Timber Age Systems Inc., a local wood products manufacturing company, is writing in support of the Southwest Wildfire Impact Fund (SWIF).
The projects proposed by SWIF will do much to prepare La Plata County and our communities for the inevitability of future high-intensity wildfires. Actively engaging in large-scale, well-coordinated forest projects will decrease fire intensity, improve on-the-ground conditions for firefighters and incrementally improve local watershed health.
The proposed projects also have the capacity to increase the number of local jobs and economic conditions for those working in the forest. The vision put forth by SWIF of multi-agency, multi-landowner coordination of fire mitigation and fuels reduction projects will allow for economy of scale and a more holistic approach to fire readiness.
As we saw during 416, fire has no regard for property and legal boundaries. Our communities across the county have aggressively spread into the wildland-urban interface, increasing the potential for structure and economic loss the next time a fire erupts in our backyard.
We need to come together as a community around creative solutions to forest and watershed health and it is our opinion that the concept created by SWIF and its partner organizations does just that.
Andy Hawk and Kyle HansonDurango
