Where lands allow for active management to occur, we can enhance forest resilience to fire, insects and diseases. Forest management also will continue to provide much-needed wood products and help diversify local economies.
Healthy forests allow for a diverse array of benefits. They provide habitat for many wildlife species, improve water quality, filter pollutants from water and air, enhance outdoor recreational activities, provide wood products and supply jobs that support local economies.
Forest management can fulfill an important role in how we help shape Colorado’s future forests. Where lands allow for active management to occur, we can enhance forest resilience to fire, insects and diseases.
Forest management also will continue to provide much-needed wood products and help diversify local economies. When we maintain a broad array of forest products markets, the economic value they provide assists us in meeting our desired future forest conditions in a cost-effective manner.
This approach will provide diverse forests for tomorrow, and ensure that we continue to receive the wide range of benefits our forests provide.
Every year, the Colorado State Forest Service reaches thousands of Coloradans with timely, relevant forestry materials, education and information. This educational assistance is only one tool we use to provide for the stewardship of Colorado’s forest resources and reduce related risks to life, property and the environment.
To truly meet the intent of our mission, the CSFS uses the best available science and a variety of tools to help determine where comprehensive forest management is most needed and beneficial, including the annual forest health aerial survey and forest health report, field observations, and collaboration with other land management agencies. Colorado’s Forest Action Plan will help guide the CSFS and other forestry stakeholder as we work together to develop a landscape-level approach to leveraging limited resources where they will achieve the greatest benefit.
The Colorado State Forest Service is committed to helping homeowners and landowners promote healthy and sustainable forest conditions. We offer many resources for our forest landowners in Colorado.
The Colorado State Forest Service is available to help communities with their tree planting and tree care needs. Caring for our trees not only protects our investment, but provides benefits for the future.
The Colorado Wood Utilization and Marketing program provides a wealth of resources and expertise to our wood products businesses and users across the state.
Colorado’s forest types evolved throughout our six ecoregions with varying sunlight, nutrient, water and elevational adaptations.
Requirements for Colorado’s major tree species are varied, as are the management approaches that are appropriate for these forest types.
For instance, management practices that encourage healthy forest conditions in ponderosa pine in the montane zone will not be appropriate for lodgepole pine, spruce-fir, piñon-juniper or aspen forests. The needs of these forest types are vastly different, and therefore, effective management strategies to encourage healthy forests in these various types also will vary.
Contact your local CSFS field office for assistance in this area.
Lodgepole pine, (Pinus contorta) is a familiar species in the montane and subalpine forests of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. It grows at elevations between 6,000 and 11,000 feet. As a consequence of the current mountain pine beetle epidemic, many landowners and land managers are concerned about how to actively manage lodgepole pine stands to:
Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii) is a shrub mostly found along the Front Range to southern Colorado.
It grows at elevations between 6,000 and 9,000 feet.
Management of gambel oak is important because after recurring fires the shrubs can grow into thick clumps.
This may decrease the benefits for wildlife or livestock and increase wildfire risk.
Piñon-juniper woodlands are widespread in Colorado’s lower elevations, ranging from 4,900 to 8,000 feet on Colorado’s Western Slope and in limited distribution in south-central Colorado and the Eastern Plains. In southeastern Colorado, piñon-juniper ecosystems are found in the canyonlands and adjacent shortgrass prairie ecosystems below the Gambel oak zone.
Adapted to thrive on Colorado’s Eastern Plains, in mountain valleys and along riparian areas throughout the state, cottonwoods represent the largest native broadleaf trees in the state.
Cottonwoods are the most pervasive deciduous trees found at lower elevations.
The annual forest health report assesses how insects are building populations in forests across the state and changing fuel dynamics for wildfire as they leave dead and dying trees in their wake.
On Feb. 14, 1955, the Colorado General Assembly established the modern Colorado State Forest Service. From 7 employees in 3 districts to 170 staff members today, CSFS plays a vital role in preserving and improving Colorado’s diverse forest environments.
Staff at the Colorado State Forest pooled funding to carry out a crucial forest health project on about 600 acres of State Trust Lands in southeast Jackson County.
The CSFS completed a 299-acre project treating unhealthy and overstocked stands to protect critical infrastructure that provides clean drinking water to 1.8 million people.
When foresters complete forest management and fuels reduction treatments, they sometimes pile up the leftover, non-merchantable material. Trained Colorado State Forest Service personnel then burn these piles as an economical and effective method of disposing of excess wildland fire fuels.
World Wildlife Day is an annual celebration on March 3 about the connection between people and our planet’s biodiversity. Maintaining healthy forests is critical to keeping both wildlife and wildlife watchers happy.
