The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) Wildfire Mitigation Section and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service have partnered to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire, improve the health and resiliency of forested lands, and increase firefighter safety during wildfire suppression efforts in and near the city of Colorado Springs wildland urban interface (WUI). This is the first of its kind partnership for the state of Colorado.
This unique agreement allows agencies to leverage funds, communications, and resources from the Forest Service and CSFD. Under the agreement, CSFD can contract wildfire mitigation and/or suppression work on lands managed by the Forest Service. This flexibility between contracting and leveraging CSFD resources allows for greater opportunities for wildfire risk reduction.
Completing wildfire mitigation across the entirety of the WUI isn’t feasible due to factors like access and cost. The City of Colorado Springs WUI spans 32,655 acres, making it one of the largest WUI zones in the entire state of Colorado. Nearly 24% of the Colorado Springs population lives in the WUI and is at an increased risk of experiencing the detrimental impacts of high-severity wildfire. Over 22miles of this area is bordered by lands managed by the Forest Service.
As part of this project, residents living in and near the Colorado Springs WUI can expect to see removal, chipping, or mastication of small to intermediate-sized vegetation, mostly along roadway corridors. The work will be completed using a multitude of small and large machines, including masticators, harvesters, forwarders, skidders, brush hogs, mowers, and chippers, as well as chainsaws, brush saws, and non-motorized hand tools.
The type and amount of forest vegetation that will be cut, removed, chipped, or masticated will vary based on each project’s objectives and specific vegetation types growing in the project area.
Work is expected to begin in August 2025 along the Old Stage Road (National Forest System Road [NSFD] 368) and Gold Camp Road (NFSR 370). The project completion date is projected forNovember 2026. Please see attached map for more details.