Roger Baker, Gilpin County Manager.   One of the first (and surely the simplest) actions on the Gilpin County Commissioners’ agenda for their October 6 meeting will be the ratification of the Stage 1 Fire Restrictions imposed by Sheriff Bruce Hartman on September 24.

Though it was a phenomenally wet spring, the summer and early fall turned hot and dry—September will prove to be the warmest on record in Denver, and one of the driest. So, in his capacity as county fire marshal, Sheriff Hartman worked in coordination with Sheriffs from our neighboring jurisdictions and the US Forest Service to effectively ban open burning in the foothills forest along the northern front range.

It’s not just the climatic conditions that necessitated such restrictions—the forests in Gilpin County have become increasingly at risk for a number of reasons.

For one thing, it’s becoming clear that there are an increasing number of “campers” who are regarding our woods as more-or-less permanent living quarters. The most visible of these are up near the cemeteries outside of Central City, where one trailer has been parked for more than a month, with increasing signs of full-time residence—most worrisome, a large fire pit and an equally large (and growing) pile of firewood.

Because of the complicated land ownership pattern up there, it’s difficult to know whether this is in City or County jurisdiction, and who exactly owns the property. At what point does something like this cross over from a land use issue—where this sort of permanent camping is prohibited except for folks using their own property—to criminal trespass?

But while such an abuse may be relatively obvious, it’s also relatively benign, especially compared to other activities going on in our backcountry.

In one particularly dangerous situation, County staff has been threatened for even wanting to inspect some large greenhouse-type structures—certainly constructed without permits, and probably on Forest Service land. That same area has also been devastated by a large amount of excavation work, apparently for the purpose of diverting and storing water—again, quite outside the laws or Forest Service rules.

While there have always been squatters living illegally in abandoned cabins throughout the forests—and stumbling upon them while hiking can be disconcerting—this sort of large-scale lawbreaking is increasingly worrisome; and because of the many agencies and jurisdictions involved, it’s increasingly difficult to enforce.

The County staff who are charged with investigating these reports aren’t equipped or trained to deal with this sort of situation, but it’s difficult to know without an onsite survey exactly what the situations entails; and that’s where the problem arises.

Of course we have similar problems in our mountain subdivisions, as well. The hash oil extraction process that exploded and destroyed a home (seriously injuring the occupant) is another example of a dangerous activity about which the County should have been informed. It could have caused a major wildfire.

The widespread use of firearms throughout the forests is another complicating factor, and one reason the Commissioners and their colleagues from other jurisdictions have spent so much time on this issue. Aside from the danger the bullets themselves present, even the spent cartridges can cause fires under the right circumstances.

The overall effect is—dry weather or not—the national forests that used to be our pride and joy are increasingly becoming a source of annoyance and even menace. Given the fact that another million or so people will move to the Colorado front range in the next decade or two, and those people will in part be drawn by the nearby mountain recreational opportunities, the dangers are only going to increase.

So is it too early to ask to pray for snow?