COS 172-6 - CANCELLED - A non-profit approach founded in science and collaboration is advancing forest management in Boulder County

Abstract: Wildfire likelihood, scale, and severity are increasing across Colorado. Thus, increasing fire resilience through science-based forest management is a state priority. Many entities across Boulder County, CO are managing forests. However, a key barrier to successful forest management is the need for a landscape-scale approach. A landscape-scale approach is necessary because wildfire crosses property boundaries; post-fire hazards impact communities for many miles downstream; and management must be prioritized in the context of an entire watershed to effectively utilize limited resources. Yet, science-based landscape-scale planning is difficult because property boundaries are a complex matrix of wildland, urban, private, and public lands. Additionally, stakeholders have a history of disconnected forest management while community members have a history of mistrust around forest management. To overcome these challenges and advance fire resilience in Boulder County, the Watershed Center is successfully implementing a non-profit led approach to collaborative science and landscape-scale planning.

Our goal is to bring together stakeholders and community members to plan and implement collaborative, cross-jurisdictional, and landscape-scale forest restoration that prepares the landscape and community to receive wildland fire as a natural part of the ecosystem. Towards this goal, the Watershed Center formed a partnership of 200 community and stakeholder representatives. Our objectives were to maintain an engaged partnership that agrees on future desired conditions, increase social consensus for forest management, and develop plans for collaborative and science-based cross-boundary project prioritization.

Our approach involved development and implementation of a shared adaptive management process founded in science and collaboration. We created an iterative process that incorporates desired future conditions; monitoring; collaboration among stakeholders and community members; collaboratively planned on-the-ground projects; reporting and communication; and learning and adjusting. Scientific data and expert opinions are essential to regularly assess our trajectory, communicate verifiable information to our community, and adjust based on what is learned.

Here we show how this process has enabled the partnership to advance landscape-scale planning towards project implementation. Key outcomes include development of a partnership charter which defines a vision for how partners work together; development an outreach tool for community engagement; building of social consensus through nine community planning meetings; and development of an adaptive management process that incorporates community values, biophysical zones, climate adaptation strategies, and monitoring. In conclusion, the Watershed Center was able to overcome challenges associated with landscape-scale forest management across a complex watershed using a non-profit driven approach founded in science, collaboration, and adaptive management.