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Forest Service to Start Aerial Mulching in High Park Burn Zone

Grace Hood
/
KUNC

The U.S. Forest Service will start aerial mulching 881 acres of land scorched by the High Park Fire this week. The agency plans to drop wood shreds on heavily burned public lands near Poudre Park and Monument Gulch areas west of Fort Collins.

“Those are going to be those areas where because of slope, face or severity we wanted to put these wood shreds down instead of just agricultural straw,” says spokesperson Reghan Cloudman.

Cloudman says aerial mulching using straw is slated for late spring or early summer.

The High Park Fire burned more than 87,000 acres, half of which were on U.S. Forest lands. For its part, the U.S. Forest Service has been implementing a Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER) plan to rehabilitate land. Some work has already taken place on roads and trails. But several areas—including Youngs Gulch—are expected to be closed throughout this winter to prevent further damage.

Other proposed projects will include tree removal along roads and trails, trail stabilization, erosion control and weed monitoring.

To read the complete BAER plan, click here.

Aerial Mulching in Fourmile Canyon Fire Burn Area

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrjBZ8RM3Ow

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