Nederland Wildfire Resilience Collaboration
The Boulder Watershed Collective (BWC), the Nederland Fire Protection District (NFPD), the town of Nederland, Colorado, and three Masters of the Environment (MENV) CU students will gather community insights and priorities to inform an update to Nederland’s 2011 Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
Background
Since initiation of the 2003 Healthy Forest Restoration Act, Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP) encourage wildfire prone communities across the U.S. to develop well-planned actions to reduce community wildfire risks and create healthier ecosystems. Essential CWPP components include collaborating with a robust representation of community stakeholders, using maps to identify surrounding environmental conditions and community risks, and designing actions plans to reduce loss of life, infrastructure and property, and to improve environmental health. While Nederland’s current CWPP was developed by a small group of decision-makers with a consulting firm in 2011, community input at the time was limited and does not accurately represent Nederland’s current population. This project seeks to better represent community voices as Nederland’s CWPP is updated in 2022/23 by enacting robust community engagement that is more inclusive and puts Nederland’s community values at the center of these actions plans.
OBJECTIVES:
The Masters of the Environment graduate student team in partnership with BWC and Nederland groups (e.g. Wild Bear, Town of Nederland) is hosting a variety of community engagement initiatives in summer/fall 2022 to provide opportunities for residents to get involved and provide their input for the CWPP update. These initiatives include two visioning workshops, communications at Nederland events, Nederland youth education and monthly newsletter project communications (see below).
Throughout 2022, [contractor] will be [type of management] on 30 acres of Nederland’s Arapaho Ranch property. This management project will…..
(Image left to right: Ellie Prain, Kirin Riddell, Sarah Jensen)
The Masters of the Environment student team is conducting interviews with residents, community representatives, and town decision-makers to capture community priorities and recommended actions for Nederland to become a more fire adapted community, achieve fire resilient landscapes, and have safe and effective fire responses. They will summarize key themes from these conversations in an online StoryMap to update Nederland’s CWPP, inform future seed project(s), and support BWC’s community-driven engagement strategies.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
MONTHLY NEWSLETTERS
Sept/Oct: Youth Advisory Board Workshop
We will be meeting with the Nederland Youth Board to gain their perspective on actions youth and the community can take to reduce wildfire risk in Nederland. If you are a young resident (8th-12th grader) in Nederland looking for ways to get involved in local wildfire planning, join us by emailing erin@boulderwatershedcollective.org for more information!
Sept. 24th: Wild Bear’s Enchanted Forest Event
From 11am-6pm, we will be hosting a table at Wild Bear’s Enchanted Forest Benefit event! Join us in the fun to meet forest creatures, build a fairy house, listen to live music, learn about natural habitats and so much more! Food and drinks available all day long. See you there!
WILDFIRE MITIGATION
FOREST MITIGATION PROJECTS
30 acre project description
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
UPCOMING RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
Nov. 15th: Nederland Board of Trustees Presentation
The Masters of the Environment students will be presenting the themes discovered from ~40 interviews of Nederland residents and two community visioning workshops presented to Nederland’s Board of Trustees - to shed light on actionable next steps Nederland and partners can take to support wildfire resiliency and updates to the CWPP. We welcome you to attend this public meeting (in-person and online).
Nov. 18th: Graduate Student Capstone Presentation
In culmination of all their hard work, the three Masters of the Environment students will present findings from their interviews and multiple community engagement events they hosted to address: 1) community-informed actions for a wildfire resilient future, and 2) how the Boulder Watershed Collective can continue to support Nederland and other mountain communities. Details about this presentation are coming soon!
Graduate Team
Sarah Jensen
Master’s Candidate in Environmental and Natural Resource Policy
University of Colorado Boulder, sarah.jensen-1@colorado.edu
Ellie Prain
Master’s Candidate in Sustainability in the Outdoor Industry
University of Colorado Boulder, elpr4449@colorado.edu
Kirin Riddell
Master’s Candidate in Urban Resilience and Sustainability
University of Colorado Boulder, kirin.riddell@colorado.edu
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
COLLABORATORS & FUNDERS
Living with Fire Design Challenge
This work was supported by Wonder Labs through a Reimagining 2025: Living with Fire
Design Challenge Award. Learn more about the Living with Fire Design Challenge
We recognize that the project area and town of Nederland sit upon land within the territories of the Ute and Arapaho peoples. Further, we acknowledge that 48 contemporary tribal nations are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado. We encourage you to find a genuine connection with the Native persons present in our communities today as well as with the land we live on, and nurture a sacred respect for all.