Goals and Objectives

Chaffee County experiences frequent high winds, dry conditions, lightning storms, and heavy use of wildlands by residents and visitors alike, which can all lead to destructive wildfires. The fire does not have to be very large to cause significant damage.

This countywide plan is intended as a first step in the wildfire mitigation planning process. The following are the broad goals and specific objectives of the Chaffee County Community Wildfire Protection Plan:

A. Planning and Collaboration

Goal: Create a “living” flexible document that incorporates a multi-agency approach to planning.

The CWPP incorporates input from all the stakeholders in the County. These include the local citizens, representatives from selected subdivisions, the two Fire Protection Districts, as well as the Federal Land Management Agencies (US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management), the Colorado State Forest Service, and Chaffee County Government, Emergency Services, and Sheriff’s Office. This collaboration will provide a multi-jurisdictional approach to strategic planning, and improve fire suppression and fuel treatment efficiencies on public and private lands.
It is an “umbrella plan,” encouraging local subdivisions or communities to create their own site specific CWPP.

Specific objectives

1. Review the CWPP every two years and make changes as needed through consensus building process within the coalition.
2. Evaluate the identified priority list at a minimum of every five years, to ensure currency.
3. Conduct quarterly meetings to monitor changing circumstances, review progress, and update the plan by adding any new subdivisions or landowners

B. Public Safety and Awareness

Goal: Promote and develop materials and programs in prevention and education that improve community wildfire awareness and safety.

The CWPP provides a forum for the coordination of public meetings, discussion groups, and public information campaigns to create awareness within Chaffee County about wildfire danger and to create action to mitigate hazards on both public and private lands, and improve prevention and preparedness.

Specific objectives

1. Develop an initial assessment of subdivision risk to catastrophic wildfire and preparedness for wildfire. Present the assessment to the residents of Chaffee County through this CWPP.
2. Within three months of plan approval, create a link to the Chaffee County website providing public access to coalition progress, and information for developing local community wildfire protection plans in their own neighborhood.
3. Within three months of plan approval, distribute copies of the CWPP and reference materials to libraries, post offices, and fire stations.
4. Promote the involvement of communities and or landowners to become a part of the Chaffee County CWPP by attending association meetings and public workshops as requested.
5. Provide information to individuals and homeowners associations for creating defensible space and reducing the susceptibility of structures to wildfire by identifying websites and other sources in this document.

C. Fuels Reduction

Goal: Facilitate appropriate hazardous fuel reduction by illustrating the areas of greatest wildfire hazard and developing the highest priorities for fuels abatement treatments.

The CWPP displays the relative levels of wildfire hazard in the County, both private and public, and selects the highest priority areas for land management agencies to focus their fuels treatment activities on public lands. Also, the identification of the highest areas of concern will improve multi-jurisdictional pre-suppression planning and facilitate the implementation of cross boundary projects.

Specific objectives

1. Develop an initial county-wide assessment of wildfire hazard on both public and private lands, and display that assessment in this document.
2. Provide a list of the three highest priority areas within Chaffee County, to public land manager and to the public.  The goal will be to focus on these high priority areas for fuel treatment projects, reducing the wildland fire danger, and protecting life and property. Display those priorities in this document.
3. Hold 3 to 5 public meetings/year to gather input from the stakeholders that are in the high priority areas.  At the meetings identify action items for work to be done on private, state or federal lands.  In addition, provide justification for those action items. Identify a point of contact or representative for a community that wants work done.
4. Revaluate those priorities, at least every 5 years, or as project planning and implementation are completed on the private and public lands.
5. Provide support, through the coalition, to create cooperative efforts across jurisdictional or ownership boundaries on an ongoing basis as requested.