Colorado Parks and Wildlife will begin a mechanical treatment operation at Perins Peak State Wildlife Area in August. The project will run through Oct. 1.
Mechanical treatments will also take place at Bodo State Wildlife Area from September to Dec. 31. During the treatments, the public should be aware of heavy equipment and stay out of areas being actively treated.
Perins Peak SWA was mechanically treated from 2010 to 2012 with hydro-axes to break up continuous stands of mature Gambel oak into a mosaic pattern to open up ground for grasses and flowering plants, mimicking the patterns low intensity fire would have created. The current project will treat some of the previous treatment areas and expand into new areas covering an estimated 550 acres.
The Bodo SWA treatment will be north of County Road 210 and will treat both Bodo SWA and adjacent Bureau of Reclamation land that is closed to public use. The project is an estimated 750 acres and work will be similar to the Perins Peak project.
The benefits of reinvigorated growth from treatments last an estimated seven to 15 years.
