Eagle County is funding wildfire mitigation efforts throughout the region

Over the years, Eagle County has put several million dollars into wildfire mitigation. That money has been multiplied many times over.

The county last year put $1.5 million into mitigation efforts. That money, along with money from several partners, helped treat more than 2,300 acres of land in the county’s wildland urban interface. In turn, that helped protect more than 1,000 homes and businesses from the potential effects of wildfire.

For 2025, the county’s budget intends to spend $1.2 million on similar projects to treat 2,000 acres and protect 400 homes, businesses and other structures.

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County Wildfire Mitigation Manager Eric Lovgren said much of that money involves working with Eagle Valley Wildland, a collaborative effort led by the Eagle River Fire Protection District. That collaborative funds salaries for fire operation specialists. Those people do the dirty work of clearing areas near populated areas, as well as responding to fires when they spark.

Additional funds go to Vail Fire, which is working on its collaborative effort, known as the Booth Creek Fuels Treatment Project.

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Other money will go to the Rock Creek Volunteer Fire Department to help with its chipping efforts, Lovgren said.

Other funds will be used to help efforts in Pitkin and Garfield counties, and to develop community wildfire protection plans.

The county money will be the key match for state, federal, local and other grants.

With all the work being done across the county, more than 8,000 acres will be treated by the end of 2024 between Red Cliff and Gypsum.

With the work that’s been done so far, “you’d be hard-pressed not to spot a fuel break along (Interstate 70)” in the Vail Valley, Lovegren said.

In addition to the actual work, Lovgren noted that work is also being done in the Roaring Fork Valley on fire detection cameras. Those cameras are also in place in Vail and Beaver Creek. Collaborative efforts are also working to fund artificial intelligence efforts to more quickly spot fires to put responders on those scenes.

Hugh Fairfield-Smith is the fire management officer and division chief of wildland fire operations for the Eagle River Fire Protection District. As such, he does a lot of work with the Eagle Valley Wildland collaborative.

Fairfield-Smith noted that the collaborative’s work is starting to get more difficult, with crews moving into areas with more dense vegetation and more challenging topography.

Areas around Red Cliff can be harder to get into for treatment, Fairfield-Smith said, as are some areas around Lake Creek.

Fairfield-Smith said county funding is the “keystone” to Eagle Valley Wildland’s funding efforts, adding that there are 27 different stakeholders in the group’s programs. Fairfield-Smith Thursday gave a presentation to the Edwards Metropolitan District’s Board of Directors explaining the group’s operations and needs.

All those stakeholders and grants require a lot of work. Fairfield-Smith said a staff member spends “a large amount of time” applying for and managing those grant applications.

But, Lovgren noted, the grant cycle, especially at the federal level, is “boom and bust.” That makes the county’s contribution even more important.

But with the work done so far, and in this and coming years, Lovgren said, “we’re moving the needle.”