Several organizations will work together Saturday in the Hay Gulch area to prepare for the upcoming wildfire season.

The Vista de Oro Property Owners Association, in partnership with the Fort Lewis Mesa Fire Department and the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, will host its annual Wildfire Community Preparedness Day.

Volunteers will remove dead and beetle-killed pine trees along County Road 117, which serves as the only access route for Vista de Oro residents.

Work will begin at 8:30 a.m. and will finish around noon at Fire Station 5. Neighbors will provide a lunch to volunteers at the fire station.

For more information, call Tim Gallagher at (979) 676-1621, email azrsqr@gmail.com or contact Fire Chief Chris Anderson at 759-1153 or chief@flmfire.org.

The San Juan National Forest is working on the Falls Creek Wetland Expansion Project.

The project will increase the height and length of an existing earthen dam on the southern edge of the wetland complex.

The project includes updates to the Forest Service-owned Steinegger Ditch to allow for diversion of water to increase the size of the Falls Creek wetland complex from 7.6 acres to about 13.6 acres.

For more information, contact the Columbine Ranger District, 884-2512.

With recent heavy snow in the higher elevations of the San Juan National Forest, many forest access roads across the Pagosa Ranger District are unsuitable for motorized travel and remain closed.

Roads will be opened as soon as they can be safely traveled. Forest visitors should avoid traveling off-road to camp and collect firewood until soils are dry.

Resource damage is punishable with fines up to $5,000 and six months in jail.

A list of roads currently open for the season are available by calling the Pagosa Ranger District at 264-2268 or by visiting www.fs.usda.gov/main/sanjuan/maps-pubs.

Herald Staff