Wildfire Ready Projects in Boulder

• Bison Drive-Kossler Forest Thinning (Spring-Fall 2025): The Bison-Kossler forest thinning project on Flagstaff Mountain is a joint effort between the city’s Open Space and Mountain Parks and Utilities departments. The work is directly upwind from the city and is designed to improve forest habitat health and function while protecting drinking water infrastructure, hydroelectric generation facility infrastructure, and two key Xcel Energy powerlines. Addressing dense forest conditions in this area will build upon previous forest treatments, facilitate first responder access and emergency egress, and minimize the potential for fire spread into Boulder while improving overall forest health. This project will cover about 90 acres.
• Shanahan Ridge Forest Thinning (Summer 2025): This forest health and fire mitigation project in the Shanahan Ridge area in south Boulder will focus on creating larger meadows and removing patches of small to medium diameter trees. Open forest conditions support more diverse vegetation communities, provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, and will reduce fuels adjacent to powerlines. This project will cover roughly 40 acres.
• Sanitas Valley Forest Thinning (Fall 2025): The Sanitas Valley thinning project is located adjacent to the western edge of the city and involves removing some small to medium diameter trees along Dakota Ridge and limbing trees adjacent to the Sanitas Valley trail. The effort will reduce overall canopy cover along portions of the hogback and reduce ladder fuels adjacent to the trail, enhancing natural fuel breaks in the area. The project will cover about 25 acres.
• Flagstaff Road Forest Thinning (Summer 2025): The Flagstaff Road thinning is located around OSMP infrastructure, including the Top Shop maintenance building, and in the Flagstaff Road corridor. The treatment prescription will focus on improving defensible space around the structure and decreasing fuel loads adjacent to the road. This will improve the road as a holding feature in the event of a wildfire and will build on past work that's been done up and down Flagstaff Rd to improve emergency egress in the area. This project covers about 20 acres.

• Prescribed Burning

  • Doudy Draw Research Burn, approximate date October 8, 2025

  • Upcoming, parcels west of 93 and south of Eldorado Springs Drive, to be announced at a later date

    

• Pilot Grazing Program in north Boulder (Summer-Fall 2025): Long-term grazing in south Boulder on Shannahan Ridge has shown it to be a highly cost-effective way to reduce invasive vegetation that can fuel grassfires. Observations and monitoring following the NCAR Fire in 2022 indicated this practice—when combined with rapid emergency response and other mitigation work—helped slow the fire's spread and reduce its intensity. This summer, the city is planning to apply this land management technique in on-city managed open space in north Boulder – near the Wonderland Lake and Dakota Ridge neighborhoods.
• Targeted Grazing in south Boulder (Summer 2025): Targeted grazing across 500 acres in south Boulder is continuing with an annual treatment to control invasive grasses and mitigate wildfire hazards.
• Perimeter Mowing Program (Summer-Fall 2025): The city continues its pilot program (started in 2024) to reduce community wildfire risks by mowing a 30-foot strip of open space adjacent to targeted neighborhoods. Mowing is planned twice this year next to the Dakota Ridge, Wonderland Lake, Chautauqua, and Devil’s Thumb/Shanahan Ridge neighborhoods. These specific locations were selected based on factors including wildfire risk mapping, ecological data, structure density, and home proximity to city-managed open space. Planned mowing aims to reduce grass height to 4-6 inches and will occur in June/July and again in September/October.

• Wonderland Lake (2025-2028): Open Space and Mountain Parks and Boulder Parks and Recreation have collaborated in developing a cross-boundary fuels management project adjacent to communities in the Wonderland Lake area. These project is being combined with coordinated action across private parcels and HOA common areas, addressing vegetation management and home hardening priorities. The City was awarded a $200,000 grant from Boulder County to experiment with this novel approach to comprehensive wildfire mitigation.

• Sans Souci (2025): The City of Boulder continues its partnership with Boulder County and local non-profit partners in developing a phased wildfire mitigation project in the Sans Souci Mobile Home Park, which is south of the city of Boulder and adjacent to city-managed land.

• The Academy Mapleton (October 2025): Tree thinning, ditch fuels, and grass management on city-managed land and private lands managed by the Academy Senior Living Facility Mapleton Hill has been schedule for implementation in October 2025. Ditch fuel hazards west of 4^th St on city-land will also be mitigated as part of this project, and future opportunities to manage grass fuels in the area are being explore. Plans are in place to connect with the tree thinning project on Dakota Ridge and Sanitas Valley.

The City of Boulder is interested in ways to engage with communities to address shared fuel hazards on city lands and private lands. For more information about cross-boundary fuels management, contact dennisonp@bouldercolorado.gov.

The City of Boulder has many qualified wildland firefighters within both Boulder Fire-Rescue and the department of Open Space and Mountain Parks. The city has a dedicated wildland division with specialist who consider wildfire behavior, daily conditions, city and regional resources, as well as who staff up on high risk days.

Implementing short- and longer-term efforts related to fire ignition prevention through education, enforcement, and infrastructure improvements, and accelerating the city’s early ignition detection efforts.

City of Boulder Police and Open Space and Mountain Parks Rangers actively patrols areas where illegal campfires and other ignition sources are more likely to be found.

The city also has strict fire regulations that are in effect year round.

Developing a tactical fire response plan focused on wildland fire escalation. Addressing response operations, including staffing capacity, wildland fire vehicles, and response equipment. The city has approved the purchase of a new wildland-specific fire truck for 2025 in support of improving its wildfire response.