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2023 CSFS Report on the Health of Colorado's Forests

Each year, forest health reports provide information to the Colorado General Assembly and the general public about the health and condition of forests across Colorado, as well as the progress the Colorado State Forest Service is making in addressing critical forest health issues in our state.

Statewide Forest Health Issues

Forest Health Issues by Region of Colorado

Across Colorado, the Colorado State Forest Service is working with residents, communities and partners to improve forest health on a local level. Explore what’s happening by region of the state.

CSFS Northwest Area CSFS Southwest Area CSFS Southeast Area CSFS Northeast Area

Ensuring Healthy Forests & Vibrant Communities in Colorado

Foresters walk downhill toward trucks parked in a mountain meadow.State funding through the Healthy Forests & Vibrant Communities Act supports the Colorado State Forest Service’s efforts to help landowners, communities and partners address their wildfire risk and assess forest and watershed health. The CSFS provides technical assistance to prepare residents for wildfire, market wood products, and deliver geospatial data and information on forest management to the public.

View the 2023 Healthy Forests & Vibrant Communities Report to learn how the CSFS used funding provided by this Act to ensure the long-term health and vitality of Colorado’s forests.

On the Right Path to Make Colorado Wildfire and Recovery Ready

Matt McCombs

The clock is ticking. In the era of megafires, Colorado’s foresters must move quickly to prepare residents and communities for wildfire and be ready to recover and replant after fires. Last year was cooler and wetter than recent years in Colorado, with fewer large fires, but we cannot let our guard down. All that precipitation left more wildfire fuels in forests and around our communities, and we know future wildfires are not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’.

In this report, we highlight how outbreaks of forest pests are expanding their footprint and leaving more dead trees and wildfire fuels in their wake. One milder year is not enough to reverse trends from the compounding effects of decades of insect outbreaks and a warmer, drier climate in Colorado. We know more people are moving into wildfire prone areas and they will need outreach, education and resources to live wildfire ready.

We also know that Colorado is on the right path. At the Colorado State Forest Service, we have leveraged sizeable investments from the General Assembly, supported by Governor Polis, to broaden our reach and deepen our impact for Coloradans across the state.

At the CSFS, we are showing up where the work needs to be done to help residents, communities and partners improve forest health, protect watersheds and ensure Colorado is wildfire and recovery ready.

Matthew M. McCombs, State Forester and Colorado State Forest Service Director

State Advances Strategies to Protect the ‘Soul of Colorado’

Dan Gibb, Colorado Dept. of Natural Resources executive directorSince Colorado’s devastating 2020 wildfire season, the Colorado State Forest Service, Department of Natural Resources and other state agencies have advanced their strategies for protecting our forests and communities.

Support from the Colorado Legislature helped create the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program and Wildfire Ready Watersheds, fund the Colorado State Forest Service’s Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation grant program with an annual allocation of $8 million, and helped the state acquire two Firehawk helicopters to assist wildfire suppression efforts. This support is enabling landscape-level, cross-boundary forest management and restoration efforts statewide.

Colorado’s forested watersheds are our future water supply. The health of watersheds affects agriculture, downstream communities, recreation, tourism and ecosystem function. Colorado follows a shared stewardship ethic to plan and implement multi-benefit projects to enhance the health of our watersheds. A striking 80 percent of Colorado residents rely upon forested watersheds for municipal water supplies.

Director McCombs and I work on forest health issues through shared stewardship from the lens of doing the right work in the right places at the right scale. Forests are the soul of Colorado, and I am proud of the work that the Colorado State Forest Service and other state, federal and local partners are doing to ensure their health.

– Dan Gibbs, Colorado Department of Natural Resources Executive Director

Photography: Masthead: Field Peterson, CSFS; Insects and Diseases: Dan West, CSFS; Monitoring Forest Management: Adam Smith, CSFS; Good Neighbor Authority: Adam Moore, CSFS; Healthy Forests & Vibrant Communities: Field Peterson, CSFS

Type your address or the city or town where you live into the search field on this map.

Map powered by the Colorado Forest Atlas from the Colorado State Forest Service