WCAF AT WORK
The Wildfire Community Action Fund (WCAF) is a special philanthropy-based AFPD fund that works to protect our district through collaborative action. This helps our wildfire team facilitate, plan, and execute fuels reduction projects.
By working together, we can reduce wildfire risk AND improve local habitat for wildlife. You can get involved in two ways:
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- You can work on your own wildfire mitigation and emergency preparedness. Not sure where to start? Schedule a Wildfire Risk Assessment and/ or email Ali.Hammond@aspenfire.com.
- You can contribute to the fund that makes this work possible. Donations are tax deductible and help us leverage federal grants by showing local support for this kind of work!
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Wildfire is a dynamic threat. Adequate preparation addresses wildfire mitigation, emergency preparedness, evacuations, emergency notification systems, and educating many different community segments, including both residents and short term visitors to Aspen.
Here's (some of) what we've been up to since our launch in October 2021:
At the Landscape Scale
The WCAF has allowed AFPD to lead cross-boundary, landscape scale projects. We are working with local partners each year on planning and executing prescribed fires and bark beetle mitigation to improve the health and resilience of local ecosystems.
Landscape Spotlight: Cross-boundary fuel break
Aspen Fire, the BLM, Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, and private partners are working together to demonstrate the wonderful possibilities that happen when we work together. Stay tuned for more information on the 33-acre fuels reduction and habitat restoration project happening at a critical wildfire pinch point on Red Mountain.
Landscape Spotlight: Prescribed Fires 2022 & 2023
With the help of many local partners, AFPD helped with the 750-acre Collins Creek Prescribed Burn on April 30, 2023, as well as the 900-acre Hunter Creek Prescribed Burn on May 13, 2022. This project helped reduce wildfire risk and improve habitat for many different species of wildlife. Learn more about the benefits of prescribed fire here.
Landscape Spotlight: Bark Beetle Treatments
Fires in beetle-killed areas are typically more severe, difficult to revegetate, and can experience high erosion. That's why, starting in 2022, AFPD and other local partners have been working together to improve the health of our local forests. Learn more here.
At the Homeowner Level
Homeowner Spotlight: Chipper Program
In 2022, AFPD's pilot chipper program successfully helped homeowners reduce hazardous fuels and create defensible space around homes. Participating homeowners received guidelines for pre-registration, removing flammable brush, and stacking it near the side of the road. A contractor, acquired via competitive bid, chipped brush piles and brought them to the Pitkin County Landfill for composting.
Participating HOA's: 3
Total Days Chipping: 6
Total landowners: 40
Total fuels removed: 238 cubic yards of wood chips
In 2023, in partnership with Pitkin County and City of Aspen, AFPD will offer an expanded chipper program for high-wildfire-risk neighborhoods.
2023 Goals:
Participating HOA's: 10+
Total Days Chipping: 20+
Total landowners: 120+
Total fuels removed: 700+ cubic yards of wood chips
If you live in a high-risk neighborhood and would like to participate in 2023, click here or contact Ali.Hammond@AspenFire.com.
Homeowner Resources
Did you know? Aspen Fire's Prevention team provides resources to help homeowners live wildfire ready.
- No-cost Wildfire Risk Assessments
- In 2022, the AFPD Prevention team conducted 67 individual homeowner assessments and 1,967 curbside assessments.
- Wildfire Risk Mapping
- Learn about your area's risk versus your structure's risk.
- Educational events
- AFPD will host a screening of Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire on June 20, 2023 at the Wheeler Opera House at 7:30pm. Click here for more info.
- Join us each May for a celebration of Wildfire Preparedness Month!
- Email ali.hammond@aspenfire.com to schedule a wildfire presentation at your next HOA meeting!
- Project Coordination
- Have a fuels reduction project but don't know where to start? Email ali.hammond@aspenfire.com!
Grant Awards
Since 2021, the Wildfire Community Action Fund has been funded 100% by a combination of philanthropy and grant funding. Donations to the WCAF help us leverage State and Federal funds by demonstrating local support and commitment for this kind of work.
March 31, 2023: $10,000 from the Bureau of Land Management's Community Fire Assistance Program for a strategic, cross-boundary firebreak, in partnership with Pitkin County Open Space & Trails and a group of private property owners.
May 18, 2023: $109,922.78 from the Colorado State Forest Service's Incentives for Local Government Grant Program to support ongoing staffing for community wildfire resilience programs, including project planning/ implementation and community outreach.
This list will be updated as it grows! Our projects would not be possible without local partnerships with the City, County, and local nonprofits.
Local Leadership
FACO Wildland Fire Conference
Fire Adapted Colorado awarded AFPD's Director of Community Wildfire Resilience, Ali (Hager) Hammond, the 2023 award for "Outstanding Leadership of a New Collaborative" for her work developing a shared vision for reducing wildfire risk in the Roaring Fork Valley and nurturing the collaborative through its early stages.
Roaring Fork Valley Wildfire Collaborative (RFVWC)
The RFVWC is an inclusive group of stakeholders that works to reduce wildfire risk by identifying, prioritizing, and implementing strategic cross-boundary plans and projects aimed at creating fire resilient landscapes and fire-adapted communities while focusing on community engagement, education, and inclusion.
The RFVWC empowers all people to take action to reduce wildfire risk in their communities, to protect people, property, and places from wildfire loss. We meet once a month to discuss projects, outreach, and other progress.
Aspen Fire Chief Rick Balentine and Dir. Community Wildfire Resilience, Ali (Hager) Hammond are co-chairs of the collaborative. We are tremendously proud of the watershed-wide partnerships that define this group. By finding common ground with each other, we are able to get much more done together.
The Collaborative has recently entered into a partnership with the Aspen Institute to hire a Program Manager. Read more about it here.
