St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership
The St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership brings together many partners and community members to prepare the landscape and community to receive wildland fire as a natural part of the ecosystem. Working across the 625,000 acre St. Vrain Watershed, we collaboratively plan and implement cross-jurisdictional forest management, conduct adaptive management, integrate the best available science into management planning, and conduct meaningful community engagement. The Partnership is coordinated by The Watershed Center.
Our Vision
Our vision is a healthy and resilient watershed that can sustain wildfire and other natural disturbances to protect communities, keep water supplies reliable, and support diverse flora and fauna for current and future generations.
What we do
Cross Boundary Planning
We coordinate with stakeholders, agencies and community members across jurisdictional boundaries to plan on-the ground forest management projects in strategic areas. Coordination focuses on collaborative projects that achieve multiple benefits for communities, water management, rivers, and forests. This work is supported by the Partnership’s Operations Team.
Science and Adaptive Management
We collaboratively develop guiding documents which incorporate the best available science, like the Partnership’s Guidelines for Defining Desired Future Conditions for Projects. We are currently working toward implementing an adaptive management process that uses monitoring data to inform proposed management actions and outcomes. This work is supported by the Partnership’s Science Team.
Community Engagement
We conduct educational events for local students and community members, as well as opportunities for the public to engage with and provide input to land managers. This work is supported by the Partnership’s Community Engagement Team. See our events page for more!
We want you to be involved!
The St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership is here to:
Keep you informed about forest management across the St. Vrain Watershed.
Answer your questions and connect you with the right people when needed.
Listen to your perspectives on how forest management effort can best support your rivers, forests, and communities.
Want to attend a Partnership meeting, get updates, and stay informed? Join The Watershed Center’s email list (you can expect monthly newsletters). If there’s another way you’d like to get involved with the Partnership, please reach out to The Watershed Center’s Forest Program Director.
New Survey Shows Strong Support for Forest Management in the St. Vrain Watershed
A 2024 survey from partners at The Watershed Center, Wildfire Research Center, and four local fire protection districts – Lefthand, Lyons, Allenspark and Pinewood Springs – received more than 1,100 responses and shows strong public support in the St. Vrain Watershed for proactive forest management on public lands. This survey is reflective of other survey data in the Front Range including Genessee and the Estes Valley.
74% of respondents said thinning trees on nearby public lands is very or extremely acceptable. Most also support strategies like burning slash piles, creating fuel breaks, and prescribed fire.
This community input will help guide the St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership in planning future forest treatments that are informed by local voices, science, and shared values.
“Allenspark is surrounded by public lands, which means decisions about how those forests are managed directly impact our community,” said Chief Mike Cousineau of Allenspark Fire Protection District. “This survey gives residents a voice in shaping how wildfire risk is reduced around us.”
Story Map
To learn more about the ecology of our forests, the importance of active management, what the St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership is, and what projects are happening, please explore our Story Map below or follow this link.
Partnership members
The Colorado NRCS is honored and thrilled to work with the fantastic leadership of the Watershed Center, through the St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership, in their demonstrated devotion and responsibility to the science, the communities, and the resources they serve in this critical landscape. The Watershed Center’s ability to convene diverse collaborative stakeholders, identify needs of the community, in the context of the ecology and the resource concerns as they present themselves in different geographies within the watershed is nothing short of impressive. This bold effort through their leadership represents the gold standard for place-based and science-based collaborative planning and implementation.
News and Press
Funding for St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership coordination provided by
Argosy Foundation, Boulder County Wildfire Mitigation Tax, Boulder County, City of Longmont, Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Justin Brooks Fisher Foundation, Left Hand Water District, St. Vrain and Left Hand Water Conservancy District, U.S. Forest Service, and the National Forest Foundation. See a full list of funders here.