Summit County tries to mitigate wildfire threats
Summit County Wildfire Council is thinning and removing dead trees in about a third of the areas adjacent to neighborhoods that are most prone to wildfires. Just this is costing more than $13 million.
The council lists 27 high-risk areas, including those in the Acorn Creek subdivision and in the Lower Blue Valley. Ptarmigan in Silverthorne also made the list, partially because of its steepness and dirt road access.
Now that many pine trees have died from the pine beetle, shorter grasses and shrubs, which can act as fuel for fire, are growing.
The biggest obstacle to removing dead pine trees is cost. Experts estimate the cost between $6,000 and $8,000 an acre, and federal funding isn’t coming through, so the burden is left to the state and private citizens.
