14d

• Board Meeting Date: 9/17/2008
• Description: Director's Report - CWCB Director
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

INTRODUCTION
In 2007, the Colorado General Assembly passed legislation titled The Pilot Forest Restoration
Program to Demonstrate Community-Based Approaches to Forest Restoration. This report,
required by the legislation and prepared by the Colorado State Forest Service, will describe the
successes achieved through projects authorized under this legislation. To be eligible to receive
funding, projects were required to:
Be located in an area with an approved Community Wildfire Protection Plan as defined
by the federal "Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003", Pub.L.108-148;
Address one or more of the following objectives for the purposes of protecting water
supp les:
o Reduce the threat of large, high-intensity wildfires and the negative effects of
excessive competition between trees by restoring ecosystem functions,
structures, and species composition, including the reduction of nonnative
species populations;
o Preserve old and large trees to the extent consistent with ecological values and
science;
o Replant trees in deforested areas if such areas exist in the proposed project area;
and
o Improve the use of, or add value to, small diameter trees;
^ Comply with all applicable federal and state environmental laws
^ Include a diverse and balanced group of stakeholders as well as appropriate federal, state,
county, and municipal government representatives inthe design, and implementation, and
monitoring of the project;
^ Incorporate current scientific forest restoration information;
^ Include an assessment to:
o Identify both the existing ecological condition of the proposed project area and
the desired future condition; and
o Report, upon completion, to the Forest Service on the positive or negative
impact and including cost effectiveness of the project; and
^ Leverage state funding through in-kind, stumpage, or cash matching contributions.
PROCESS
Harris Sherman, Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, appointed a
Technical Advisory Panel, as required by the legislation. Members included an official of the
Department of Natural Resources (Paul Orbuch); two representatives from federal land
management agencies (Susan Gray, U.S. Forest Service, and Jeff Kitchens, Bureau of Land
Management); two independent scientists with experience in forest ecosystem restoration
(Merrill Kaufmann, Rocky Mountain Research Station emeritus, and Dan Binkley, Colorado
State University); and representatives from conservation interests (Tom Fry, The Wilderness
Society), local communities (Tom Clark, Mayor of Kremmling), and commodity interests
(Nancy Fishering, Colorado Timber Industry Association).
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