When a wildfire sparked in June 2025, over 100 people were evacuated from homes, campsites and buildings near AEI Base Camp in Taylor Park, a popular recreation destination in southwestern Colorado’s Gunnison County. The fire burned hot through dense trees, but firefighters contained it to 5 acres — and that didn’t happen by luck.
The Illinois Creek Fire put a previous fuels mitigation project to the test. The results? The mitigation work did exactly what it was supposed to.
The Colorado State Forest Service initially recommended a plan for thinning and removing fuels around homes and structures in the area on about 48 acres. That work was finished in 2019 with a Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation grant. Six years later, it created a place for firefighters to stage an attack. Despite flames towering well above the 50- to 75-foot-tall trees, the blaze was halted at the edge of the previously mitigated area. Nearby residences and structures at AEI Base Camp were protected, and responders credit the defensible space for allowing them to stage operations and contain the blaze quickly.
The Illinois Creek Fire started near County Road 742, a critical access route for five communities at high wildfire risk identified in Gunnison County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan. On the heels of the first project, another one treated 212 acres of private and U.S. Forest Service lands in 2024, part of the Taylor Park-Tincup Fuels Mitigation project. This began Phase 1 of addressing hazardous fuels in the wildland-urban interface. Work included thinning dense lodgepole pine stands, creating defensible space around structures and reducing ladder fuels like shrubs, small trees and low branches that help fire climb from the ground into taller tree canopies.
This success story shows what’s possible when we invest in our forests before wildfires start. Proactive forest management works. And the CSFS and partners play a vital role in protecting communities, ecosystems and water resources from the threat of wildfire.
Ongoing work protects more land
Building on the success of the previous FRWRM-funded project and Phase 1 of the Taylor River Watershed Forest Health and WUI project (the Taylor Park-Tincup project), Phase 2 of the WUI project begins this year. It will reinforce work completed in 2018-2019 and expand fuel mitigation treatments to surrounding communities where the Illinois Creek Fire occurred.
Part of the USFS Good Neighbor Authority program, the Illinois Creek Stewardship Project will treat about 80 acres on private land in 2026, with funding from the Colorado River Sustainability Campaign. Following that, the goal is to treat about 300 additional acres by 2028, 100 of those on private land and 200 on USFS land.
The Taylor River area houses about 400 residential structures. The next treatments will focus on reducing surface fuels, thinning and managing large trees to break up the continuous canopy, which can carry fire quickly. This will help reduce wildfire severity, support diverse tree species and ages and improve forest resilience to better withstand climate change.
Safeguarding a watershed
By mitigating hazardous fuels on the land, the Illinois Creek GNA project reduces risks to critical water infrastructure as well. The Taylor River watershed feeds into the Colorado River Basin, which is vulnerable to wildfire, erosion and debris flow. By minimizing erosion risks, the forestry project protects water quality in critical streams that flow to the Colorado River.
The Taylor River Dam, which holds water for agricultural use and water users downstream, also is protected by these forest treatments. A catastrophic wildfire has the possibility to send sediment into the water to back up against the dam, jeopardizing the structure and the water quality downstream in the Colorado River Basin.
Funding Phase 2
Phase 2 of the Illinois Creek Stewardship Project is being funded with $175,000 from the Colorado River Sustainability Campaign and $322,000 from a Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation grant. Additional funding from the U.S. Forest Service Good Neighbor Authority and other sources will top funding at more than $800,000 for around 400 acres treated. The project aligns with Colorado’s Forest Action Plan goals to restore fire-adapted lands, protect watersheds and reduce wildfire risks, addressing recommendations from the local CWPP.
Collaborative partnerships create results
This project is a testament to the power of collaboration. The CSFS is working with the U.S. Forest Service, the Colorado River Sustainability Campaign, the National Forest Foundation, Gunnison County partners and local organizations like the Gunnison Volunteer Fire Department to complete work. It is an expansion of the management plan funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and written by the CSFS in 2013. This cross-boundary approach to treatments leverages the USFS Good Neighbor Authority program, which allows federal and state agencies to work together on forest management projects.
While the CSFS leads the treatment mapping and oversees fieldwork, the NFF manages contracts and logistics. This partnership ensures efficient use of resources and builds community trust that paves the way for future projects.
A landscape-scale vision
The Illinois Creek Stewardship Project is part of the Taylor Park Vegetation Management Environmental Assessment, which has a goal to treat up to 20,000 acres in the Upper Gunnison Basin. By lowering wildfire risk for people, property and water resources, this initiative is a great example of the importance of proactive forest management.
As Colorado faces hotter, drier conditions, projects like those at Illinois Creek are crucial for protecting our forests and communities, as is the continued support of the collaborative efforts that help protect Colorado’s landscapes for generations to come.
Video credits: Amy Bulger, producer; Dylan Eimer, drone pilot