If you have driven through North Park in the last few years, you might have noticed a lot of dead trees or even bare spots where there has once been forest. That’s because our forests are in the process of returning and getting healthy again. It’s a slow process, but promises to bring back the healthy forests and mountains Jackson County has been known for. It might not be picture perfect beauty visitors are expecting, but it is the reality of life so close to such an incredible ecosystem.
What Happened to the Forests?
In the late 1990s to 2000s, Colorado was hit by a ten year drought that weakened the health of our forests, leaving them vulnerable to different kinds of blight, parasites, and most of all pine beetle infestations. These invasive boring beetles attacked trees that would have otherwise been able to resist them. Unseasonably warm winters lacked the extremely cold temperatures that are needed to kill off beetle larvae over the wintertime.
Consistent temps of less than -40F over a period of several days will usually wipe out infestations. Pine beetles are very resilient to cold, with a substance in their blood that acts as a type of antifreeze. Without long periods of deep cold, it’s not enough, and they come back in force in the springtime.
The pine beetles decimated out forests, killing many trees where they stood, as they did throughout much of the west. Changes in winter climate, scarcity of water, and spreading by non-native firewood or hitching a ride on vehicles are just some of the contributing factors. However it happened, the damage was extensive. Our once lush and green lodgepole pine forests were filled with brown, dead trees.
Removing them became too much for even the forestry industry to keep up with, and governmental policies at the time and lack of processing facilities didn’t help much either. As people debated the fate of the forests, the infestation spread. By the time the drought was over and the beetles finally died off, the damage was done.
Colorado’s Forests: A Literal Tinderbox
Beetle infestations brought on some of the most destructive conditions of the last fifty years: fires. With hot summer winds, excessive amounts of deadfall, blowdowns of dead trucks, and increasingly limited access to forests, Colorado’s wilderness has been especially vulnerable to fire. Combined with government budget cuts and limited resources to fight fires, it became a perfect storm situation, just waiting for a spark to set it off. Unfortunately, fire was also one of the most effective ways of curtailing the beetlekill problems.
In 2020 the Covid-19 Pandemic saw an increase in outdoor recreation and tourism. People could visit national forests and other public lands without constraints of social distancing. They came back to nature in droves for a sense of normalcy in unprecedented times.
More people than ever found their way into our forests. With more human impact came more deadfall and opportunity for bad fire use with human-made fires that got out of hand. Lightning strikes and human-made fires quickly ignited thousands of square miles of Colorado forests in the summer of 2020.
Areas hit the hardest in North Park by the fires were on the north end of Jackson County, with fires in Larimer County luckily stopping on the eastern side of Cameron Peak. Areas on Willow Creek pass towards Granby, CO were also burned with the East Troublesome Fire. Big Creek Lake was damaged severely and the burned standing trees are still evident even today. But the forests are coming back.
Consequences of Fires
Destruction of property and human life is the main concern of forest fires. As people move into our forests, the risk of fire damage to homes and businesses rises exponentially, with an even greater chance of death. Luckily the fires in North Park only affected property, but fires also disrupt habitat for wildlife. The damage to wildlife was extensive and the effects might never be completely known.
Fire remediation is not only dangerous, but expensive. Smoke jumpers and firefighters had to be brought into Jackson County to fight the fires. Helicopters and other aircraft were used to dump slurry (liquid fire retardant and water) as well as start controlled burns to create a fireline.
Extreme runoff is also a result of wildfires, which can cause mudslides without vegetation to slow water down during heavy rains. This has been known to block highways as well as introduce excessive amounts of silt into waterways. Fish cannot survive in silty water, and as a result entire ecosystems were killed off due to runoff.
The remaining trees that are still standing also become a hazard. These “widowmakers” as they are known, can fall in windy conditions, crushing anyone who happens to be unfortunate enough to be under them. Dead trees also fall across trails and roads, and can strand people or create conditions for even more fires. The whole process becomes a dangerous domino effect.
What is Being Done for the Forests?
Continued efforts to remove deadfall are helping the forests recover. When areas are clear cut or destroyed by fire, a few natural events take place which have been healing forests since before the existence of people. Different stages of forests will come and go, often with grasses and shrubs stabilizing and fixing nutrients in the soil, followed by secondary forests such as aspen trees. Over time, pine trees will gradually replace the aspens, often pushing them out of the pines due to competition for sunlight as well as increased acidity in soil. Trees are very competitive, yet complimentary in their development. There are usually enough trees left to ensure this succession of growth in the event of fire or other reasons forests are cleared out.
Fire also aids in germination of pine seeds. Yet an overabundance of deadfall and underbrush can lead to hot, slow burning fires that will destroy seeds. Instead of signalling them to activate to promote new growth, pine forests often disappear completely without hope of renewal when fires are too hot. This is why it is important that underbrush be cleared whenever possible for propagation of healthy forests.
In the forest you might see piles of dead trees. These slash piles are either hauled off or burned during the wintertime to eliminate fuel for potential fires. Logging companies often remove dead trees and beetlekill for use in pellet wood stoves and even furniture. The National Forest Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife are constantly working to thin forests and remove unhealthy trees to improve the overall health and aesthetic quality of the forests.
Campfire Safety
As we get deeper into summer, high temps and below average snowfall during the previous winter leave our forests with the potential for even more fires. There’s no guarantee that we will get a lot of precipitation this summer, and the chance of lightning strikes from thunderstorms only increase the chances for disaster. Though you can’t control the weather (and if you can, please let us know), there are some things you can do to help.
- Never leave a fire unattended. Wind can carry sparks and spread fires quickly. It only takes one spark to level a whole forest.
- Always have shovels, water, and dirt available for spark control or to put out campfires. Clear an area around fire pits to prevent the spread of fire around fire pits.
- Fire extinguishers are vital to have in case of fire, especially when using liquid fuel, propane and other flammable materials.
- Use fire rings at established campgrounds whenever available. Always cover ashes with dirt and sand and saturate with water to make sure the fire is dead out. Smoke and steam are indicators there are burning embers which could still reignite.
- Obey fire warnings. The National Forest service and State Parks post the fire dangers and fire ban warnings throughout public lands.
- Don’t burn green wood. Improperly cured firewood can pop, smoke, and flash, spreading sparks into the air.
- Use camp stoves to cook and for heating. Especially during burn bans, portable cookstoves might be the only permitted flame. Be aware of your stove placement when using to prevent accidental fires. Spilled fuel can be dangerous, so be sure to cover and douse with water to reduce the risk of fire.
- Hot vehicle tailpipes can also start fires. When driving offroad, be aware of your spark arrestors and skid plates, especially on motorcycles and side-by-sides.
- Keeping your campsite clean and using Leave No Trace camping eliminates the buildup of flammable litter and damage to undergrowth and trees that can lead to the spread of wildfires.
Fire Suppression in North Park
North Park Fire and Rescue Authority is the primary firefighting resource in Jackson County, along with National Forest Service and State Parks fire crews. For your first defense in fire fighting, always use your resources, such as sand, water, and fire extinguishers. Fires can get out of control quickly, so be sure to call 911 immediately if the fire spreads. Also report any smoke or wildfires you see to the North Park Fire Rescue Authority or a Forest Service or Park Service employee immediately.
The Forests are Healing
It will take many years for the forests to reclaim the places they once occupied. With scarcity of resources in forest management and hundreds of thousands of acres of forest to cover, human help is often spread thin, or unavailable. In the meantime, the standing dead trees, deadfall, and slash piles are gradually being reduced. Either through organic decay and blowdowns, or through human aided efforts to cut and remove the affected areas. It might take a generation or two until they resemble the forests they once were.
Our forests are healing and with your help they will return to their former glory. Enjoy the outdoors responsibly and they will be there for future generations. By helping our forests heal, you get to pay forward one of the biggest reasons people come to our wilderness areas: getting away from the cities and allowing themselves to heal. When we help the forests, we also help ourselves.
With thousands of visitors coming into North Park (not to mention the millions of visitors throughout Colorado) we can’t afford to let it be someone else’s problem. Everyone needs to do their part to prevent the spread of wildfires. It will take time for nature to repair itself, but in the meantime we can do our part to prevent more damage.
