Wildfire mitigation work is proposed to take place this fall in the Bear River corridor southwest of the town of Yampa to reduce fire danger and protect water resources and infrastructure as part of the larger Bear River Wildfire Ready Action Plan.

The Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District is serving as project lead for the Bear River WRAP with additional specific proposed projects that may be completed by the U.S. Forest Service, Routt County Road and Bridge and town of Yampa.

Holly Kirkpatrick, the district’s public information and external affairs manager, said field assessments and on-the-ground verification for the plan were conducted last summer and fall. The Bear River WRAP was released in March as one of three finalized plans of its kind in Colorado, Kirkpatrick said.

The purpose of work proposed for this fall is to protect the Stillwater Ditch and Yamcolo Reservoir from wildfire impacts stemming from post-fire increases of peak flows, hillslope and instream erosion and excessive downstream sedimentation, Kirkpatrick explained. The work is designed to reduce the intensity and extent of a wildfire above and around the ditch and the reservoir.

The work also would improve public and firefighter health and safety by removing existing fuels hazards. Other benefits include improving forest health and resiliency, reducing long-term risk of catastrophic fire and protecting the watershed from other disturbances due to changing weather patterns such as drought, heat and precipitation patterns and intensity.

The two focus areas for work this fall south of Yamcolo Reservoir and along Stillwater Ditch, which run out of Yamcolo Reservoir, would target removal of trees that are dead standing or down, insect-infected or diseased, according to the plan.

Treatments south of Yamcolo Reservoir would take place within approximately 1,800 acres in the Dome Creek and Ram’s Horn Creek areas. Depending on the specific conditions found on the ground, treatments could include tree thinning in groups or individual trees. Along ridgelines, treatments would provide a shaded fuel break where feasible.

The primary objective along Stillwater Ditch is to protect from post-fire impacts, provide a fire break and provide additional long-term ecosystem and resiliency benefits. The proposed actions would occur within 250 feet of the ditch with different prescribed treatments in bands defined by distance from the ditch.

“Stillwater Ditch is an important water supply infrastructure feature in this area that transports water from below Yamcolo Reservoir to irrigation in the Five Pine-Mesa area,” Kirkpatrick explained. “The ditch runs along a forested hillside that has similar conditions to Dome and Ram’s Horn Creek.”

The plan notes the primary objectives of treatment in these two priority units are to reduce potential development of high-intensity wildfire within the two watersheds that could spread to adjacent areas, while also improving forest health and long-term watershed resiliency.

Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District, which is supported by property tax dollars, secured combined grant funding of more than $1.1 million, and the district will contribute nearly $440,000 to move the work forward. A major grant of $980,000 for the plan’s development came from the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program in November 2023.

The district partnered with consultant companies JW Associates and Otak to launch wildfire risk assessments for the Bear River watershed, an area identified as a high-priority watershed in Colorado and home to critical water supplies for the Yampa River Basin. The watershed encompasses the headwaters region of the Yampa River and includes Yamcolo Reservoir, Stillwater Reservoir and the Bear River corridor downstream to the town of Yampa.

The stated vision of the plan is to prepare critical water supply watersheds in the Bear River project area to withstand and be resilient to wildfires by integrating pre-fire actions and post-fire planning. The plan aims to foster collaboration among stakeholders to ensure clear roles and responsibilities for wildfire preparedness and response.

Some stated goals of the plan include managing wildfire as a natural disturbance rather than aiming for its elimination, identifying priority watersheds for pre- and post-fire actions, implementing pre-fire actions to enhance watershed resilience, integrating watershed treatments that connect hillslopes with streams and reservoirs, and exploring innovative treatments and technologies that combine forest management and low-tech, process-based restoration techniques.

More information, including detailed maps and a list of proposed future project work, is available at Upperyampawater.com/bear-river-wrap.