When foresters complete forest management and fuels reduction treatments, they sometimes pile up the leftover, non-merchantable material. This includes limbs, tops and cull (or unusable) sections of trees. Trained Colorado State Forest Service personnel then burn these piles as an economical and effective method of disposing of excess wildland fire fuels. Each winter CSFS staff in the Northwest Area eagerly await the right conditions to burn these slash piles.
In 2024, CSFS staff have been burning piles on several State Trust Lands (STL) where forest management treatments were recently completed, including Green Ridge STL in Routt County, Milk Creek STL in Grand County and the Colorado State Forest in Jackson County.
To properly execute a pile burn, CSFS staff engaged in this work must meet national and state standards and qualifications for planning and implementation. A thorough planning process is conducted including the following steps:
- Developing a prescribed fire plan and complexity analysis, identifying the logistics, contingencies, notifications and necessary conditions to ensure the burn is done safely and with minimal public impact.
- The Division of Fire Prevention & Control completes a technical review of the plan to make sure it will meet objectives.
- Once the plan is approved by the DFPC, the CSFS applies for a smoke permit through the Air Pollution Control Division, which defines the weather conditions required to minimize smoke impacts.
Since 2014 the CSFS has been conducting pile burns on state lands through an agreement with the Colorado Department of Natural Resource (DNR). The CSFS provides staffing for the Division of Forestry within DNR. While CSFS staff are Colorado State University employees, they also may act in the capacity of a DNR employee for certain activities. Acting as DNR employees, CSFS staff conduct pile burn planning and implementation on state lands in partnership with the DFPC and Colorado Parks & Wildlife.
In 2021 a new interagency agreement was established between DNR, the CSFS and DFPC to maximize the agency’s capacity and flexibility with respect to prescribed fire planning and implementation. As a result CSFS personnel have begun to assist with pile burning on federal lands.
Some recently completed Good Neighbor Authority projects administered by the CSFS have generated many slash piles. This cooperation expands the CSFS’ and its partners’ capacity to accomplish a greater pace and scale of fuels reduction work and enables the CSFS to be good neighbors.