FireWise offers chipper rental rebate program
FireWise of Southwest Colorado is offering a chipper rental rebate program for residents needing to reduce the slash from wildfire fuels mitigation on private lands in La Plata and Archuleta counties.
The program will reimburse residents the lesser of $100 a day or 50 percent of the chipper rental cost, or $100 a day or 50 percent of the cost to have a mitigation company provide the chipping services. The program is valid May 1 to Sept. 30 or until money is expended.
For more information or an application in La Plata County, call 385-8909 or email swcoloradofirewise@gmail.com. In Archuleta County, call 264-0430 or email archuletafirewise@gmail.com.
Wildflower hike to be on Ophir Pass Road
The San Juan/Four Corners Native Plant Society will host a wildflower hike on Ophir Pass Road on Saturday. The road is north of Silverton.
This is a leisurely paced exploration of wildflowers. Participants should bring 2 quarts of water, lunch, broad-brimmed hat, sunblock and hiking boots.
To make reservations or for more information, call 385-8949 or email robertlpowell@durango.net. For more information, visit www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/SanJuanFourCornersNativePlantSociety.htm.
Aztec Ruins to offer free admission
Aztec Ruins will have free admission Aug. 25 in celebration of the National Park Service’s 97th birthday.
All National Park Service units will waive entrance fees. In addition to the Aug. 25 fee free day, Aztec Ruins will waive its $5 per adult entrance fee on Sept. 28 for National Public Lands Day and Nov. 9 to 11 for Veterans Day. Children 15 and younger are always free. Aztec Ruins also offers an annual pass for $20.
For more information, visit www.nps.gov/azru, call (505) 334-6174, or “like” the monument’s Facebook page.
Local subdivision earns Firewise recognition
Timberdale Ranch recently earned Firewise Communities/USA® recognition from the National Firewise Communities Program because of its efforts to reduce the vulnerability of homes and landscapes to wildfire.
Timberdale Ranch is off County Road 504, 10 miles northwest of Bayfield. Timberdale Ranch worked with the Colorado State Forest Service, United States Forest Service/Bureau of Land Management and Upper Pine Fire Protection District to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan that addresses the subdivision’s wildfire risk and actions that could be taken to mitigate that risk. The plan was completed in July 2012. Residents are working on implementing the prioritized list of actions in the plan.
To receive recognition, Timberdale Ranch met a set of requirements. Some of the projects the community has undertaken are shared mitigation and safety information with residents; completion of a shaded fuel break along one-and-a-half miles of their nine miles of road; and had 15 acres mitigated by the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District fuels crew on six properties and some homeowners have done their own mitigation work.
For more information, visit www.firewise.org/usa.
Herald Staff
