As the winter months draw near and anticipation builds for the upcoming holidays, it is hard to believe that this summer the second largest fire in Colorado history was burning right here in Fort Collins' backyard. And though the memory might be faint in the minds of many, the High Park Restoration Coalition, a community group made up of businesses, government agencies and locals, are still working diligently to rehabilitate and restore the land.
“It is time to be thinking beyond just what we have lost, but what we are going to regain and what we are going to restore,” said Richard Fox, one of the founders of the coalition.
As the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado State Parks care for the public lands burned in the fire, the Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV), a non-profit, volunteer-based corporation that works to restore public lands all around Colorado, is providing resources and assistance to private landowners.
“
Wildlands Restoration Volunteers is sort of the implementation arm of that coalition,” said John Giordanengo, the Colorado Northern Regional Director for WRV. “So we have been working with federal and local agencies to understand the needs on the ground, working with local landowners and community groups and planning to basically implement restoration in the highest severity burn areas in the Poudre watershed to basically protect water quality, homes, other infrastructure downstream of these areas where there are landslides, mudslides, etc.”
WRV is trying to plan and schedule as many restoration project dates in as possible before winter finally sinks in. Interested volunteers can
sign up for the final two post-fire restoration projects Nov. 14 and Dec. 1 and 2.
"The High Park Fire ravaged over 85,000 acres of Northern Colorado lands, leaving hundreds of residents displaced and over 41,000 acres of land burned at a moderate to high severity," WRV said in an email enlisting the help of volunteers. "As a result, the Cache La Poudre River and many of its tributaries have been running black after heavy rains this summer, and landslides and flooding have been closing roads and threatening homes in recent days ... The most immediate goals of our fall post-fire restoration projects are to protect reservoirs, rivers, homes, roads and communities from the threat of further landslides and flooding expected in the coming winter and spring months.
Whether you live downstream of the fire or in the actual burn area, please lend a hand and help restore some of the highest priority restoration sites within the High Park Fire area. The highest priority restoration work is estimated to take at least 3 years, and a great amount of community involvement. And it will not be possible without your support."
No experience is necessary to become a volunteer, just a desire to help the environment and the people affected by the fire.
