This list details the work Jefferson County Open Space plans in its parks in the next few years. Credit: Jefferson County Open Space

“Over the last year or two, I noticed some pretty hefty clear cutting at Meyer Ranch,” said Taylor Short, a Conifer native and Highlands Ranch resident who runs a nature-based mental health program called Harmonious Return. “I was personally horrified.

“I think we all want what’s best, but we need to have the public’s involvement in this,” he continued “We just need to have a temporary moratorium on what’s happening to consider what other options we could be looking at. How can we come together to find a better way for everyone?”

Short has attended meetings coordinated by the grassroots environmental group, Eco-Integrity Alliance. The group says on its website that “aggressive logging (is) decimating Jefferson County Open Space Parks.”

County leaders say that’s not true.

Jeffco Open Space includes about 25,300 acres of forest. Since 2020, the county has done forest mitigation on about 927 acres — just over 3.5% of its total acreage.

“I would caution you to think that it’s large-scale,” said Matt Robbins, deputy director of Jeffco Open Space. “If you factor in the upcoming projects, the total increases to 1,526 acres (or 6.03%) by the end of 2029.”

The county contracts with forest companies to do the work. But representatives of companies in both Oregon and Colorado say Colorado’s timber is not considered high-quality or profitable, and is consequently hard to dispose of.

Jeffco Parks and Open Space Director Tom Hoby said its Forest Health Plan was created by a team of experts in partnership with the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute who applied “a significant amount of science.” And it’s critical in Jefferson County, county leaders note, which ranks No. 1 in Colorado for high and extreme wildfire risk areas. Within the county, Evergreen and Conifer are among the highest risk areas, according to the Verisk/ISO Stateline Report. 

Starting in July, Jeffco Open Space plans to mitigate 86 acres in Conifer’s Beaver Ranch Park. Credit: Jefferson County

“Our focus in Jeffco is how do we balance the safety of our community in a very high-risk fire environment with forest health and the experience of those who enjoy hiking on our Jeffco Open Space trails?” Dahlkemper said. “We have to think through all of those components.”

Dahlkemper admits the changes made to the landscape can be “surprising,” especially right after the work is done.

“There’s no question about it; the first year is always the most challenging,” she said. “But after a few years, you see native grasses come back, and wildlife return in abundance. We’re conducting good stewardship of the forest.”

Area residents don’t all see it that way. Some decry not only the visual impact, but the wood chips and other forest debris left in the wake of the work. They’re concerned about the impact to wildlife, and say some studies suggest clearing large areas of trees can make fires worse.

“It’s a blunt-force trauma, what they’re doing,” said Evergreen’s Ruthe Hannington, who’s also attended Eco-Integrity Alliance meetings. “They’re leaving more fuel on the floors, which makes it much more vulnerable to new fire.

In this late 2024 picture, pine seedlings dot a meadow cleared during a wildfire mitigation project at Flying J Ranch park in 2020. Credit: Jane Reuter

“We’re really into fire mitigation up here, and we’re into forest health. And we’re also into having our recreational spaces protected and not ripped apart.”

Short and Hannington are among a group of people who want to see more public involvement in the decisions.

Dahlkemper said that’s already happened and will continue to. Based on community feedback, changes have been made in the mitigation work, she said.

“They are leaving more trees along trails to help with additional shading and leaving some stands of trees to assist with that experience hikers love,” she said. “The community’s feedback is important to us, and it’s also important we listen to that feedback and adapt our mitigation work as we can to those concerns, while at the same time staying true to the strategic focus of thinning forests based on science.

“Jefferson County is transparent about the work we do regarding forest mitigation,” she added, pointing to virtual town halls, regular meetings and the posted Forest Health Plan as evidence. “Our community has access to all that information.”

She also encouraged residents to email commissioners with questions or concerns at [email protected].

More mitigation will happen in other parks in the future, Robbins said.

“The work is not done,” he said. “We understand the risk that exists out there, and we want to be responsive and responsible with our 25,000 acres of forest land, so we continue to work on it.”

Robbins said the county plans to publicly release its upcoming mitigation plans as part of its 2026 to 2030 Conservation Greenprint, which details such projects and their funding. The 2020 to 2025 Conservation Greenprint is online.

The county also plans several public meetings about the 2026 to 2030 Conservation Greenprint in the next few weeks. The dates and times are not yet set. 

Jeffco plans more tree cutting in its parks to stem wildfires - Colorado Community Media

Jefferson County plans more forest mitigation work in several of its parks in the next two...

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