The San Juan National Forest fire and fuels programs have had a busy and productive winter planning and implementing prescribed fire following the National Prescribed Fire Program Pause Review. Beginning in early November to date, Fire and Fuels staff have completed 2,320 acres of pile burning across the forest with additional piles and acres planned as favorable weather conditions allow through snow melt into early spring. For the 2023 spring and fall prescribed fire seasons, current plans are to treat over 12,000 acres with broadcast prescribed fire.
Prescribed fire is a key component to forest health, restoration, and resilience. Prescribed fires and less-than-full wildfire suppression strategies cost less than wildfire suppression and yield better restoration outcomes. The SJNF has completed landscape-scale NEPA clearance for 611,000 acres, authorizing the use of broadcast prescribed fire. In 2019, broadcast prescribed fire on the San Juan averaged $30 acre. Recent SJNF wildfires managed for other than full suppression averaged around $160/acre and essentially met desired prescribed fire objectives.
In contrast, in 2019 the average cost of a large wildfire to the USFS in Colorado was $1,115/acre.
There is no doubt that prescribed fire is less costly and more effective at restoring forest health and reducing wildfire risk to communities. However, it is far from a simple process. Prior to implementation, years of planning focus on operational safety, maximizing forest health by reducing hazardous fuels build up, and lowering the risk of catastrophic wildfire. The San Juan is home to a robust Fuels program that focuses much of its winter work planning for the upcoming burn season—and that workload is on the rise.
The Forest is poised to increase the pace and scale of ecological restoration work. The eight to ten year goal is to treat with a variety of methods an additional 250,000 acres of National Forest, State, and private lands to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. A significant portion of these acres- -approximately 150,000—could be treated with prescribed fire. Landscape-scale prescribed fire implementation has been and will continue to be a significant contributor in reducing the hazardous fuels and restoring a fire-dependent ecosystem.
Our partner agencies have been and will continue to be critical contributors to achieving our mechanical and prescribed fire objectives and overall desired conditions across boundaries. The Bureau of Land Management-Tres Rios Field Office Fuels staff has a strong Fuels program carrying out their own important mechanical and prescribed fire treatments on their land adjacent to SJNF lands. Many other agencies also assist and contribute to the successful implementation and outcomes of prescribed fire treatments across the SJNF including but not limited to:
- Colorado Department of Fire Prevention and Control (CO-DFPC)
- Prescribed Fire Training Exchange / The Nature Conservancy (TREX)
- Durango Zone Fire Protection Districts
- Durango Fire & Rescue
- Cortez Fire Protection District
- Upper Pine Fire Protection District Los Pinos Fire Protection District
- Pagosa Fire Protection District
Prescribed fire and fuels-related treatment priorities in Southwest Colorado have received steady funding support from the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative (RMRI) and the Southwest Colorado Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP). Now there is a new potential funding source focusing on mechanical fuel break work along POD (Potential Operational Delineation) boundaries. PODs are pre-determined boundaries that fire managers can use as fuel breaks and to assess an active fire and make a quick decision on the values at risk and best locations to contain the fire.
The SJNF was one of three forests in the Rocky Mountain Region to be selected as a good candidate to be potentially awarded this Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding with a Timber/Fuels integrated approach. This SJNF proposal is currently in final stages of review.
The National Forest Foundation is also investing more in on-the-ground projects to improve the health of our National Forests. This will accelerate and broaden our on-the- ground action to restore more acres efficiently across priority landscapes. To accomplish this, NFF is adding more programmatic and forest-level support, spearheaded locally by the new NFF Southwest Colorado Project Coordinator, Nick Olson.
“NFF is excited to add additional capacity to the prescribed fire efforts on the San Juan National Forest,” said Olson. “From planning to project implementation and monitoring, we are eager to build on and contribute to the great work already happening in the area.”
Stay up to date on the San Juan NF prescribed fire program by visiting our InciWeb page.
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