Coal Creek Canyon resident urges county funding for Sheriff's Wildland Fire Management Program

Cork Rich, a founding board member and executive director of the Blue Mountain Forest Stewardship Initiative, urged the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners on June 17 to provide funding for the Sheriff's Office Wildland Fire Management Program to support roadside fuel mitigation and evacuation safety in Coal Creek Canyon.

Rich said the community wildfire protection plan (CWPP) shows many county roads as potentially non-survivable in an active wildfire and that "we desperately need county assistance to perform the necessary roadside fuel mitigation as outlined in our community wildfire protection plan." He asked the board to vote to provide funding to the Sheriff's wildland program.

Commissioners thanked Rich for his work and noted county wildfire efforts. Commissioner Kerr and other commissioners referenced recent community events and the county's new brush truck, and the board noted that voters had approved funding via a prior ballot measure (referred to in comments as "1A") to support wildfire risk reduction efforts. No formal budget vote or new appropriation to the Sheriff's wildland program was recorded during the meeting; the public comment was recorded and commissioners expressed appreciation.

Rich said the Blue Mountain Forest Stewardship Initiative has worked for 15 years on mitigation and community adaptation. County leaders acknowledged the need for continued investment in fuels reduction and evacuation planning but did not announce a new funding decision at the June 17 meeting.