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The environment desk at Aspen Public Radio covers issues in the Roaring Fork Valley and throughout the state of Colorado including water use and quality, impact of recreation, population growth and oil and gas development. APR’s Environment Reporter is Elizabeth Stewart-Severy.

Forest Service plans wildfire mitigation in Crystal River Valley

Elizabeth Stewart-Severy
/
Aspen Public Radio

The U.S. Forest Service has released a proposal to mitigate wildfire hazards on nearly 300 acres of national forest land in the Crystal River Valley. The plan includes mechanical treatments, like hand-cutting vegetation, at five locations in the valley and using prescribed fire near Marble.

The Crystal River Valley is dotted with homes and subdivisions near fire-dependent landscapes. Jim Genung, fuels specialist with the Forest Service, said centuries of suppressing fire has meant many areas in the forest are more susceptible to large-scale wildfire.

The project is meant to mitigate risks to homes and utilities, including the Nettle Creek Water Treatment Facility.

 

The public can comment on the proposalthrough March 5.

 

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
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