the rapidly growing community and associated mining and railroad industries," according to the Roundtable's report, and they referred to other previous report examining the area.
"By the 1890s, much of the UMC landscape and surrounding area had been extensively logged and badly burned by both human and naturally ignited wildfires. A 1900 report by U.S. Geological Survey employee John G. Jack noted that at least 75% of the forests around Pike’s Peak had been logged, burned or both. While regular cycles of natural fire had occurred in lower-elevation forests for centuries, the increase in human activity led to larger, more severe and more frequent fires in all forest types," according info put together in early 2014.
"In his report, Jack described these forests as among the most damaged of any he had seen in the nation. A map accompanying the Jack report shows much of the UMC landscape occurring in areas designated as “badly burned” or “much burned over.”
Accordingly, concern about the condition of the forests and the potential negative impacts on water supply led President Benjamin Harrison to designate the Pikes Peak and Plum Creek Timberland Reserves in 1892. These reserves were consolidated, along with the South Platte Reserve, in 1907 to form the Pike National Forest, one of the first two National Forests in Colorado.
The federal government launched an aggressive reforestation initiative throughout the Pike National Forest shortly after its establishment. As a result, more than 2 million trees were planted in the area between 1912 and the early 1920s. The most significant planting in the UMC landscape occurred from 1924-1932 when the U.S. Forest Service’s now-defunct Monument Nursery oversaw the planting of seedlings across more than 7,000 acres. Current conditions in the UMC landscape reveal the lasting impact of these ambitious planters."
Though well-meaning, but probably misguided, federal policy of the last century mandating aggressive prevention and suppression of fire. This policy (it is now thought) led to the further disruption of natural fire cycles and promoted the growth of dense, even-aged forests that became stressed by competition for resources and vulnerable to unnaturally large-scale wildfires and insect and disease outbreaks.
No significant fires occurred in this particular area between 1916 and 1989, when the Berry Fire (aka Mount Herman Fire) burned 850 acres in proximity to the USFS’s Monument Fire Center.
In 2002, the Hayman Fire burned approximately 137,000 acres in an adjacent area Northwest of UMC, spreading 19 miles and growing by 62,000 acres in one day. In 2012, the Waldo Canyon Fire burned 18,247 acres northwest of Colorado Springs, destroying 346 homes and forcing 32,000 residents to evacuate.
"After a brief increase in logging during the 1950s, very little systematic timber harvest has occurred in the area surrounding the UMC landscape apart from smaller scale thinning and fuels reduction projects. Current forest management projects are complicated by the difficulty of operating in a largely urbanized environment, the relatively low value of products to be removed and the high cost of transportation due to a lack of local wood processing facilities," according to the UMC Collaborative Report.
"Rapid population growth and development in Colorado Springs, Woodland Park and surrounding communities has been a significant driver of conditions in the UMC landscape and, in fact, the entire Pike National Forest. The UMC landscape includes portions of El Paso and Douglas counties, two of Colorado’s fasting growing municipalities. The economic base of the area has shifted from one driven by resource extraction to one dominated by high tech businesses, higher education and the federal government. As a result, the UMC landscape is now highly valued for aesthetics and as a recreational outlet for urban dwellers," the report says.
"Hikers, cyclists, equestrians, hunters and anglers, wildlife enthusiasts and off-road vehicles all frequent these forests, placing increasing pressure and stress on the natural systems. Of particular concern are illegal shooting ranges, refuse dumping, and illegal creation of roads and trails. The USFS monitors these uses and periodically restricts access to the most heavily impacted areas to allow for revegetation and repair. Human use is particularly high on and around the Rampart Range Road and Mt. Herman Road. Unfortunately, due to staffing and resource constraints, resource degradation from illegal recreation use is not adequately addressed in some areas," the group working in collaboration noted.
"Of related concern is the expansion of homes, business and related infrastructure into previously wildland areas, a zone also known as the wildland-urban interface (WUI).
The presence of people and homes in the forest contributes to fragmentation of the landscape, dramatically increases the values at risk from wildfire, and adds to the difficulty and cost of wildfire risk reduction and other management efforts."
The project currently involves work related to Environmental Impact Statement which is expected to be release to the public later this year. Carin Vadala, NEPA Planner for the Forest Service is the lead for the Upper Monument Creek Initiative, and sees nearly a decade of before project completion. "Once the EIS is finalized it is anticipated that projects will continue for about 10 years,” Vadala said.
"The UMC Landscape Restoration Initiative is an ambitious and hopeful endeavor. It reflects the Collaborative’s belief that it is possible to change the trajectory of our high-risk forest landscapes – resulting in a brighter future for both people and nature. The development of these recommendations is a first step in that direction," according to the conclusion of the UMC Collaborative report.

In the Forest: ‘It is all about caring for the land, and serving the people’

Restoring resiliency to the "Wildland Urban Interface" by thinning out dense forest, reducing fuels and collaboratively managing resources like the land, water, and providing for travel management planning are all part of the drill, says Erin Connelly, Forest and Grassland Supervisor for the Forest Service's Pike and San Isabel National Forest Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands, when she spoke to Woodland Park residents at the Ute Pass Cultural Center on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

"It is all about caring for the land, and serving the people." Connelly says.

Citing a recent study identifying the top five reasons visitors come to the forest, she notes:

1. They are here to view natural features.

2. Relax.

3. View wildlife.

4. Hiking or walking in the natural surroundings.

5. Driving to places within the forest.

Local residents in attendance challenged some aspects of the operation, however.

"Some of us think of you as the Forest Closers," said local resident Curt Grina. "It seems more areas are closed all the time. And much of the forest is cut off from us except for about a third of the year."

He asked Connelly and Pike National Forest District Ranger Oscar Martinez to identify how many miles of road had been closed and additionally how many roads in the forest are targeted for future closer.

Both Connelly and Martinez said they have to look at management with all stakeholders in mind. Concerns for water, and forest management that restores resilience to a diverse and multi-faceted forest landscape, while helping collaborative efforts in the private sector, and with interactions with all organizations is key to their success.

Upper Monument Creek Project

When asked this week about any specific areas of concern as it pertains to the threat of wildfire, Pikes Peak District Ranger Oscar Martinez tabbed the Upper Monument Creek landscape.

"We are just beginning a modelling project to take that landscape and look at how to fragment the way that fire moves there. Our intention is to manage the landscape so that we might be able to design treatments to put speed bumps in place should a major wildfire occur."

Carin Vadala, NEPA Planner for the Forest Service is the lead for the Upper Monument Creek Project, and says things are just beginning.

"The Front Range Roundtable identified this area as a high priority treatment area to reduce the risk of large severe fires and to increase the function of the watersheds. They have worked to garner funding through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project which will help fund the work done on the forest. The estimated costs are approximately $10 million over a ten-year period or about $1 million a year to implement. The main objective is to create a forest structure that is varied across the landscape and is also resilient to disturbances. The timeline is not completely set because the district is currently working on the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which will be released to the public for review later this year. Once the EIS is finalized it is anticipated that projects will continue for about 10 years," Vadala says.

According to a description in Forest Service reports, "The landscape is highly urbanized with the Colorado Springs metropolitan area dominating on the southeast border and the community of Woodland Park on the southwest. Two smaller communities, Monument and Palmer Lake, border the landscape to the northeast. The U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a significant presence on the landscape’s eastern boundary. The USAFA also maintains the private 655-acre Farish Recreation Area as an inholding within the landscape itself. The northern portion of the UMC landscape includes approximately one-quarter (4,407 acres) of the U.S. Forest Service’s Manitou Experimental Forest and 3,409 acres of designated Colorado Roadless Area. The 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire burned across approximately 11,000 acres at the landscape’s southern tip.

"The UMC Initiative builds on the work of the Front Range Roundtable, which has been working together since 2004 to dramatically increase forest management that reduces wildfire risks to communities and restores resilient ecological conditions in Front Range forests. The 67,000-acre UMC landscape is located within an area designated as a high priority for management by the Roundtable. Treatment within the landscape will be implemented under the auspices of the Front Range Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project (CFLRP) and Long Term Stewardship Contract, both of which are Roundtable priorities, according to and executive summary of the initial report.

"The UMC Collaborative used a series of workshops and field visits to identify effective strategies for restoring desired conditions to the UMC landscape. Using both spatial and non-spatial analyses, the Collaborative found that: three major forest types comprise 85% of the landscape; forests in older age classes are significantly underrepresented; and forest conditions are considerably more dense than they would have been historically, particularly in the drier Ponderosa Pine and mixed conifer systems. Analyses also revealed that these closed forest conditions place people, water and wildlife at significant risk from unnaturally large and damaging wildfires," the report says.

Based on these analyses, it recommends over the next 7-10 years, the USFS use a combination of mechanical, manual and prescribed fire treatments to manage conditions on approximately 18,000 acres within the UMC landscape.

"First, treatments must be designed and implemented at a meaningful scale, ensuring that they are able to effect a landscape-scale change in conditions and processes. Second, treatments should be strategically scheduled and located so that they maximize benefits to both people and nature. Finally, treatments must be carefully designed, using the best available science for individual forest systems and ensuring that the purpose of treatments is clear," the report said.

You can also find more information about the project at the following webpage. http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/landmanagement/projects/?cid=stelprd3800976

PHOTO INFO:

1. Erin Connelly, Forest and Grassland Supervisor for the Forest Service’s Pike and San Isabel National Forest Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands, spoke to Woodland Park residents at the Ute Pass Cultural Center on Tuesday, Jan. 20, about policies and upcoming issues.

2. Oscar Martinez, Pikes Peak District Ranger, outlines initiatives and addressed questions by locals at the meeting Tuesday.

3. Map outlining the scope of the upper Monument Creek project.

4. Mount Herman Road is still closed but work is expected to be completed soon, weather permitting.

Photos by Rob Carrigan, Map courtesy of Pike National Forest District