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Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative
Monthly Update | June 2021
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RMRI Partners participated in the latest quarterly partnership meeting May 11. RMRI will hold its next full partnership and leadership meeting, in person, in late August. The RMRI Governance Subcommittee met May 7 to conduct their annual review of the RMRI Governance Charter (they did not propose any changes to the charter). Partners in the RMRI-Southwest landscape have prioritized areas to focus restoration work while those in the RMRI-Upper Arkansas landscape are reaching their goals and beginning new programs and projects. Meanwhile, the RMRI-Upper South Platte landscape has initiated a new collaborative planning process, known as a pre-National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis.
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RSVP: Joint in-person RMRI Leadership Team and Partnership meeting RMRI
Peak Facilitation: We are excited to announce the new and improved dates for our meeting and field tour in the southwest! Please hold Tuesday, Aug. 31, for a field tour of the RMRI Southwest project area out of Durango. Details and an itinerary will be forthcoming. Please also hold Wednesday, Sept. 1, for a Leadership Team and RMRI Partners joint meeting. This will a hybrid in-person/virtual meeting. The agenda is also forthcoming. CLICK HERE to RSVP for these events. We will be providing lunch for those who RSVP, and we’ll need a sense of how big of an in-person reunion group we will have to ensure a comfortable venue, so please RSVP at your earliest convenience and no later than Friday, June 25 at noon. We will send out calendar invitations as well, but please do RSVP with this link as well.
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Frank Beum appointed Regional Forester of USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region RMRI
USDA Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen announced the appointment of Frank Beum as the new regional forester for the Rocky Mountain Region, effective April 12. Beum will lead more than 2,000 permanent and seasonal employees and share stewardship of 22 million acres of national forests and grasslands with partners and forty-eight affiliated tribes in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. More…
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RMRI hosts quarterly Partnership meeting RMRI
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Colorado’s state forester to retire RMRI
Mike Lester, Colorado State Forester, is retiring in July. Susan Matthews will serve as the acting Colorado State Forester until a new one is hired.
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NWTF to hire full-time RMRI position RMRI
The National Wild Turkey Federation will soon hire a full-time RMRI coordinator position. They will be announcing the open position soon.
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Tara Umphries selected as RMRI program manager RMRI
The USDA Forest Service selected Tara Umphries as its Shared Stewardship and Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative Program Manager. Tara brings 15-years of experience with the U.S. Forest Service to this role. She originally hails from Seattle, Washington. Her first position in wildland fire was with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources on a helitack module. Since then, she has gained critical experience in managing collaboration and partnerships while working across the U.S. Forest Service. Tara currently lives in Steamboat Springs.
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RMRI logo, branding materials coming soon RMRI
Marketing and design team, The Truth, continue work on the branding strategy with a scheduled release for later this month. The Truth is finalizing a branding guide to include graphics and logos. The RMRI Communications Subcommittee will ensure all RMRI Partners have access to these materials, RMRI Partners can then use these materials, for example, on letterhead, presentations and their respective websites.
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Council wins funding for forest treatments north of Buena Vista RMRI-Upper Arkansas
Envision Forest Health Council partners will treat the forest above the Arkansas River north of Buena Vista to improve wildlife habitat and reduce risk of wildfire and its potential effects on area residents and infrastructure. Railroad Bridge is the third forest treatment project to be prioritized and funded under the Council, which formed last year to implement the Chaffee County Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The project is in the plan’s top priority areas that identify where to treat forests to reduce wildfire hazard while also targeting the highest cost efficiency and community benefit. Treatments involve thinning by hand and machine and burning slash piles when conditions allow. More…
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Envision Forest Health Council on target to reach goals RMRI-Upper Arkansas
The Envision Forest Health Council is on target to reach the goals in their Community Wildfire Protection Plan. They have treated 1,600 acres so far, identified 14,000 acres for treatment planning, raised over $3 million in funding, engaged 346 landowners, and created four Firewise communities. They are also working to establish the Lake Forest Health Council in Lake County.
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Upper Arkansas Partners launch Chaffee Chips program RMRI-Upper Arkansas
The Upper Arkansas Partners launched the Chaffee Chips program to assist individual landowners to remove hazardous fuels in the zone immediately surrounding their homes. The program has led to 185 homes participating, 485 piles collected, and—through outreach and education—the creation of two Firewise communities. More…
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Treating private lands in the Upper Arkansas landscape RMRI-Upper Arkansas
Through the Chaffee Treats program, partners are looking to remove hazardous fuels using thinning and brush clearing on 10,000 acres of private lands. They have identified nine priority zones on private lands, and engaged 160 landowners, representing 3,000 treatable acres. Chaffee Treats develops a pipeline of projects that connect large-scale private and public land treatments.
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Supporting recreation in the Upper Arkansas RMRI-Upper Arkansas
The Chaffee Recreation Council has been developing the Chaffee County Recreation Plan. The Chaffee Recreation Plan is a five-year plan to maintain the health of public lands, sustain the economic benefits of recreation and tourism, and maintain the quality of user experiences in Chafee County. The Chafee Recreation Council and Chaffee Recreation Task Force—which together include over 30 community groups and government agencies—provided input on the plan.
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Prepping for landscape-scale work in the Upper South Platte RMRI-Upper South Platte
The South Platte Ranger District is starting a collaborative planning process, known as a pre-National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis for a landscape-scale NEPA assessment. They have partnered with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Colorado Forest Restoration Institute (CFRI), and other partners to analyze the effectiveness of treatments to reduce wildfire hazard and identify places to treat in the future using a PODs framework. The collaborative group will be working through this year with the expectation that the NEPA process will formally begin in 2022.
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Moving funds to the USPP RMRI-Upper South Platte
The U.S. Forest Service is working with the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) to transfer Fireshed Funds from the U.S. Forest Service to CSFS to support the Upper South Platte Partnership (USPP) in hiring a watershed coordinator position. A watershed coordinator would connect the USPP with other ongoing efforts, such as the Jefferson County Wildfire Risk Reduction Task Force.
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RMRI-SW Colorado continues landscape prioritization RMRI-SW
The RMRI-Southwest Steering Committee is managing the RMRI-SW landscape using potential operational delineations, or PODs. The committee surveyed stakeholders to evaluate a set of 22 potential operational delineations (PODs) on their ability to achieve RMRI values and readiness for treatments. The survey went to over 300 different stakeholders, and 135 individuals representing 46 organizations responded providing over 1,700 comments. Through the prioritization effort, the RMRI-SW Steering Committee categorized three sets of PODs:
- Set 1: Focuses on projects that are a high priority for achieving RMRI values and have a high opportunity score; these projects are the ones the RMRI-SW Steering Committee will focus on first.
- Set 2: Projects that are a high priority for achieving RMRI values but have a lower opportunity score. With this set of PODs, Southwest Colorado partners will evaluate the opportunity barriers and work to increase the opportunity for treatment.
- Set 3: Includes PODs with a high opportunity score but are a lower priority for achieving RMRI values.
The prioritization effort is already informing current project identification for 2022, 2023, and beyond.
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Wildfire proposal deserves consideration RMRI-SW
The Durango Herald editorial board explain that long-term drought and other impacts of climate change have exacerbated wildfire threat here in Southwest Colorado. As a result, a new initiative called Southwest Wildfire Impact Fund (SWIF) is being considered by the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners and Durango City Council. Spearheading this effort are attorney and former legislator Ellen Roberts, Aaron Kimple of Mountain Studies Institute and Jason Lawhon of the San Juan National Forest, along with other legal and financial experts. SWIF is an RMRI Partner. More…
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Interpretive programs elevate your outdoor experience RMRI-SW
After a year of canceled in-person events, social distancing and isolation, San Juan Mountains Association has restarted its free, outdoor interpretive programming. In addition, they partnered with Dolores Watershed Resilient Forest Collaborative, Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative and the San Juan National Forest to provide their first interpretive mountain bike ride. More…
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Forest Ambassadors begin work in Southwest Colorado RMRI-SW
The San Juan Mountain Association launched a Forest Ambassadors program. Forest Ambassadors will meet with people to talk about fuel treatments and values in the places where Southwest Colorado partners are planning treatments. More…
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Governance
The RMRI Governance Subcommittee met May 7 to conduct their annual review of the RMRI Governance Charter. They did not propose any changes to the charter. The Governance Subcommittee also discussed whether RMRI should advocate for policies and provide letters of support for legislation and grant applications. The Subcommittee said that RMRI should advocate and provide letters of support, but it needs a process to evaluate projects and legislation on a case-by-case basis. The Governance Subcommittee will be meeting over the next couple of months to develop a process for partners to request letters of support. Any RMRI partner interested joining the Governance Subcommittee can contact Tara Umphries at [email protected]. Meeting notes are available here and on the RMRI site at https://restoringtherockies.org/meeting-summaries.
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Workforce Capacity
In an effort to boost workforce capacity in Colorado, Subcommittee leads, Molly Pitts and Tim Reader, recently attended the state Future Farmers of America career conventions that took place in early June at Delta, Sterling and Pueblo. Molly and Tim presented on natural resource careers.
The Workforce Capacity Subcommittee hosts its next meeting June 24 from 1-3 p.m. If you would like to join, email Molly Pitts at [email protected].
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Social License
The Social License Subcommittee hosts its next meeting July 6 from 2-4 p.m. If you’re interested in joining the Social License Subcommittee, contact Patt Dorsey via email at [email protected].
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Prescribed Fire Smoke Webinar: The Western Region of the Wildland Fire Leadership Council and the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network will be hosting a webinar on "Prescribed Fire Smoke and Community Health: Successes from Smoke Ready Communities" on Wednesday, June 23, from 11am to 12:30pm. Register here.
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RMRI In-Person/Virtual Meeting: The next RMRI Partnership meeting was tentatively scheduled for Aug. 25-26 in Durango. Due to a scheduling conflict with the Colorado Water Congress, expect new dates/times to be proposed. Additional details are forthcoming.
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SB19-236: Sunset Public Utilities Commission (PASSED IN 2019) State
The 2019 law, Senate Bill 236, directed the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to use a social cost of carbon in evaluating all existing electric generation. The social cost of carbon is embedded in this bill, and there are two bills working their way through the legislature this year that would employ it to manage natural gas energy efficiency programs and cut the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
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The bill would set firm caps on emissions for key sectors of the economy and give the Air Quality Control Commission power to enforce those caps. Gov. Jared Polis indicated he would veto the bill because of the emission caps. Denver 7 reported Democrats ended up compromising with the governor’s office, and portions of SB 200 will be rolled into HB21-1266, the Environmental Justice Disproportionate Impacted Community bill, which addresses the effects of environmental injustice on disproportionately impacted communities.
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The bill would provide $25 million to the Colorado Workforce Development Council for grants to local workforce boards. This would go toward training for unemployed workers to help them find a job, as well as for employed people hoping to learn new skills that could help them earn better pay or move to a new industry.
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This bill directs the PUC to use a social cost of carbon and a social cost of methane in evaluating energy efficiency and demand management programs for utilities, like Xcel and Atmos Energy, selling natural gas to homes and businesses.
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The bill allows the Colorado State Forest Service to award forest restoration and wildfire risk mitigation grants for projects on federal lands, so long as the project maintains continuity across a landscape including federal lands, and the area of federal lands does not exceed the combined area of the non-federal lands involved in the project. Colorado Department of Natural Resources expressed support for the bill, which delivers on the Colorado Recovery Plan’s commitment to protect communities and create jobs, by investing $25 million in targeted wildfire risk mitigation, recovery, and workforce development.
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This bill increases biomass utilization throughout the state. The bill requires the Colorado State Forest Service to conduct a study of biomass utilization and identify the potential costs and benefits of increasing biomass utilization throughout the state, as well as any administrative or statutory changes needed to increase biomass utilization.
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Concerning the extension of the sales and use tax exemption for beetle kill wood products. The sales and use tax exemption for sale of beetle kill wood products sunset in 2020. This bill would restart the program and continue it through 2026.
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Concerning the creation of an optional discounted parks and public lands access pass that is purchased at the time a motor vehicle is registered, and, to use the pass fees to finance a number of goals of the division of parks and wildlife related to increased conservation of, safety at, and access to state parks and public lands.
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Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla (both D-Calif.), Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Congressman Jimmy Panetta introduced this bill, which would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to select and implement landscape-scale forest restoration projects and assist communities in increasing their resilience to wildfire. It would create a pilot program under which the Agriculture Department would pick areas in national forests as large as 100,000 acres for restoration, emphasizing controlled burns but also including forest thinning. The bill would also encourage retrofits for fire-resistant communities, such as more fire-resistant building materials.
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In 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership Initiative to support forest and grassland restoration projects across public and private land. Over the last seven years, the initiative has supported 93 projects in 40 states and Puerto Rico to treat 300,000 acres of hazardous fuels, restore 29,000 acres in priority watersheds, and enhance 200,000 acres of wildlife habitat. Despite its success, Joint Chiefs has no formal authorization and demand for the program exceeds funding, with less than a quarter of proposed projects funded each year. The Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership Act of 2021 would formally establish the Joint Chiefs at USDA and double funding for the program. It would also outline clear priorities and improve community outreach, transparency, and accountability.
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This bill provides for the conservation of specified lands in Colorado. Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and U.S. Congressman Joe Neguse's Colorado Outdoor Recreation & Economy (CORE) Act protects over 400,000 acres of public land in Colorado, establishing new wilderness areas and safeguarding existing outdoor recreation opportunities to boost the economy for future generations.
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The Forestry Education and Workforce Development Act creates a $20 million discretionary grant program to be divided equally between land-grant colleges, universities, and technical/vocational schools to provide degrees or certificates in forestry and forestry-related fields. It also allows reforestation to be included in federal Job Corps programs.
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The bill would steer $1.3 billion annually to state fish and wildlife agencies to implement their wildlife action plans and an additional $97.5 million for tribal fish and wildlife managers to conserve fish and wildlife on tribal lands and waters.
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SUBMISSIONS, QUESTIONS & FEEDBACK |
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If you would like your work highlighted in this monthly email update, submit to RMRI communication manager, Nathan Van Schaik, at [email protected]. Or, to discuss any communications issues or concerns, contact Nathan via email or at (720) 584-6571.
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Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative
#RestoreTheRockies
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