A FOREST TREATMENT GUIDE FOR LANDOWNERS
THANK YOU for connecting with Chaffee Treats and considering conducting a forest management treatment on your property!
By taking action on your land, you are helping not only protect your home but also contribute to overall community fire resilience.
This guide is designed to help clarify treatment options and outcomes for your property. We have divided our treatment options into three tiers and will describe outcomes by dominant forest type.
TREATMENT TIERS
Forest Restoration: This option is for landowners looking for the highest reduction in wildfire risk and best wildlife habitat benefits and protection from insects.
Forest Improvement: This option is for landowners looking for moderate reduction in wildfire and insect risk, and moderate benefit to wildlife.
Fuels Reduction: This option is for landowners who want to reduce the risk of active crown fires, but also retain abundant tree cover on their land. This option will have the lowest wildfire risk reduction and forest health improvements.
FOREST TYPES
PinonJuniper
After treatment, your property will have meadow-like openings, and your trees will be older in age, with 21 to 45 trees per acre
After treatment, your trees will be of a variety of ages, placed individually and in some groups to create openings, with 45 to 70 trees per acre
After treatment, your trees will be a variety of ages and evenly spaced, with up to 110 trees per acre
Ponderosa Pine Aspen / Riparian Cottonwood
After treatment, your forest will have 10-40% canopy cover and 10-35 basal area.
After treatment, your forest will have 20-50% canopy cover and 35-55 basal area.
After treatment, your forest will have 40-60% canopy cover and 55-80 basal area.
Dry Mixed Conifer
After treatment, your forest will have 15-35% canopy cover and 20-40 basal area.
After treatment, your forest will have 20-40% canopy cover and 40-55 basal area.
After treatment, your forest will have up to 40% canopy cover and 55-80 basal area.
HELPFUL DEFINITIONS
canopy cover the portion of forest floor covered by tree crowns, from a bird’s eye view basal area average amount of an area occupied by tree stems
This option significantly reduces the amount of aspen lost in a wildfire and promotes the most amount of aspen regeneration.
After treatment, your forest will have:
• Up to 5% conifer trees
• Meadows in size of 2.5 to 10 acres
• A buffer zone with no conifers
This option reduces the amount of aspen lost in a wildfire and starts to promote aspen regeneration.
After treatment, your forest will have:
• Up to 10% conifer trees
• Meadows in size of 2.5 to 10 acres
• A buffer zone including only older conifers
This option retains the highest number of aspens after a wildfire. After treatment, your forest will have:
• Up to 20% conifer trees
• Openings in size of up to 2x tree height
• An untouched buffer zone
