Burned Area Emergency Response Meetings Scheduled for West Fork and Pappose Fire Areas

The Rio Grande National Forest has scheduled two public meetings to share the assessment results and possible actions that can be taken in the West Fork and Papoose burned areas.

The public meetings are scheduled for:

• Wednesday, July 24, 2013 at 6 p.m. at the Creede School Gymnasium.
• Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 6 p.m. at the Community Center in South Fork.

The West Fork and Papoose Fires burned almost 89,000 acres on the Rio Grande National Forest. The loss of vegetation, duff and root systems from the wildland fires make many areas within the burned areas susceptible to flash flooding and debris flows during high intensity rain storms.

A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team was organized to assess the burned areas, identify values at risks and develop proposed actions that can be taken to address the risks within and downstream of the burned areas. Values at risks may include human safety, road and trail systems, structures, utility lines, and natural and cultural resources.

For more information about the public meetings, contact the SLV Public Lands at 719-852-5941. Further information about the West Fork Complex can be found on the Rio Grande National Forest website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/r2/riogrande.

Information provided from San Luis Valley Public Lands Center Information Officer.