Download (PDF 2.46 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/68980.pdf
Abstract
Wildfires are natural disturbances that are fundamental in many ecosystems of the United States. However, when they burn intensely in places where human infrastructure exists, wildfires can cause catastrophic damage. The Colorado Front Range exemplifies this tension between fire-adapted ecosystems and human development. The native vegetation throughout most of the Front Range evolved over millennia with fire as an important process driving vegetation composition and structure (Romme et al. 2003). But the Front Range has also been a highly desirable place to live since European-American settlers first arrived in the mid-1800s (Veblen and Lorenz 1986), and the area has experienced rapid expansion of urban, suburban, and exurban development in the last century (Liu et al. 2015; Theobald and Romme 2007; Veblen and Lorenz 1986). Since 1989, the Front Range has experienced several wildfires that have become urban fire disasters (table 1).
Parent Publication
Keywords
adaptation,
Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests,
disturbances,
ecosystem services,
fire,
flooding,
forest planning,
forest resources,
infrastructure,
insects,
Pike-San Isabel National Forests,
socioeconomic,
resource management,
water resources,
wildfire,
wildlife
Citation
Karau, Eva; Hanberry, Brice; Dillon, Greg. 2024. Fire risk and climate change in the Colorado Front Range (Chapter 9). In: Hanberry, Brice B., ed. Colorado Front Range climate change vulnerability assessment for National Forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-438. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 323-360.
