Attorneys from the Southwest Colorado Bar Association will be trading their court-appropriate dress and their briefcases on wheels for blue jeans and a shovel Saturday.
They will spend the day defending the environment by planting seedlings on private property in Weber Canyon, where a monthlong fire swept across 10,133 acres last summer.
Volunteers are being sought to help plant Rocky Mountain juniper, piñon, ponderosa seedlings and 150 shrubs, among them gooseberry, chokecherry and wild rose.
“Two thousand seedlings needed to be planted, but some homeowners got their trees and planted them so about 1,300 remain,” said Rebecca Samulski, Montezuma County coordinator of FireWise of Southwest Colorado. “They’ve been here about two weeks, so we really need to get them in the ground.”
The seedlings are only a fraction of those needed, Samulski said. About 100 trees an acre are required, she said, so crews Saturday will be planting only areas where native Gambel oak is not making a comeback.
The Weber Canyon tree planting is one of five sponsored by the Colorado Bar Association from Saturday through May 18. The other projects will take place in areas burned by the Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs; High Park Fire near Fort Collins; Hayman Fire in Jefferson County; and the Four Mile Canyon Fire near Boulder).
The fires erupted from 2002 to 2012, and burned a total of almost 250,000 acres and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Ann Rhodes, who practices environmental, water and natural-resources law in Boulder, has championed reforestation efforts since 2009 when she helped found the One Million Tree Project of the American Bar Association.
“We’ve planted about 50,000 across the country,” Rhodes said. “It’s not near 1 million, but it’s pretty far from zero.”
One thing led to another, which became a series of Colorado Bar Association projects, Rhodes said.
“Tree planting is good for the environment and good for the community,” she said.
Seedlings are available to private parties through the Restoring Colorado’s Forest Fund administered by the Colorado State Forest Service.
“This is the first time we’ve used the program here,” Kent Grant, Colorado State Forest Service forester in Durango, said Tuesday. “We’ve never done a project of this magnitude.”
Restoring Colorado’s Forest Fund is supported by donations, Grant said. The number of trees available depends on the size of the fund.
daler@durangoherald.com
If you go
Volunteers participating in Saturday’s Weber Canyon tree planting should assemble by 9 a.m. at Boyle Park in Mancos. Everyone should have sturdy shoes, gloves, sunglasses, sunscreen, a helmet if possible, a water bottle and a shovel.
Registration is preferred, but walk-ons are welcome, To register contact Marla Underell at marla@underell-law.com or call Rebecca Samulski with FireWise of Southwest Colorado at 564-4007.
