Recent commentary stated that Routt County’s agricultural roots and working ranches may increase our wildfire risk. While it is true that hot temperatures, low humidity and drought heighten wildfire danger; it is inaccurate to suggest that our ranchlands inherently create greater risk.

In fact, the opposite is often true and ranches and farms across Routt County play a critical role in managing our landscape in ways that mitigate wildfire spread.

Stewardship practices common to local ranches create fuel breaks that can slow the advance of fire, reduce fire intensity, and provide firefighters with safer access points. Fire can burn quickly through “flashy fuels”, such as tall dry grass.

However, unlike unmanaged fields or forests where deadfall and dense underbrush accumulate, grazing and haying operations can reduce the build-up of dry fuels. The recognition of livestock grazing as a tool to strategically reduce fuel loads is a practice implemented not only by ranchers, but by local parks and open space across the state.

More impactfully, the application of irrigation water increases soil moisture, supports wetlands, increases relative humidity, and keeps the water in our landscape longer. Irrigated meadows and riparian systems supported by agricultural operations slow the spread of fire, sometimes to halt.

Additionally, private agricultural lands can act as buffer zones around population centers, reducing the catastrophic effect of fire on human populations and infrastructure.

Far from putting us at “greater risk,” Routt County’s working ranches, including centennial farms and ranches, are carefully managed to implement stewardship practices that support livestock and ecological health. The irrigated landscapes surrounding the Town of Meeker aided our firefighters in stopping the spread of the Lee Fire. More recently, the halt of the Crosho Fire’s eastward spread was supported by the presence of irrigated agriculture.

Our working lands not only sustain our food systems and the economy but also act as frontline defenses against wildfire. Supporting ranching and stewardship is supporting resilience in the face of a changing climate.

If you would like to support those impacted by the recent wildfire activity in Northwest Colorado you can do so through the Yampa Valley Community Foundation’s Disaster Recovery Fund.