The efforts are unique in that they are not solely reliant on the U.S. Forest Service.
These mitigation efforts are collaborative in effort through Envision Chaffee County, National Forest Foundation and American Forest Foundation. The efforts are considered part of a priority landscape by the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative.
Envision Chaffee County is a local movement that facilitates longer-term actions and views for the sake of healthy forests, wildlife, water, agriculture and the economy.
American Forest Foundation, a Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative partner, empowers family forest landowners to be active stewards of their own land.Â
The Initiative has more than 40 partners across Colorado that deliver cross-boundary solutions for priority landscapes. Montana-based National Forest Foundation also partners with Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative, and is the official nonprofit partner of the U.S. Forest Service to bring people together to restore the nationâ
On the second weekend in January, in the dead of winter, Zach Snavely and Corinne Hancock fought their first wildfire. The Littleton couple watched flames rising about twenty feet into the air, eating up snow-covered piles of fuel and radiating heat, as they and their teammates dug a preventative fireline into the dirt on the grounds near Salida’s Colorado Firecamp.
Just days before, Snavely, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard and has been working as an international military consultant, and Hancock, a leadership coach who has devoted much of her career to foreign aid projects, had no professional firefighting experience. But they were moved to change that after COVID-19 hit and several historic wildfires including the Cameron Peak fire and East Troublesome fire near Rocky Mountain National Park, which collectively burned more than 350,000 acres raged through the state in 2020.