The U.S. Forest Service's South Platte Ranger District is seeking public comment on a just-released Environmental Assessment for its Harris Park Fuels Management Project. The project is designed to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire to the densely-populated Harris Park (Colo.) area communities and subdivisions, north and northwest of Bailey. The Environmental Assessment was completed incorporating comments from the public obtained during an initial scoping period in Sept. 2004. Two public open houses were held in conjunction with that scoping process.

The overall Harris Park Fuels Management Project assessment area consists of approximately 26,300 acres on the Pike National Forest, of which 11,158 acres would actually receive treatment. Treatments, which would include both mechanical thinning and prescribed burning, would begin in late 2005 and be expected to take five to seven years to complete..

The proposed project is part of a larger, 38,975-acre interagency effort to address wildland fire hazards across agency boundaries in the Platte Canyon and Elk Creek Fire Protection Districts, from Conifer to Bailey. The Harris Park Fuels Management Project addresses a portion of this area and will be a collaborative effort between the Colorado State Forest Service, the Platte Canyon Fire Protection District and the Pike National Forest. It is designed to complement similar fuels treatments currently being conducted or developed on nearby private lands, at Staunton State Park and on the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest. The proposed project will also contribute to the goals of the Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership, designed to address fire and fuels management issues on a landscape scale across public and private land boundaries.

Current over-crowded vegetative conditions in and around Harris Park place the community at risk from wildfire. The current dense forest conditions have forced trees and other vegetation to compete for often limited nutrients, particularly in drier conditions such as that which Colorado has experienced in recent years. This impacts forest health and makes the forest more susceptible to disease and insects, subsequently killing trees and adding greatly to fuel loadings. In recent years, wildfires, fueled by these conditions, have destroyed area homes and other property, and have seriously damaged critical watersheds; imperiled wildlife habitat; and subsequently reduced recreational opportunities.

The Harris Park Fuels Management Project is designed to create sustainable forest conditions that are resilient to fire, insects and diseases while providing for diverse wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities and sustainable watershed conditions. This can be accomplished by reducing forest canopy densities and ground and ladder fuels across the landscape that have made the forests susceptible to large-scale, high intensity fires. Additionally, through these treatments, aspen stands will be promoted as a more fire resistant tree species.

Written comments may be submitted by mail, e-mail or fax. Comments should be submitted by May 16, 2005 and be sent to: Greystone, Inc., attention: Harris Park Fuels Management Project, 5231 South Quebec Street, Greenwood Village, Colo., 80111. Comments may be faxed to (303) 721-9298, or be emailed to harrispark@greystone.us. Additional information on the proposed project may be seen at the district's website at www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/spl. Click on Harris Park Fuels Management Project. Questions on the project may be addressed to Fred Patten at 303-275-5641.