Dear Editor,

“Sometimes you have to cut a tree to save a forest” sounds like the kind of saying that fits this anti-science age and skepticism regarding our forest preservation practices. A case in point is the Middle Boulder Creek Fuel Reduction Project. It is a large-scale landscape treatment project that is grant funded for a million dollars from the state.

The goal according to the project website (bouldercounty.gov/open-space/management/middle-boulder-creek) is to decrease the amount of hazardous forest fuels and reduce the risk of severe wildfires. The treatment methods of thinning the forests or doing patch cuts stem from the generally accepted science that reducing fuel loads should reduce the severity and/or duration of a wildfire.

A commonsense example would be putting another log or two on a campfire. The more logs on the fire the bigger and hotter the fire. If you want to put out a campfire, you stop adding logs to it.

Fire has always been a part of this forest ecosystem, but it relies on lower fire temperatures to regenerate the land. Reducing fuel loads improves the chances that an uncontrolled wildfire in the area will not sterilize the ground and leave lasting environmental damage.

The Boulder County Parks & Open Space Department celebrates 50 years of service this year and manages over 100,000 acres in Boulder County. They are tasked with developing the fire plan for the Middle Boulder Creek property. They are uniquely qualified to design and implement this fire plan and do it in such a way as to maximize the funding impact.

We can’t control when or where a wildfire will start but we can control how much fuel it will consume. Reducing fuel loads and opening up the canopy is something we can do. We have the funds, the talent, the resources and the will to get it done.

Wesley Isenhart

Black Hawk