-by Ruthe Hannigan

Many of us who live in the Evergreen area are horrified by what is being passed off as “forest health” but seems to be nothing more than a logging operation which is leaving our local public parks devastated. They (the loggers and the people who have hired them), without public input, and no response to prior efforts to communicate (called, sent letters) continue to strip vast areas of land by cutting hundreds of trees leaving acres of clear cut forests. As part of the evidence that this is not for fire safety, they have left massive amounts of wood chips and debris on the forest floors, creating more fire danger from the dried fuels left in some cases now for years. Dozens of large healthy trees have blown down this summer from the wind tunnels left by this clear cutting. I counted 23 of these on the first 1/4 mile at Flying J and similar numbers at Alderfer.  

There are petitions circulating, but Jeffco Open Space is ignoring us and refuses to include public input. Many of us will no longer walk some of our previously favorite trails due to the devastation they have left. And why — is this for use of Federal dollars? If Jeffco really thinks this is legitimate, why won’t they seek public input? Of course if they did they will find a lot of people enraged that they are spending our tax dollars ruining our public parks. There are much better ways to do fire safety measures, such as hardening people’s homes (which is being done) and cutting old diseased trees, which is not what is being done.  

How do we get some response? This needs to stop, though it is already too late for Meyers, Flying J, and Alderfer, but not too late for Elk Meadow, which has just started. 

(Originally published in Canyon Courier, 9.5.24)