The Rock Creek mechanical fuels reduction project boosts forest conditions on 767 acres in southwest Colorado.
Overgrown, dense vegetation in forests can create a lot of problems, and Rio Grande County landowners have experienced firsthand the issues that pop up. In the Rock Creek area, residents in the wildland-urban interface have a higher risk of catastrophic wildfire where there’s dense vegetation and ladder fuels that can propel a fire from the ground into the canopy. Hunting and wildlife viewing opportunities decrease as dense tree canopies choke out the sun necessary for enough forage to grow, causing elk and mule deer to seek out other sites. Aspen seedlings regenerate less when conifers fill in among them. The overgrown forest conditions change the residents’ relationships with their local forests, and not in a good way.
Addressing all the needs – to reduce wildfire risk, improve wildlife habitat and encourage seedling growth – requires a multi-pronged approach for creating a healthier forest, and it involves many partners and contractors. This is where CSFS foresters excel at managing forest projects. Staff in the CSFS Alamosa Field Office have relationships with both public and private landowners and understand local needs and concerns. That expertise has helped four partners and landowners come together to make the Rock Creek Mastication and Handwork Service Project a success story of forest management.

Good Neighbor Authority works across boundaries
The Rock Creek project is part of a Good Neighbor Authority agreement with the Bureau of Land Management. This type of agreement allows the CSFS to manage and administer projects across large landscapes with multiple landowners, from private residents to federal and state agencies. Instead of important forest health projects stopping at property boundaries, GNA projects managed by the CSFS can span multiple property types and ultimately provide a more effective result.
For the Rock Creek project, the planned work ties into an existing USFS fuel break and helps reduce wildfire risk across nine different private properties and on neighboring BLM land. In addition to the GNA agreement, the BLM and the CSFS created a Community Assistance Agreement, providing funding for the work on private lands at no cost to the landowners. For this project, contractors will complete mastication work on 587 acres of BLM land and 180 acres of private lands.
The Rock Creek project addressed four primary vegetation types: Ponderosa pine, mixed conifer, piñon-juniper woodlands and piñon-juniper meadows. All require removal of overly dense vegetation and ladder fuels. Contractors work on-site with large masticators, grinding down the trees identified for removal and leaving the mulch on the ground to enrich soil on the forest floor.

Video producer: Amy Bulger, CSFS; Drone pilot: Dylan Eimer, CSFS; Equipment: VM West
Shared funding
Projects of this size and scope are only possible with partnerships. In addition to private landowners and the BLM, the CSFS worked with the Mule Deer Foundation and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to provide funding to help complete work. Funding for this project totaled about $525,000, with the majority coming from the BLM to reduce hazardous fuels in the wildland-urban interface. CPW contributed funds from its Habitat Partnership Program and the Mule Deer Foundation also gave funds, both seeing how the project helps improve big–game habitat.
By the numbers
- 767 total acres
- 587 BLM acres
- 180 private acres
- 16 acres of handwork
- 9 landowners
- $24,000 – Mule Deer Foundation
- $87,000 – Colorado Parks & Wildlife
- $414,000 – Bureau of Land Management






Key terms
Good Neighbor Authority – Federal program that allows the BLM and the USFS to authorize states to complete certain projects on federal lands.
Mastication – Forest management technique that uses a machine to grind, shred or chunk trees and other vegetation.