Community Wildfire Protection Plan
The Eagle County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is a collaborative roadmap for reducing wildfire risk and building long-term resilience across our communities, landscapes, and critical infrastructure.
The Eagle County Community Wildfire Protection Plan
The Eagle County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) was finalized and adopted on December 15, 2023. The CWPP stands as a robust and comprehensive blueprint, thoroughly designed to safeguard our community against the escalating threat of wildfires. The plan’s strength lies in the collaborative partnerships formed with local organizations, government entities, and the active engagement of our community through public input sessions. Over the past year, we brought together residents, landowners, state and federal agencies, municipalities, metro districts, fire districts, non-profits, utility providers, conservation groups and others to assess the risks specific to Eagle County, and develop a plan to reduce the potential impact of wildfires. The CWPP provides high-level strategies and actions which outline an ongoing journey to improve the resilience of our community, and a proactive investment in reducing wildfire risk in Eagle County. They are intended to motivate and empower local government, communities, and property owners to organize, plan, and take action on issues impacting the safety and resilience of values at risk in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Eagle County comprises 1,700 square miles of primarily mountainous terrain in central Colorado. Geographic constraints coupled with rapid population growth has forced a great deal of new development into the County’s wildlands and away from centrally located fire protection services. This pattern of development has substantially increased the probability of catastrophic losses from wildfire across the county.
The risk of severe wildfires in Eagle County poses an immediate threat to the health and safety of its residents. Large scale, high severity wildfires can lead to a host of negative long-term impacts related to the destruction of private property and infrastructure, suppression costs, loss of natural resources, and reductions in water quality. Much has been accomplished in an effort to address wildfire risk in Eagle County over the last decade, but more can be done to unite existing plans and efforts under the umbrella of community fire adaptation.
The 2023 Eagle County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) stands as a robust and comprehensive blueprint, thoroughly designed to safeguard our community against the escalating threat of wildfires. Formulated through a collective effort, this plan not only outlines strategic processes but also highlights the unwavering commitment we hold for the well-being of our community.
At the heart of the CWPP is a deeply ingrained belief that within our community we possess the capacity to influence the outcomes of future wildfires. This plan, with its overarching theme, underscores the collective strength and resilience of our community. It is not just a response to challenges, but a proactive initiative in shaping our shared future.
The plan’s strength lies in the collaborative partnerships formed with local organizations, government entities, and the active engagement of our community through public input sessions. This CWPP is a testament to our commitment to resilience, providing a clear roadmap for effective implementation and paving the way for a safer, more secure future. This CWPP is not destined for a shelf, it will actively guide and adapt to evolving circumstances. It is a living document that reflects our ongoing commitment to community safety, and serves as a flexible tool for effective wildfire management.
Acknowledgements
The success of the CWPP owes much to the dedication and expertise of the core planning team, a group of individuals committed to the safety and prosperity of our community. Special gratitude is extended to:
Eagle County Emergency Management
Eagle County Emergency Management
Eagle County Natural Resources Department
Vail Fire and Emergency Services
Eagle Valley Wildland
Eagle Valley Wildland
Eagle Valley Wildland
USDA Forest Service
USDA Forest Service
Bureau of Land Management
Colorado State Forest Service
Colorado State Forest Service
Eagle County Wildfire Collaborative
Their collaboration and commitment underscore the importance of proactive measures in wildfire management, ensuring that our community is well-prepared and resilient in the face of potential challenges.
The Core Team
Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) help communities assess local hazards and identify strategic investments to mitigate risk and promote preparedness. Assessments and discussions during the planning process can assist responders with fire operations in the event of a wildfire and help residents prioritize mitigation actions. CWPPs were directed by the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA). The legislation established incentives for communities to develop comprehensive wildfire protection plans and directed the Departments of Interior and Agriculture to address local community priorities in fuels reduction treatments on federal and non-federal lands. In compliance with Title 1 of the HFRA, the CWPP requires agreement among local government, local fire departments and the state agency responsible for forest management (the Colorado State Forest Service). The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 (BIL) provides a significant investment of grant funds through 2026 for further development and implementation of CWPPs.
Purpose and Need for a Community Wildfire Protection Plan
Recognition of Past and On-going Work
Wildfires pose the highest risk of catastrophic loss from any hazard to the communities of Eagle County. Recognizing this significant hazard, Eagle County adopted its first CWPP in 2004 and has been working extensively to mitigate potential risks ever since. The wildfire risk is not borne by any one jurisdiction within Eagle County, and therefore the mitigations must be addressed by a large number of organizations at all levels working in a coordinated fashion. Since the adoption of the first CWPP, a coordinated effort of local and county government, federal and state land management agencies, and non-profit organizations have implemented over 38,000 acres of fuels reduction treatments, adopted and strengthened local building and planning codes, implemented innovative public outreach and education programs, and developed redundant and robust emergency response and evacuation plans to ensure safe and effective wildfire response. The Eagle County Wildfire Collaborative was reinvigorated in 2022 in an effort to develop higher levels of coordination between the large number of organizations addressing wildfire risk within the county and to meaningfully address risk at a pace and scale to protect the community and guests of Eagle County. A detailed summary of previously completed wildfire risk reduction activity can be found in Appendix D-Fuels Treatment History in Eagle County.
Plan Integration
Since the adoption of Eagle County’s 2011 CWPP update, there have been many changes to population and development dynamics in Eagle County, the adoption of sub-area CWPPs, the completion of a variety of mitigation projects, and long-term impacts from wildfires themselves.
In addition to the County’s CWPP, six other communities have created CWPPs to prepare for and mitigate wildfire risk. The Cordillera Property Owners Association in Edwards published a CWPP in 2004. Followed by Beaver Creek Resort in 2007, Arrowhead and Bachelor Gulch in 2008, Eagle River Fire Protection District in 2019, and Vail in 2020. Each of these plans serve as an area-specific supplement to the goals of the Eagle County CWPP, and further prepare these communities for the inevitability of a catastrophic wildfire event. It is hoped that over the next few years, the above mentioned CWPPs will be integrated into this plan.
Source Water Protection Plans (SWPP) have also been completed for the Town of Gypsum in 2018, Town of Eagle in 2020, and Eagle River Water & Sanitation in 2022. Source water protection plans include a wide variety of actions and activities aimed at safeguarding, maintaining or improving the quality and/or quantity of sources of drinking water and their contributing areas. Many of those actions have been included in this plan, and remain an integral part of maintaining the quantity and quality of drinking water in Eagle County.
This plan also supplements the wildfire hazards section and is adopted by reference within the 2024 Eagle County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan.
Plan Goals
The development of the goals set forth in this CWPP was guided by input from dozens of stakeholders representing a wide-ranging set of public, private, academic and non-profit organizations. The high-level nature of the strategies and actions in the plan outline an ongoing journey to improve the resilience of our community, and a proactive investment in reducing wildfire risk in Eagle County. They are intended to motivate and empower local government, communities, and property owners to organize, plan, and take action on issues impacting the safety and resilience of values at risk in the WUI. These strategies and actions should be further developed, implemented, and refined over time in order to facilitate the transfer of practical knowledge through collaboration between stakeholders.
-
Goal 1: Reducing risks to public health and safety posed by wildfire disasters
As climate change exacerbates the size, intensity, and duration of wildfires, there is the possibility of catastrophic impacts to the health of Eagle County’s residents and visitors. As wildfires can rapidly change the face of a landscape by burning down homes and entire neighborhoods, access to safe evacuation routes and resources to support individuals and families during and after an evacuation is crucial. Poor air quality and a lack of safe and sanitary drinking water due to wildfire can cause serious health concerns in the community and can disproportionately impact vulnerable populations.
-
Goal 2: Reducing structure ignitability and improving community wildfire resilience
Eagle County is a diverse community of over 55,000 full-time residents and millions of visitors annually. It is also a growing community, with a projected 2040 population of 71,000 people. Just as diverse as the ecosystems of the county, so is the building stock. Eagle County has nearly every type of development from low density rural landscapes, to areas of high density urban development (and everything in between). Additionally, the age of structures ranges widely from historical mining and ranching buildings built in the late 1800s, to modern construction built to the latest building codes. As a desired end goal, every structure within Eagle County will be built and maintained in a condition where it will stand alone without the need for firefighter intervention in the face of a wildfire. If every structure is resistant to wildfire threat, then every community will be as well.
-
Goal 3: Protecting critical infrastructure from negative wildfire impacts
The critical infrastructure of Eagle County is more than just the roads, resorts, and homes; it also consists of a complex system of transmission lines for energy, water storage and transport infrastructure, and natural systems, such as watersheds and rivers, that the County relies upon for services and community health. As Eagle County continues to grow, the demand on the complex interdependent infrastructure to provide water, electricity, transportation, and recreational and business services will follow suit. In the aftermath of the fire, mud-flow runoff and debris events have occurred in the area, along with elevated risk of future events which pose a direct threat to the stability and vitality of Eagle County.
-
Goal 4: Protecting ecosystems and natural resources by decreasing the probability of landscape scale, high severity wildfire events
Although wildfire is an essential tool in managing ecosystem health, historically high and continuous fuel loads, increased potential for human ignitions due to recreation, and climate change is exacerbating the size, intensity, and duration of wildfires. High severity wildfires over large areas can have devastating impacts on important habitat and vital ecosystem functions; this includes damaging or destroying sensitive wetland and riparian areas, imperiling threatened and endangered species, encouraging invasive species, and endangering native plant communities. Wildfires can also fragment and reduce habitat, compromising foraging areas and protective cover for prey animals, thereby increasing predator pressures.
Eagle County by the Numbers
More than 80% of Eagle County’s land is public and includes National Forests, wilderness areas, U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) properties, and state and local public lands, with approximately 20% private lands.
55,285
POPULATION (2020)
33,902
HOUSING UNITS
$640,000
MEDIAN HOME VALUE
