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 December News
What a year!!I cannot believe that it is December already! This year went by so fast, and while we are still not back to normal, 2021 was a good year for Saws & Slaws. We had a handful of our normal-style events. While we haven’t been able to enjoy our traditional potluck meals, we’ve still been able to get a lot of work done toward making our community safer and more resilient through a wildfire event. By the numbers, here is an image that details some of our key data points from this season. I want to emphasize, particularly in this time of gratitude, that we would not be able…
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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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Wildfire Forecast and Preparation in the Peak to Peak Region Webinar
Watch 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, Timberline Fire Protection District, Saws and Slaws, and the Boulder Watershed Collective. https://sawsandslaws.org/event/drought-and-wildfire-prep-in-the-peak-to-peak-region/ https://www.boulderwatershedcollective.com/
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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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Cameron Peak & East Troublesome Fires: Long-term post-fire land management Laura Marshall, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, CSU
Interactive webinar series with a varied host of speakers that will outline various aspects of the 2020 wildfire season. About this Event NOTICE: Webinar link will be at the bottom of your confirmation e-mail. Link is the same for all webinars. Once registered you may use the same link to attend other webinars. If you have trouble registering, please e-mail Gloria.Edwards@Colostate.Edu . Record-breaking wildfires were just one of the remarkable things about 2020. What factors contributed to these catastrophic fires? In this interactive webinar series, we will be discussing several aspects of the 2020 wildfire season. This series will draw from a variety of experience from fire managers, fire policy…
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Colorado Wildfires Webinar Series: Cameron Peak & East Troublesome Fires: Short-term post-fire land management Jennifer Kovecses, Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed
Cameron Peak & East Troublesome Fires: Short-term post-fire land management Jennifer Kovecses, Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed Interactive webinar series with a varied host of speakers that will outline various aspects of the 2020 wildfire season. About this Event NOTICE: Webinar link will be at the bottom of your confirmation e-mail. Link is the same for all webinars. Once registered you may use the same link to attend other webinars. If you have trouble registering, please e-mail Gloria.Edwards@Colostate.Edu . Record-breaking wildfires were just one of the remarkable things about 2020. What factors contributed to these catastrophic fires? In this interactive webinar series, we will be discussing several aspects of…
