Big Thompson River

Our Partnership with the Big Thompson Conservation District

Big Thompson Initiative Partner Profile and Projects Big Thompson Conservation District Peaks to People and Big Thompson Conservation District (BTCD) have been collaboratively working together on forest health projects since 2017. As our organizations have developed and grown so has our partnership. Like Peaks to People, BTCD is also working to improve water quality by […]

Big Thompson

Restoring our Forests Strategically and Collaboratively

Forest investments must be continuous Despite the two largest wildfires in Colorado’s history burning more than 400,000 acres in Northern Colorado in 2020 there is still plenty of work that needs to be done to prevent the occurrence of future severe wildfires. The Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) reports approximately 10% of Colorado’s 24 million acres of forest […]

Poudre River

Wildfire Recovery Efforts Are a Race Against the Clock

Autumn Wildfires: A Curse and a Blessing The Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires impacted more than 400,000 acres and encompassed over 625 square miles in the autumn of 2020. The timing of those fires were both a curse and a blessing. Late season wildfires such as these feed off of drier and more abundant […]

Estes-Park-Evacuation-Thursday-October-22-Credit-Inciweb

Fuel Treatments West of Estes Park Help Save Town from Destructive East Troublesome Fire

A Close Call for Estes Park, Colorado All eyes turned to Estes Park, Colorado on October 21, 2020 when the East Troublesome Fire, which originated west of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) near Grand Lake, jumped the continental divide and began moving eastward. Due to the location of the spot fie, multiple evacuation orders were […]

Pole Hill In Progress

Restoring Forest Health Creates Jobs and Boosts the Local Economy

Peaks to People is pleased to announce that the 250-acre Pole Hill forest health project in the Big Thompson watershed is underway. We are co-funding this project with substantial funds also coming from the Natural Resource Conservation Service Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Northern Water and the Colorado State Forest Service.  This project is located […]

Working for wildlife and healthy watersheds

The Importance of Forest Health for Colorado Wildlife

Restoring Forest Health is a Win-Win The health of our streams and rivers, and the wildlife that depend on them, are directly related to the health of the forests that surround them. Forest structure affects habitat quality for many wildlife species, both terrestrial and aquatic. Historically, wildfires occurred in varying sizes and intensities across the [...]
overgrown forest

The Path to Overgrown Forests

The year of 1910 was one of the driest in recorded History. More than five million acres burned in the United States. Three million of those acres were torched in only two short days during the Great Fire. At least 85 lives were lost, 78 of them fallen fire fighters. An estimated 7.5 billion board […]

Protecting our water resources

Restoring Our Forests to Protect Our Water

Peaks to People Water Fund is working to protect water resources in Northern Colorado by restoring forests to reduce the risk of severe wildfires. The forest restoration projects we fund not only protect water from sedimentation and debris, but also improve forest health and habitat, decrease firefighting costs, and reduce home loss and infrastructure damage. […]

Maximizing Forest Management to Protect Water Supplies

In Northern Colorado, thousands of acres of forests need restoration to reduce the size and severity of wildfires.  Public and private land managers lack the funding to reduce forest fuels at meaningful scales. We need to prioritize and fund forest management where it can best protect our water resources. That’s why Peaks to People and […]

Public Lands Bill landslide

Public Lands Bill is a Huge Victory for Conservation

Despite decades of political divide, we may yet be united through our love of public lands and the need to protect them. In an impressive 92-to-8 vote, the Senate just passed the largest public lands bill in almost a generation.  The 662 page measure is a huge victory for conservation with 1.3 million acres being newly […]