As winter arrives in Rocky Mountain National Park, fire managers are taking advantage of the wet winter weather conditions to burn piles of slash.
The downed vegetation, known as slash, has been generated from fuel reduction projects and hazardous tree removal. After two years of being cut and piled, the slash is now dry enough to burn.
Pile burning operations from fire managers at RMNP made a significant impact in fighting the East Troublesome Fire in 2020. “Prior hazard fuels projects aided considerably in stopping the fire from jumping Bear Lake Road and Trail Ridge Road. Years of hazardous fuels reduction projects and bark beetle tree removal on the west side were instrumental in the successful burnout operations around the town of Grand Lake and helped minimize structure loss in the main park housing area,” said RMNP Public Affairs Officer Kyle Patterson in a press release.