Vail is Stepping Up Wildfire Mitigation
Have you noticed all those log "teepees" sitting around Vail's borders? The first phase of a town-wide inspection process to assist in the removal of dead trees on private property took place this past fall. Wildfire crew members studied 419 properties in neighborhoods that were identified as most at risk for wildfire due largely to the recent pine beetle epidemic.
Property owners who were found to have dead or diseased trees on their parcels were notified of a Town of Vail regulation that requires removal of the hazard.
In addition to the inspections, wildfire crews removed 835 hazardous trees on public property, conducted 58 free Firewise property assessments and began burning the first of 1,500 slash piles located in and around Vail. The efforts of the wildfire crews are very visible as one drives around town. From East Vail to Dowd Junction, it’s impossible to miss the silhouettes of the areas that have been cleared of hazardous bio-mass (dead trees).
Media coverage of recent wildfires throughout the Western United States should emphasize the importance of the defensible space wildfire crews have been working to create.
Vail Fire Chief Mark Miller reports the town’s wildfire crews will start work again in 2009, around the first week of May.
In between powder runs and tee shots, long-time Vail local Miles Burton, habitually observes local government.
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