Fire Ready?
Dear Editor:
Wildfire is a natural part of life in northwest Colorado. As we head into wildfire season, it’s a good time to ask a simple question: Is your home/property ready? What we as home and landowners can control is how prepared we are and to start planning before the flames.
On April 23 from 6–8 p.m. at the 4H Building in Meeker, local agencies and partners hosted “Fire Ready: A Community Conversation.” The next “Fire Ready” meeting will be held May 14 at 6 p.m. in Rangely at Rangely District Hospital. This free event is a chance to get informed, ask questions, and connect with folks who can help you prepare for wildfire season.
The White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts will be sharing information about a new grant-funded project focused on helping landowners reduce wildfire risk and build resilience in identified priority areas. This includes home site assessments, wildfire mitigation plans, cost-share opportunities for fuels reduction and defensible space, and a neighborhood chipping program to help manage vegetation.
Through the White River Integrated Water Initiative, the Districts’ Forest Health Program and Forest Work Group, we are working with collaborative partners on watershed-level resilience efforts that span both private and public lands. This approach reflects the principles of Fire Adapted Communities, where residents, agencies, and partners all play a role in reducing risk and preparing for wildfire.
This work also supports the National Cohesive Wildfire Strategy by focusing on three key ideas: creating fire-adapted communities, improving preparedness and response, and working across the landscape to build resilience. In Rio Blanco County, that starts with informed and engaged landowners. You!
Wherever you live in RBC, there are practical steps you can take to make your home more ignition resistant. Stop by the meeting, grab some information and learn more about how we can work together to build a more wildfire-ready Rio Blanco County.
Sincerely,
Vanessa Trout
White River & Douglas Creek Conservation Districts
On sustainability
Dear Editor:
Whether or not you believe that climate change is happening, the effects are drastically obvious and difficult to continue ignoring. In the Summer of 2025, our region experienced three extreme wildfires, with the Lee fire categorized as Colorado’s fifth largest wildfire on record. According to the Colorado Sun, “The Lee fire west of Meeker is so large it’s creating its own weather system” (Krause, 2025). Between these major wildfires and our dry and warm winter season, we are looking at massively dramatic effects to come. In 2025-2026, Colorado experienced one of its driest seasons in history, with hot temperatures far surpassing previous records. This will very likely create major challenges this upcoming Summer when more fires inevitably start up.
While mitigation and adaptation efforts have been implemented, there is still so, so much damage from the fire. Started by lightning, the Lee fire burned over 113,000 acres of land. Heavy winds caused the fire to cover even more ground, forcing emergency evacuations of more than 1,000 Meeker residents, including their animals and livestock. In fact, this fire burned extremely close to the Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management area, which is one of only four ranges in Colorado designated for wild horses, with this area in particular being home to 700+ mustangs who inhabit the territory.
The good news is that future mitigation and adaptation are both very possible outcomes for recovering this area following the fire. My proposition is to arrange and host reseeding gatherings, where I would recruit volunteers to get together in the Dry Fork Piceance Creek area, between Post Gulch and Owl Gulch, to spread native seeds throughout the land, just 11 miles southwest of Meeker. Reseeding this burn area would help enhance biodiversity amongst the habitats, and would even help mitigate the effects of future wildfires. Other secondary benefits would include connecting the community through a high social impact activity, as well as provide opportunities for continued recreation and volunteering. At these gatherings, we would be planting Rocky Mountain Beeplant, Mountain Sage, Sweetvetch, Prairie Coneflower, and Rocky Mountain Penstemon, all plants that are native to the area and are drought-resistant.
This current period in time marks a unique era in which humans have absolute direct influence on the state of our planet, categorized as the Anthropocene. The climate crisis is largely human caused, and will therefore require human influence to help mend and restore it. Nature-based solutions offer an alternative approach to helping solve this climate crisis, such as through concepts of biomimicry and earth-systems science, in ways that have benefits not just environmentally, but also socially and economically. Nature-based solutions require a community of collaboration, they are not something to be taken on alone. Through this project, we can bring our strong community together to help care for our planet and find a sense of purpose and fulfillment through the magical act of sowing seeds. To support efforts such as these, I encourage you to get involved with our city council, and keep an eye out for upcoming partnerships.”
Thanks so much,
Willa Owens
She/Her
Assistant Project Lead, Bear Park Permaculture Center
STARS Student Researcher, Steamboat Campus
EDITOR’S NOTE: This letter is part of a sustainability program class assignment at Colorado Mountain College.
