The fourth round of mechanical thinning was initiated on the Santa Fe Trail Ranch (SFTR) September 17, 2007. SFTR property owners have signed-up for an additional 277 hours of mechanical thinning. With the two previous “Bullhog” thinning projects in the fall of 2006 and summer of 2007 and the December 2005/January 2006 hydroaxe project, by completion of the current mechanical thinning project, a total of 834 running hours on SFTR private property and a total of 81 SFTR properties (17.8%) will have participated in the mechanical fuel reduction projects.
SFTR property owners who are interested in future mechanical thinning projects need to DIRECTLY contact Bob and Julene Gyde at julene1dear@wmconnect.com. The Gyde’s will need lot number, requested hours of mechanical thinning, name, address, phone and e-mail contact information.
To date a total of 420 acres on Vermejo Park Ranch (VPR) adjacent to the Southwest and South Santa Fe Trail Ranch boundaries have been mechanically thinned to meet fuelbreak thinning specifications. Fuelbreak mitigation on VPR land continued in the fall of 2006 and spring of 2007 utilizing awarded Wildland-Urban Interface federal grant monies totally $133,682 with VPR once again surpassing the required 50% grant match. Federal and State of Colorado Grant monies recently awarded for continuation of the fuelbreak mitigation in 2007 are $175,000. Vermejo Park Ranch has agreed to construct additional required roads on their land at their expense and to match the grant funds awarded for the 2007 fuelbreak project. It is anticipated the fuelbreak work will be initiated in November 2007 and when the upcoming fuelbreak project is completed the entire boundary between the Santa Fe Trail Ranch and Vermejo Park Ranch will have a mitigated shaded fuelbreak meeting established forestry specifications.
The Santa Fe Trail Ranch Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) was updated during the summer of 2007 to include road name changes, action plan updates, and GPS placement of fire hydrants on the fire control maps. An addendum and updated maps have been added to the initial SFTR Community Wildfire Protection Plan living document.
Remaining SFTR Community Wildfire Protection Plan Action Items Are:
The required yearly activities to renew the SFTR Firewise Communities/USA annual active status were completed and the renewal document was submitted to Firewise Communities/USA for the SFTR community this past summer.
Tours of SFTR private property defensible space mitigation and the VPR/SFTR fuelbreak have been on-going this year. A number of professionals including Colorado State Forest Service, New Mexico Forest Service, New Mexico Firewise Communities, USA as well as collaborating Colorado and New Mexico firewise groups have toured private defensible thinning projects on SFTR and the SFTR/VPR fuelbreak.
The FHWMC website www.sftrforest.org continues to operate with numerous monthly hits, many from outside the SFTR community.
A column for the “Chronicle” local newspaper was initiated this year called “From the Corner of the Forest”. Several articles have appeared in this newspaper during this past year.
Members from the FHWMC incorporated into a new firewise group and received a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable corporation status from the Internal Revenue Service this past summer. The newly formed corporation will work closely with Colorado State Forest Service and anticipates continuation of firewise activities on the Santa Fe Trail Ranch as well as expanding outreach efforts for other groups in Las Animas and Huerfano counties.
It has been an exciting past three years chairing this committee. I thank all within the SFTR community who have worked so diligently to promote “firewiser” and proactively prepare landscapes including defensible space to provide improved wildland and structure fire control within our community. Many thanks also to all within the SFTR community who have been so supportive of these volunteer efforts to benefit the SFTR community.
Respectfully Submitted,
Diana Novacek
2004-2007 FHWMC Chairperson