GAME
TRAIL ASSOCIATION, INC.
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP)
September, 2008
Wildland Urban Interface Description
Game Trail is a HOA rural
mountain community accessed by heading north on Highway 24 from
Buena Vista and tuming west on County Road 384. Adventure Unlimited
borders Game Trail to our north, County Road 365 to the south.
San Isabel National Forest is our westem border and County Road
361 our eastem. The community consists of 1880 acres of 440 individually
owned lots of which half have been built upon. We have approximately
1,077 acres of non-forested land and 400 of these acres have been
set aside as the Elk Conservation Easement that is part of the
Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas in partnership with the Palmer
Foundation. The remaining 803 acres are forested with Pinon, Ponderosa,
Lodgepole, Aspen, Mountain Mahogany Bushes, Common Juniper and
various other vegetation.
Game Trail Wildfire Preparedness
Our residents and lot owners are encouraged to provide each structure
on their property with a defensible space. We consider a defensible
space as being at least 30ft from the eaves of each structure.
A Healthy Forest & Fire Safety Guideline and a Forestry Directory
(see Appendices a & b) is given to each new lot owner to help
them maintain their property in a responsible fire-wise manner.
GT's Forestry Committee compiled this guideline and directory,
with input gathered from CSFS pamphlets. Our residents and lot
owners are responsible for the clean up of slash on their land,
laddering and thinning their trees, and mistletoe maintenance.
The slash may be hauled to our slash pit located in the Game Trail
meadow. When grant money is available the slash is chipped.
Though fire resistant roofs and chimney screens/spark arresters
are not required on GT homes, most or all of our residents do have
these. Shake roofs and outside buming of wood is not allowed in
Game Trail. The Forestry Committee suggests that our residents
be equipped with shovels, rakes, and chainsaws to help suppress
a small fire and weed eaters to keep their grasses cut short around
each structure. Game Trail allows only two structures per lot.
Fire resistant construction is the burden of the homeowner and
their contractor.
Signage of Game Trail's roads is excellent and the roads themselves
are wide with easy access for all emergency equipment. Upon purchasing
a lot in Game Trail everyone is given a map with the roads clearly
marked and a safe haven has been set to the north end of the community
in the case of a wildfire. The safe haven will serve as an information
gathering point. There will be one member of the Forestry Committee
designated as a 'liaison officer' to funnel information between
the emergency crews and the residents. Each road in Game Trail
has a 'block captain' and that person will notify his or her neighbors
on that block to evacuate. A reverse 911 will be implemented to
notify all residents also. A member of the Board or a Forestry
Committee member will notify our neighboring communities of any
out-of-control fire at Game Trail.
Game Trail has a central water system with storage capacity of
140,000 gallons for fire fighting purposes and fire hydrants. Fire
foam is stored at a water pump house that would safeguard approximately
50 homes. Chaffee County Fire Protection District is aware of the
location and has a key, as do five of our year round residents.
The Game Trail Forestry Committee has 25 active members. We maintain
a Game Trail website with updates on the latest forestry practices,
articles from CSU, and where residents can get their questions
answered. It is interactive, informative and well utilized. In
case of a wildfire the website would be used as a warning system
and provide information. The Forestry Committee spends a good deal
of their time in the wooded areas of our community. We encourage
our residents to provide a defensible space and perform mistletoe
maintenance, thinning, laddering and slash removal. The Forestry
Committee is not an enforcement group, however they do provide
assistance and support to our residents in reducing their fire
risk.
Community Risk Analysis
Game Trail has two forested open space areas that are in the process
of being thinned and the slash removed. Trailhead Park, which is
bordered by San Isabel National Forest to the West, and Adventure
Unlimited to the north, is extremely steep and consists of 20 acres
of Ponderosa, Douglas Fir and Aspen trees and will take several
years to thin and remove the slash. The open space located at West
Ridge and Main Range is easier to access and the trees not as dense;
this clean up of mistletoe, laddering, thinning and slash removal
should be completed in three years.
There is a popular recreation area west and south of Game Trail
that offers horse and hiking trails, fishing and overnight camping
with fire pits. During drought years when campfires are banned
by the USFS on federal land, Game Trail volunteers patrol the camping
areas looking for violators and when found would contact authorities.
Fuel
Treatment Priorities Completed
-
Many of our residents have completed a defensible space around
their structures and have a fire mitigation plan for their
property.
-
Fuels reduction has begun on our open space located at West
Ridge and Main Range Drive.
-
We have requested Colorado State Forest Service to encourage
property owners in close proximity to the Game Trail community
to start a fuels reduction program.
-
Game Trail residents contracted with the USFS and CSFS through
the good neighbor sale to thin a 20-acre plot west of GT and
south of the Westside Project. This project was completed in
2008. The final cleanup, including pile burning will be handled
by the USFS.
-
The Westside Project was enthusiastically supported by GT
and our community would welcome a second pass of thinning and
slash removal.
-
Through the cooperation of the Chaffee County Road and Bridge
Department, ACA, and funding from Game Trail, County Road 365
was vastly improved and now is a viable evacuation route for
our residents living close to our southern border. Emergency
equipment will have easier access to the San Isabel Forest
to the west and south, which includes a well-used recreation
area, and to the southern border of Game Trail for firefighting
purposes.
-
Chipping of Game Trail slash was offered to our residents in the
years 2005, 2006, and 2008. Due to our depleting Forestry Grant
monies, chipping will not be offered again unless more grant money
is awarded to Game Trail.
Future Fuel Reduction Priorities
Action Item: Game Trail's Forestry Committee will develop a plan
that will address their response to a fire emergency.
Justification: A plan of attack, as well as established
evacuation routes in place would assure a quicker response.
Action Item: Game Trail has two open space areas that will be
thinned, ladder fuels treated, and slash removed.
Justification: By reducing the density of trees
and removing ladder and ground fuels the residents will decrease
the chance of surface and crown fires on private property.
Action Item: The lot owners/residents of Game Trail are encouraged
to create a 30ft defensible space around each structure and remove
slash on their property. When grant money is awarded a chipping
program is in place to dispose of this slash.
Justification: The chipped slash will offer nutrients
to the soil when spread on the forest floor or provide for easier
disposal in the Borrow-Pit located in the Game Trail meadow.
Action Item: The Game Trail community along with its surrounding
neighbors is supporting the building of a future fire station northwest
of Buena Vista.
Justification: Having a Fire Station in close
proximity will lessen the chances of an uncontrollable wildfire
taking hold.
Action Item: A need for fuel reduction south of the
20-acre Federal timber sale would be beneficial.
Justification: To provide a fuel break buffer
for the subdivision. Any action taken to provide a fuel break would
be done under the auspices of the USFS and coordinated
under specific guidelines in the NEPA (National Envirorunental
Protection Act) decision and land management guidelines.
Action Item: Game Trail requests that CSFS encourage property
owners surrounding or in close proximity to our borders to start
a fuel reduction program.
Justification: Fuels reduction on adjacent properties
would enhance the fire safety zone for the Game Trail community.
Action
Item: The Westside Project was enthusiastically supported by the
Game Trail community. A second pass of thinning and slash removal
is needed.
Justification: Would complete the 400ft firebreak
behind Game Trail, decreasing the threat of a wildfire.
Chaffee County Fire Station #6
The Game Trail community, along with its neighbors, are supporting
the building of a Fire Station northwest of Buena Vista. Game Trail
has deeded one acre of land to the Chaffee County Fire Protection
District for Fire Station #6. A Fundraising Committee has been
established and is comprised of representatives from both Game
Trail and many of the surrounding neighborhoods. The Fire Station
will be a 3-bay structure, manned by volunteer firefighters, made-up
of northern Chaffee County residents. This would insure a fast
response to any wildfire in the communities surrounding the new
station. When this firehouse becomes a reality it will also serve
as a future safe haven for the Game Trail residents and their neighbors.
This document is intended to set forth a recommended plan only
and imposes obligations on the signatories. Specifically, executing
this document in no way obligates Chaffee County to take any action
requiring the commitment of funds in order to accomplish the Summary
Recommendations.
Notwithstanding any other provision of
the CWPP to the contrary, no term or condition of the CWPP shall
be construed or interpreted as a waiver, express or implied,
of any of the immunities, right, benefIts, protection, or other
provisions of the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act § 24-20-101,
et seq., C.R.S. (including future amendments) or as an acceptance
by Chaffee County or any responsibility or liability with respect
to the CWPP.
The Game Trail Association CWPP has been developed and agreed to
by the following:
Frank F. Holman, Chairman
Chaffee County Board of Commissioners
date: March 16, 2009
James Wingert, Fire Chief/Deputy County Fire Warden
Chaffee County Fire Protection District
date: March 19, 2009
Damon Lange, District Forester
Colorado State
Forest Service
date:
March 20, 2009
Kenneth C. Siefken, President
Game Trail Association Inc
date: March 20, 2009
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