Big open space park in Colorado reopens after major wildfire mitigation project
Much of Elk Meadow, the 1,600 acre open space park that dominates a section along Highway 74 in Evergreen, was reopened on Thursday. This comes after most of it was shut down during a project to manage catastrophic wildfire risk and improve ecological resilience.
Work has taken longer than expected due to equipment breakdowns and some re-figuring of the plan for mitigation. About 210 acres of the park in areas frequented by visitors have been mitigated.
Jefferson County Open Space owns the parkland and did the work under two grants.
"We're giving the firefighters an opportunity to address a fire here and protect homes over there," said Steve Murdock, natural resources team lead.
Crews removed hundreds of smaller trees, taking away fire's ability to ladder up into crown fires that are most destructive. Left behind are larger, older trees. Elk Meadow/Bergen Peak is home to mostly ponderosa pine forest in the areas mitigated. The goal is to make the area look like other areas already mitigated.
"It's more of a savannah rather than a closed canopy forest," Murdock explained. "You see a variety in diameter of trees -- big openings -- for a diverse variety of plant species, and that's great for wildlife habitat as well.
Jeffco Open Space altered the work in the wake of criticism about a recent mitigation project at Alderfer / Three Sisters park, where work left stumps, masticated trees and brush and downed trees.
"The first thing we heard loud and clear was the trail experience had changed," Murdock said. Crews did less thinning at Elk Meadow along trails. But beyond those bands on either side, the forests were thinned more significantly.
There was also criticism after hundreds of trees fell down at Alderfer/Three Sisters following the work there. When trees are thinned greater winds can be achieved.
"We always account for some amount of wind throw, which is when trees blow over from wind. A few trees per acre is acceptable for us. But there was a significant wind event that came through this Spring, and that resulted in several hundred trees blowing down at Alderfer /Three Sisters," Murdock explained. "In general, the surface wind speeds are going to be less than the wind speeds up in the crown," Murdock noted. But they left groupings of trees in areas that might be prone to higher winds.
"So we looked for topographic features on the landscape, where the wind will funnel faster, and then we should leave the trees in thicker groups there," Murdock said. "And so all those conversations were had before we came out to Elk Meadow and marked those trees for treatment."
Mitigation is not like landscaping property at home. There is a recovery period. It's likely three to five years depending on spring moisture levels, Murdock explained.
"We equate the forest management work to an open heart surgery," Murdock said. "We know it's essential; you need to replace that heart, but it's going to be messy at first. There's going to be bruising and scarring. But over time, it's going to heal."
Two areas of the park remain closed. While visitors can start up Sleepy S Trail to Bergen Peak Trail from the Lewis Ridge parking area, the Elk Ridge trail is not yet open. Open Space took advantage of the closure to shift the trail to areas with less erosion. It won't be open for several more weeks, dependent on weather. The final spur of the Meadow View Trail leading to the Stagecoach parking lot will remain closed until likely May because the parking lot is being redone and bathrooms at that trailhead moved. The Stagecoach entrance remains closed until that work is completed.
