Category Archives: Mitigation

Work Day: Saturday 12 May

Howdy Neighbors!

Here’s the plan for this coming Saturday’s mitigation day:  We’ll meet at the corner of Evans & Fallon Roads at 8:30am, with the intent to work until 12:30.  We’ll forgo the chipper this time around, instead focusing on cutting and stacking.  We’ll tackle three areas, in this order, based upon how many workers we get:

  1. Hand trimming along Fallon Rd.  Bring hand clippers!  This is where most of us will work.  The stuff there is too thin to use a chainsaw, but seems too big to mow.
  2. We’ll put one crew (1 sawyer + 2 swampers) with Walt back in his gully.  Walt has done a ton of great work in there already, but the east end of the gully could use help.  That crew will work under his direction, since it’s his place.
  3. If we still have enough people, then one or two saw crews on the east side of Mt Herman Lane, just short of the north end, clearing the right-of-way.  Probably just 90 mins to get this area done.

So regardless of whether you’re working #1, 2, or 3 – please meet at Fallon & Evans, at 0830.  We’ll dispatch from there, and probably adjust a bit from the above plans.

We hope to do a day focused on chipping sometime soon (end of June?); this way everyone has some time to drag stuff out to the road or other easy-to-reach areas.

Also: we could use a photographer, as we’ve done in the past, to document the activity.  A good cellphone camera is fine.

Thanx, see y’all Saturday!

Fuel Mitigation Reimbursement Available

Hello neighbors! The Mt Herman CWPP group has $4,000 in Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership funding available to reimburse landowners who have recently (since last summer) cleared woody fuels to enhance defensible space on their properties. Grant money would match one half of the expense, up to a maximum of $1,000 per acre. The labor rate for work done by a property owner is $25.96 per hour. Reimbursement could also apply to contract work. This offer extends to work which will be completed by the end of April 2018.

Please contact Diane if you wish to apply for reimbursement.

Firewise/Chipping day – Sat July 8th at 8am

Howdy Neighbors!

Our annual Firewise and chipping day is this coming Saturday, July 8th, 2017, starting at 8am. Meet at Toni’s corner, the top of Evans Rd.  Drag your cuttings out to the road (cut ends out please), or someplace easy to drive to.

We will be running the chipper generously loaned to us by Rich and Lindsey’s parents.  We need a volunteer with a truck to pull the chipper (we have the pintle hitch), and a volunteer to photograph the event so we get our firewise credit.

If we have enough folks for the chipper, we’ll send a couple guys to buck last year’s firewood. So bring a chainsaw if you have one please.

Thanx, see y’all there!

E5 and E8 – Almost funded, need a bit more please

We’ve nearly got a start on a full mitigation of the east-side of the Gauntlet: areas E5 and E8.  These are areas that threaten our whole community.  The contractor is ready to go, the property owners along that area have already agreed to pay for a considerable amount of mitigation, and CUSP is matching that amount.  Although we’ve got several thousand dollars committed already, we’ve still come up $725 short.

If the rest of us could pitch in a little, we could get this work completed.  $60 from each family would probably do it, more if you’re willing, but I’d prefer an even split.  If you can help out, please let Steve or Diane know ASAP* so we can get the ball rolling before the snow really hits.  Based on the response, I’ll get back to y’all with the amount (which may be less than 60; we’re already more than halfway there from those I’ve talked to.) 

Thanx!

*Please let us know by Oct 31/Halloween, we want to get on the contractor’s Nov schedule.

 

Chipper Day Postponed

Hey all – We’re postponing the Chipper Day until next month.  Too many of us are gone tomorrow to make it be effective.  Watch this space for the new date.  In the meantime, continue mitigating your own places and stack the slash where we can drive the chipper to it.  Thanx!

Chipper Day

Friday, 24 April (the last day of our county ROW permit) will be our chipper day. We will start with piles on Doolittle and head west; Approximately @ 10am. If possible, call Mark S. to schedule when you can be there – we will try to balance the work force to keep it running all day.

Chipper Day – Need Your Help

We plan a chipper day this week – Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday (TBD).  If you can help, please contact Mark S (cell # is four 65 – forty-four 25).  The goal is a one day rental to clear up all the slash along the roadways, before our permit expires this coming Friday.

About that slash…

Y’all are probably wondering about the slash piles left in the neighborhood from Saturday’s work. We had planned to have CUSP return quickly to use their chipper on the piles. However, CUSP was called off to aid fire-fighting efforts near Cripple Creek. We hope that once they are done up there, they will be able to return to our neighborhood to help us. That’s all for now, more when we have it.

Gauntlet Clearing and More – Starts Friday

Starting tomorrow – Friday – and going into next week, we’re clearing the Gauntlet and other areas in our plan.  We’re getting help from CUSP, the Air Force Academy football team, Tri-Lakes Fire, El Paso County, and of course ourselves.

We have only a limited time that our permit is valid to clear the county right-of-ways (ROWs), so our focus will be on those areas once the Gauntlet is conquered.

We need your help — please check for an email from Mark for details on what’s going on and how you can help.  Also, if you have slash to be chipped, here’s your chance to get it done.

Thanx in Advance!

County Permit Obtained

A “thank you!” to our miracle workers Mark & Mark for their near-heroic efforts combating the bureaucratic gauntlet known as El Paso County, to get our right-of-way work permit for our own gauntlet area, for this weekend’s mitigation project.