On July 19, the new Department of Interior Secretary Jewell and Agriculture Secretary Vilsack made an appearance in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Jewell and Vilsack were joined by Senator Mark Udall to announce a federal, local and private partnership to reduce the risks of wildfire to Colorado’s water supply. This is part of the new Western Watershed Enhancement Partnership, which is part of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan.

The speakers talked about working together with water users to identify and mitigate risks of wildfire on Forest Service lands that threaten Bureau of Reclamation water supply, irrigation and hydroelectric facilities.  Audubon Rockies staff, Brian Rutledge and Michelle Berry were present for the event, where collaboration was heavily emphasized as was the importance of landscape scale management.

With all the recent stories and talk amongst neighbors about drought and wildfire conditions, this event is very timely.  Of particular interest to Audubon is the Colorado River, which we hope will benefit from this new partnership.  At risk is the drinking water for 36 million people, irrigation for four million acres of crop land, habitat for threatened and endangered wildlife, and a $26 billion per year outdoor recreation economy.  Additional support for these concerns is found in the Bureau of Reclamation’s Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study (December 2012), which found that there is not enough water in the river to meet current water demands, let alone support future demand increases.

With the backdrop of Horsetooth Reservoir, Secretary Jewell noted, “Cheatgrass is a big problem. It burns hot and is supported by wildfire which impacts critical ecosystems like what we have for the sage-grouse which is a species that is under threat. [There are] a lot of great examples of ranchers working alongside state agencies and landowners to identify those areas in the ecosystem that are so critical and to mitigate that. But climate change is upon us. Our ecosystems are changing. It’s up to us to work together collaboratively to try and mitigate this, and fire is a critical part of the solution but also a critical part of the problem. [We need to be] applying that best available science to be smarter about how we manage these landscapes.”

Read Department of Interior’s Press Release

Read Department of Agriculture’s Press Release

YouTube clip of July 19 Event at Horsetooth Reservoir

Sally Jewell Video Interview with  Denver Post