Impact Story: Catalyzing Wildfire Resilience in the Big Thompson

The challenges facing Northern Colorado’s forests and watersheds are larger than any single organization can solve alone. Recognizing this, Peaks to People Water Fund launched the Big Thompson Watershed Health Partnership (BTWHP) in late 2022 to provide the collaboration and shared strategy required to meaningfully reduce wildfire risk and strengthen watershed resilience. What began as [...]

One Watershed, Many Hands: A Landscape-Scale Approach to Wildfire Mitigation in the Big Thompson

Last month, members of the Big Thompson Watershed Health Partnership (BTWHP) gathered in the Waltonia and Pole Hill communities to see progress firsthand on several ongoing wildfire mitigation projects. The visit showcased the power of partnership in tackling wildfire risk at a truly landscape scale. BTWHP partners visiting LCD's 153 acre Stage Route project in [...]

Working Together for a Wildfire Ready Future

After two years of robust collaboration, the Big Thompson Wildfire Ready Action Plan (WRAP) is complete—a major step toward ensuring our watershed can withstand and recover from wildfire. This science-based roadmap, developed through Colorado’s Wildfire Ready Watersheds initiative, helps communities reduce the risks of post-fire flooding, erosion, and water contamination. It’s about being ready before [...]

Building Wildfire Resilience from the Ground Up: The Story Behind Our Wildfire Ready Action Plan

Over the past 13 years, the Big Thompson Watershed has endured intense natural disasters that have tested the resilience of our communities and ecosystems. The 2012 High Park Fire and the historic 2013 flood left lasting scars across the region. More recently, the 2020 East Troublesome and Cameron Peak Fires, the two largest in Colorado’s [...]

Exploring Collaborative Forest and Fire Management in Northern Colorado

We recently spent a beautiful day out in the Northern Front Range, surrounded by a vibrant community of partners, scientists, and land managers working together to build more resilient landscapes. This was the first of two field trips leading up to the 2024 Front Range Forest and Fire Symposium, and it brought together leading experts [...]

Navigating the Future of Wildfire Management: Innovations in the Big Thompson Watershed

  In the heart of the Big Thompson watershed, a diverse group of partners has embarked on a pioneering journey to redefine the landscape of wildfire management and conservation. A recent gathering of the Big Thompson Watershed Health Partnership (BTWHP) marked a significant milestone in our collaborative efforts to utilize Potential Operational Delineations (PODs) as a [...]

Fall 2023 Newsletter

We've had an exciting and eventful few months since our last update. Read all about it! We wish to convey our utmost gratitude to you for your support and wish you and yours a joyous holiday season. Peaks to People Fall 2023 Newsletter

Cheley Camps – Main Campus 2023

Project Location: The Cheley Camps of Colorado is located roughly 8 miles West of Loveland, Colorado in rural Larimer County (Fish Creek HUC 12 Watershed). LCD has identified 40.6-acres of forest restoration treatment within the Cheley Camps of Colorado property boundary. Historic forest type is Ponderosa Pine. Species composition has drastically shifted, tree densities are [...]

Summer 2023 Newsletter

Our latest newsletter is filled with lots of great updates! We've had a busy few months filled with conferences, project site visits, grant awards and more. We hope you enjoy reading about all the good things we've been up to. As you'll learn, we are invigorated by the shared commitment to our cause and the [...]

Enhancing Fire Preparedness: Mapping PODs in the Big Thompson Watershed

Last week, members of the Big Thompson Watershed Health Partnership came together for a crucial initiative—to map out PODs (Potential Operational Delineations) across the watershed. Led by Daniel Godwin, Fire Management Planning Specialist and Wildfire Crisis Strategy Program Manager for the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest, this mapping exercise aimed to identify and connect PODs within our [...]