Forests FM
The Official Podcast of the Colorado State Forest Service
Welcome to Forests FM, a podcast bringing Colorado’s forests home. From the expansive landscapes of western Colorado, to the urban Front Range and the eastern plains, we share the voices, stories and sounds from forests around Colorado. Each episode shares a glimpse into what it means to preserve and support the health of forests for present and future generations.
Episodes
Episode 7: Wildfire at Home
When the 9,668-acre Alexander Mountain fire ignited near Loveland, Colorado, on July 29, Deputy State Forester Christina Burri’s home stood directly in its path. With little warning, she evacuated and hoped for the best. Thanks to Christina’s strategic wildfire preparations, including a stone patio and rock wall that acted as defensible space, firefighters were able to save her property from the flames.
In this episode, join Christina as she shares her powerful story of how preparation made a world of difference, and learn valuable tips that could help protect your home.
Learn More
- Resident’s wildfire preparation helped home survive Alexander Mountain Fire – Read Christina’s story.
- Local Emergency Managers – Sign up for alerts.
- Live Wildfire Ready – Learn how to protect your home and property.
Key Terms
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) – Plans that bring together diverse local interests to discuss their mutual concerns for public safety, community sustainability and natural resources. CWPPs help inform local firefighting capability, defensible space around homes and subdivisions and how to prioritize land management on both federal and non-federal land.
Defensible space – The area around a home or other structure that has been modified to reduce fire hazards. In this area, natural and manmade fuels are treated, cleared or reduced to slow the spread of wildfire.
Home Ignition Zone — The two primary determinants of a home’s ability to survive a wildfire are the structure’s ignitability and the quality of the surrounding defensible space. Together, these two factors create the home ignition zone, which includes the structure and the area around it
Wildfire Mitigation – On-the-ground treatments of properties implemented to reduce the chance of a wildfire causing damage.
Wildland-Urban Interface – Areas where human development is close to, or within, natural terrain and flammable vegetation.
Episode 6: Grassland Fire
Grassland fires are occurring more frequently in the West, and with a year-round fire season, it’s more relevant than ever to keep a close eye on our grassland fuels. In this episode, Janae Coston-Malpas, Wildfire Resilience Coordinator for the CSFS, shares new expertise on grassland fuels management. You’ll hear how Colorado’s climate, winds and mountains all shape grassland conditions in the wildland-urban interface. We share guidance for land managers to approach grassland fuels management and information for homeowners to build familiarity with grasslands, home hardening and local community wildfire protection plans.
Key Terms
- Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) – Plans that bring together diverse local interests to discuss their mutual concerns for public safety, community sustainability and natural resources. CWPPs help inform local firefighting capability, defensible space around homes and subdivisions and how to prioritize land management on both federal and non-federal land.
- Defensible space – The area around a home or other structure that has been modified to reduce fire hazards. In this area, natural and manmade fuels are treated, cleared or reduced to slow the spread of wildfire.
- Fuel break – An area where the quantity of fuels is reduced or eliminated and acts as a barrier to fire growth.
- Fuels management – Involves altering the structure and amount of fuels to reduce fire behavior and create access points for fire management resources.
- Grassland – Ecosystems marked by dominance or co-dominance of grasslike vegetation, including grass, sedges and rushes
- Grassland fuel connectivity – Describes how grasslands wildfires can link to other fuel sources like forests or urban areas
- Heterogeneous landscape treatments – Efforts that disrupt the continuity of fuels and increase the patchiness of fuels can reduce the rate of fire spread and fire intensity (e.g., combinations of mechanical, herbicide, grazing and prescribed fire).
- Live Wildfire Ready – Learn how to protect your home and property.
- Vegetative Fuels – Plant material that is readily ignitable (e.g., grasses).
- Wildfire Mitigation – On-the-ground treatments of properties implemented to reduce the chance of a wildfire causing damage.
- Wildland-Urban Interface – Areas where human development is close to, or within, natural terrain and flammable vegetation.
Episode 5: Carbon
Carbon sequestration. Carbon stock. Flux. Source. Sink. We hear these words a lot, but what do they actually mean, and how do forests and trees in Colorado affect climate change?
This episode features Ashley Woolman, Forest Carbon Specialist at CSFS and Tony Vorster, research scientist at CSU’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory. They break down these terms to help us all understand the important role Colorado’s forests play in carbon storage.
Learn More
Key Terms
- Aboveground pools – Carbon in standing live trees, dead trees or downed material on forest floor
- Belowground pools – Carbon stored in soils
- Live pools – Carbon stored in living plants, still adding carbon
- Dead pools – Carbon stored in dead plants, holding carbon
- Carbon cycle – Process of carbon entering a forest through photosynthesis, then stored in above or belowground pools, eventually released back to the atmosphere over time due to decomposition
- Stock – Snapshot in time of carbon currently in the forest, like a bank account balance
- Flux – Change in carbon over time, like bank account withdrawls
- Carbon sink – Forests that have more carbon entering the system than leaving through decomposition or disturbance
- Carbon source – Forests that have more carbon leaving the system than being stored over time
Carbon Accounting Framework Collaborators
Warner College of Natural Resources, Colorado State University
Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Colorado State University (Chris Choi, Nick Young)
US Forest Service Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain Research Stations (Olaf Kuegler, Glenn Christensen)
FIA Program (Kristen Pelz, Erin Berryman, Kyle Dodson, Karin Kralicek)
CalFire (Nadia Tase)
Jeremy Groom, Groom Analytics, LLC
Episode 4: Finland
“Everything that’s made from fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow,” says Amanda West Fordham, Associate Director of Science and Data at the CSFS. She’s describing a key goal of Stora Enso, one of many industry leaders she connected with on a 2023 delegation to Finland.
Caught somewhere between microwave boxes, robots roaming the forests and artificial intelligence, this episode features Amanda’s experiences representing Colorado overseas in a new climate partnership.
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – Agreement centered around a shared partnership or priority
US Climate Alliance – Bipartisan collation of governors, state agencies and non-profits committed to upholding the goals of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Senate Bill 23-016 – Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Measures
House Bill 19-1261 – Climate Action Plan to Reduce Pollution
Colorado Natural and Working Lands Climate Taskforce – Colorado’s first coordinated effort to address greenhouse gas emissions from natural and working lands
Colorado Forest Action Plan – Road map to improving forest health across Colorado, developed in 2020
Bioeconomy – Industry centered around natural products, resources and services
Circular Economy – Eliminate waste in production through maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, recycling, composing. Materials remain in circulation as long as possible to reduce waste
Mass Timber – Engineered structural wood products including lumber, veneers, strands, fibers joined with adhesives or fasteners. Allows for smaller diameter trees or a variety of species
Cross-laminated Timber – Combines sawn timber into structural panels that can replace steel or concrete. Can have lower carbon footprint
Biogenic Carbon Storage – Carbon that is stored in biological materials, like plants
Stora Enso – Leading provider of renewable products in packaging, biomaterials and wooden construction
Woody biomass utilization – Raw material from trees that can be used for wood products or energy
Lignode® – A product developed by Stora Enoso, described as “a material that replaces synthetic graphite with lignin, a by-product in the production of cellulose fibre and one of the largest renewable sources of carbon anywhere. Lignin-based carbon can be used in batteries”
Carbon Storage – Trees sequester carbon (absorb from atmosphere), which reduces the amount of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere in the long term
Ponsse – One of the world’s largest manufacturers of cut-to-length forest machines
Miller Timber Services – Provides comprehensive forest management solutions
Forest Inventory and Analysis Program
Finnish Forestry Centre – Finnish state-funded organization that oversees forest management and landowner engagement
Colorado Forest Products and Wood Utilization
Finnish Research Collaborators
Episode 3: Winter Tree Care
The trees in our backyards and communities might go unnoticed during the cold and quiet winter months, but it’s a great time to think about how to care for them. In this episode, CSFS Urban and Community Forestry Program Manager Carrie Tomlinson explains the importance of urban trees, shares tips for watering, pruning and consulting with an arborist, and offers advice on providing care for your trees into the future.
Tree Care
- CSFS: Urban & Community Forestry
- Article: Late Winter Best Time to Prune Trees
- Dealing with Storm-Damaged Trees
- ISA: Find an Arborist
- The 3 Cut Method
City Forestry Departments
Episode 2: Forestry Internships
Hands-on experience is a critical part of developing a career in natural resources. The CSFS partners with the Warner College of Natural Resources Dean’s Office at Colorado State University to provide paid summer internship opportunities to WCNR undergraduate students each year. In this episode, learn about these positions that allow students to get in the field alongside experienced forestry staff across Colorado.
Episode 1: Restoring Poncha Pass
When insect outbreaks devastated a forest outside of Salida, Colo., CSFS foresters and local partners mounted a collective effort to improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk for residents of Poncha Pass.
Featuring Poncha Pass
Insects and Disease
Wildfire Mitigation
- CSFS: Wildfire Mitigation
- CSFS: Community Wildfire Protection Plans
- CSFS: Protect Your Home and Property from Wildfire
Partners & Programs