Keeping it Local by Jody DicksonWe are SO blessed as a community to have multiple dedicated efforts around wildfire mitigation. Saws and Slaws is just one of the many groups operating in Coal Creek Canyon on the shared task of making our community safer and more resilient through a wildfire event. Going from east to west, at the mouth of the canyon, the Blue Mountain Forest Stewardship Initiative has done amazing work and has completed the tasks for the Blue Mountain section of our Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The Crescent Park Community Fire Protection Agency has just formed and started doing work last year to address the specific needs of…
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Saws & Slaws March News
Getting ready for a full season!! by Jody DicksonI cannot believe it is already March which means our season of events is only a couple months away! We are busy getting our events scheduled and finalized, so we can deliver on a season full of improving forest health, improving our resilience through a wildfire event, and building our amazing community. We can all make this place a better and safer place to be and enjoy ourselves while we do it! I also enjoy the sense of accomplishment at the end of every Saws & Slaws events. It is absolutely something to celebrate every time, even when things don’t always go…
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Saws & Slaws February News
The Marshall Fire shook me to my core. So much so, I hesitated to write this month’s article for S&S until I realized that many of us may feel exactly the same way! We have been bracing for a wildfire event in the mountains forever and to watch a suburban area go up in flames, fanned by 100mph winds, was surreal. My first thought: If a Target store, surrounded by a parking lot, can burst into flames, then who am I really kidding about the relative safety of my mountain home? We talk a lot about the effectiveness of a 30 foot buffer between the conifers on our property and…
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Saws & Slaws November News
Thank you, Nate!! As they say, all good things must come to an end. For a year, we’ve been blessed by having a part-time paid resource supporting and developing our activity in Nathaniel (Nate) Goeckner. This position was partially funded by a grant, but our time is up, so we are needing to say goodbye (for now) to Nathaniel. We are very grateful for his support, attention, and effort over the past year. Having a paid position helped us long-standing volunteers in keeping our work going. Fortunately, he is moving into a full time position at the Boulder Watershed Collective, so he won’t be far away. We might still see…
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Saws & Slaws October News
Saws and Slaws has been busy in August and September with legacy events. Much tree thinning and slash removal was accomplished at both events. At the August event, we worked in the Copperdale neighborhood on two neighboring properties. The properties had been marked by Boulder’s Wildfire Partners which makes it easy for us to target the trees we need to remove for effective mitigation. At the September event, we completed our last mitigation event for the summer 2021 season, and it went great! We were able to mitigate around 1.5 acres and remove roughly 80 cubic yards of slash at a property in the Lyttle Dowdle neighborhood. Thanks to all…
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September 18th Event
Hey folks, join us for our last event of the season! It will be on September 18th in the Lyttle Dowdle Neighborhood. Click on the signup link below! See ya there! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0b45a5aa2ba6fd0-september2
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Chainsaw Skills and Safety Class
Learn how to effectively and safely use a chainsaw for forest health and property maintenance. This quality, hands-on training will give you the skills you need to effectively and safely use a chainsaw for forest health and property maintenance. Training will be presented in three parts: – Chainsaw Maintenance – cutting safely requires a well-running saw. – Chainsaw Safety & Personal Protective Equipment – including things to watch out for while cutting. – Tree Felling & Cutting Skills – classroom review followed by field exercises. Presented by: Eric Philips, Wildfire Mitigation Specialist, Rocky Mountain Resource Protection and Eric Folwell, Wildfire Mitigation Specialist, Rocky Mountain Resource Protection NWCG ENGB. The two-day…
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Drought and Wildfire Prep in the Peak to Peak Region
Join the first webinar of our summer series! Learn more about drought and wildfire forecasts and wildfire preparations, local fuel models, and why home ignition zone and defensible space mitigation are essential to protect your home and neighborhood in the Peak-to-Peak Region. It is hosted by the Gilpin County CSU extension, Saws and Slaws, and the Boulder Watershed Collective. Below is the registration link to access!! Register in advance for this meeting: https://extension.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwvcuurpzsrGNBzt4Z5D_exWxIJGlkPepfM
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July Saws & Slaws Event – Spruce Canyon Drive
Many of our neighborhoods in Coal Creek Canyon are “One way in/one way out”. In the event of a wildfire, it is imperative that we create safer passage for the residents of these areas. We will hold a “Legacy Event” on Saturday, July 13th: working together to cut trees down and process them for 4 hours and then we will join together for a Potluck Lunch. Bringing your own chair is always a good idea 🙂 We will be working on 2 properties in particular, creating a 40 foot wide egress in order to ensure better odds of escape through that roadway. We have a lot of trees to process so…
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August Saws and Slaws Event – Divide View
Saturday, August 24th, 8am to Noon, with a Potluck to follow. Please join us as we conquer some much needed fire mitigation and safe egress maintenance in the DVD neighborhood. We will be cutting trees and staging slash piles for hauling to Ned Sort Yard, as well as distributing logs. We will meet at 478 Divide View. Please bring water, gloves, eye and ear protection (we have extras), a camp chair, potluck dish and a helmet if you have one. We will have our Safety Meeting promptly at 8 am. We will work until Noon and then join together for a potluck and a warm, fuzzy feeling of much accomplishment! Join…
