Rolling Creek 2 Project Completed!

The primary goals of the Rolling Creek 2 Forest Restoration project included reducing the potential for a high-intensity catastrophic wildfire on the landowners property, increasing the post-fire resiliency of the landscape, promoting the regeneration of shade-intolerant tree species, specifically ponderosa pine and aspen, improving the diversity of wildlife habitat and understory plant species, and protecting the Upper South Platte watershed from potential damaging post-fire sedimentation.

The treatment area encompassed roughly 45 acres of a 70 acre private property near Bailey, and was the second such treatment that JCD has completed in the last several years (hence the phase 2 title). Planning for the project began in early 2020. During a visit to the phase 1 treatment area taking place on an adjacent property, JCD staff members introduced themselves to the neighboring landowners who would go on to implement the phase 2 treatment on their property.  After discussing the landowner's goals and objectives for the property, JCD began planning the project in earnest. Several challenges faced during the planning stages included securing funding for the project and finding a logging contractor who could complete the work. The remote location of the project and the long drive along Wellington Lake Road meant that there was not a lot of interest from local logging contractors to complete the work. The logging phase of the project began in early 2022, about two years after the landowners had been initially engaged - this is a typical timeline for these types of forestry projects. Access into and out of the project did not initially allow for log trucks because of the condition of the entry road, and so many of the logs which were harvested from the project area were processed into firewood on site. This was another major project challenge since it greatly extended the timeline.

There were several major benefits of the project both short and long term. In the immediate sense, the risk of a devastating wildfire was reduced on the property itself and in the surrounding neighborhood and broader forest landscape. The project will also help protect the Upper South Platte Watershed. Opening up the forest canopy and restoring a more historically accurate density, spacing, and species and age composition of overstory trees will also have positive effects on understory species and wildlife habitat. An increased abundance of native grass, forb, and shrub species is expected in the years following the treatment, which in turn, will attract a wider variety of wildlife species. However, non-natives will also repopulate the treatment area, and these will need to be managed going forward. JCD will partner with the landowner to treat non-natives in the years to come. Additional treatment maintenance will include monitoring tree regeneration and managing it accordingly. Specifically tree densities should be kept at a level that reflects the historical forest conditions in and around the project area - conditions which supported low-intensity, frequent surface fires.