By Shannon Lukens.
U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper has been in Steamboat Springs this week for the Colorado Water Congress. He also met with leaders from throughout Northwest Colorado for a regional bipartisan roundtable to discuss the growing wildfire crisis. The event was moderated by Todd Hagenbuch with the Routt County CSU Extension office.
Senator Hickenlooper says people always said the hot weather is “unprecedented.”
“But we can’t say that anymore. This is the new normal. And we are in a 12-hundred year drought. We can see the sediments in the Grand Canyon that can prove that. And we’re going to have to recognize that we’re going to have to get by on less water.”
Senator Hickenlooper heard from federal wildlands forest fire leaders with the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, emergency management agencies, and local and state agency leadership. Those attending:
- Joella West, Steamboat Springs Council Pro Tem & Council on Fire District Oversight Committee
- Tim Redmond, Routt County Commissioner
- Chris Stubbs, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee National Grasslands Supervisor
- Mike Morgan, CO Division of Fire Prevention and Control, Director
- Patty Champ, PhD, RMRS Research Economist and Wildfire Research Center (WiRe) Advisory Committee
- Clint Evans, NRCS State Conservationist
- Josh Hankes, Routt Wildfire Mitigation Council, Director
- Jessica Rahn, Grand Wildfire Mitigation Council
- John Twitchell, Supervisory Forester- Steamboat Springs, CSFS
- Milton Stubb, Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests & Thunder Basin National Grassland Deputy Supervisor
- Brian St. George, BLM Deputy Director
- Tyko Isaacson, BLM State Fire Management Officer
- Chief Brad White, Grand County Fire and Colorado State Fire Chiefs Association President
- Cecily Mui, Regional Expert on Wildfire Reduction USFS Rocky Mountain Region
- Coby Corkle, Jackson County Commissioner
- Chief Jeff Benson, Jackson County Fire
- Kevin Klein, DHS Emergency Management Director
- David “Mo” DeMorat, Routt County Emergency Operations Director
- Todd Hagenbuch, Ag/Natural Resources Extension Specialist, Colorado State University, Routt County
- Chuck Cerasoli, Chief of Steamboat Springs Fire and Rescue
- Gail Garey, Steamboat Springs Council President
Senator Hickenlooper says that we need to be aware of fire dangers around our homes to help prevent wildland fires.
“Well, you know, wild land fires – and I hate to say this – but they’re here to stay. But we can all do our part. We can make sure that if we live up in what they call the wildland urban interface, where the wild meets the civilized, a lot of us love to live there, but we’ve got to make sure that we don’t have the wild grass that is very combustible in the summer growing right up to our house. We’ve got to make sure we don’t have siding or roofs that are wood. We can’t have wooden decks. You just have to be a lot smarter and make sure that nothing on the outside of our house is combustible.”
The roundtable was in the new Steamboat Springs Fire Station at 10th and Oak.
“Your new fire station is pretty impressive!”
Steamboat Springs Fire Rescue offers Wildfire Mitigation visits to learn how to keep your home safe. Email info@routtwildfire.org
Aug. 8, 2024 —Wildfire Mitigation around your home can get you a $500 rebate