Saint Vrain Forest Health Project

The Roosevelt National Forest is collaborating with the St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership on a shared vision to achieve a healthy and resilient watershed that can sustain wildfire and other natural disturbances while protecting communities, keeping water supplies clean and reliable, and supporting diverse native plants and wildlife for current and future generations.

The St. Vrain Forest Health Project will integrate with diverse partners and community members to collaboratively plan and implement cross-jurisdictional, landscape-scale forest restoration in the St. Vrain Watershed that will prepare the landscape and community to receive wildland fire as a natural part of the ecosystem.

As we've observed in recent years in Colorado, wildfires can spread rapidly and burn large areas at uncharacteristically high severity. These events are becoming more frequent and affecting our mountain towns, cities along the Front Range, and other communities across Colorado. Increasing wildfire activity driven by climate change is threatening community safety, forest resilience, and water security.

The first public comment opportunity on this project occurred in June 2022 when Forest managers requested feedback on the initial proposed action. At that time, 35 individuals and organizations submitted comments, which an interdisciplinary team evaluated and used to make factual corrections and clarifications, frame the scope of the environmental affects analysis, modify the proposed actions, and consider additional action alternatives.

The second public comment opportunity started in March 2023, when Forest managers released the draft Environmental Assessment. 25 comment letters were received, with signatories from 16 private individuals and 10 organizations. Consideration of those comments and preliminary responses can be found in Appendix E of the Environmental Assessment.

The objections period began in July 2023. Seven objections were received. The Forest Service convened an administrative review team in September 2023 to look over the project and the objections and make recommendations. As a result of this process, the Forest Supervisor issued eight instructions for responsible officials regarding the project. Objectors received a response letter on November 16, 2023, which can be found in the Objections folder below. How the instructions were implemented are detailed in Appendix G of the Environmental Assessment.

Project Summary

Last Updated: 6/9/2025