Community wildfire protection plans
The below information is adapted from the Colorado State Forest Service.
Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) are authorized and defined in Title I of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) passed by Congress on November 21, 2003, and signed into law by President Bush on December 3, 2003.
The Healthy Forests Restoration Act places renewed emphasis on community planning by extending a variety of benefits to communities with a wildfire protection plan in place. Critical among these benefits:
The option of establishing a localized definition and boundary for the wildland-urban interface (WUI)
The opportunity to help shape fuels treatment priorities for surrounding federal and non-federal lands
Public safety and community sustainability
The CWPP, as described in the Act, brings together diverse local interests to discuss their mutual concerns for public safety, community sustainability and natural resources. It offers a positive, solution-oriented environment in which to address challenges such as:
Local firefighting capability
The need for defensible space around homes and subdivision
Where and how to prioritize land management on both federal and non-federal land
Platte Canyon Fire Protection District’s CWPP
Appendix 1.1: Neighborhood packages
Appendix 1.2: Neighborhood packages
Appendix 1.3: Neighborhood packages
Appendix 2: NFPA wildfire hazard checklist
Appendix 3: Intro to wildland fire behavior
Appendix 4: Creating wildfire defensible zones around your home
Appendix 5: Protecting your home from wildland fire
Appendix 6: Preparing your home for wildfires
Appendix 7: Fuelbreak guidelines
Appendix 8: Firefighter safety
Appendix 9: Lodegpole pine management guidelines
Appendix 10: Pile construction guide
Appendix 11: Fire planning and implementation policy guide
Park County’s CWPP
Park County’s CWPP was initially created in 2009 and was updated in 2015 (see PDF links below). Due to recent growth of the area, the plan is currently being updated to better accommodate the larger population and added residential and commercial properties. The updated plan is slated to be finished by early 2020.