Hike to Threatened Forest: Beaver Ranch Park (Conifer, CO)

On Sunday, May 18 @ 11 a.m., join fellow nature lovers on an easy 1.5 hour, 2-mile hike through threatened forest in Beaver Ranch Park (1.5 miles south of Conifer, right off 285), threatened this July by aggressive and scientifically-contested “fuel reduction” logging by Jefferson County Open Space.

Despite making some minor concessions, sadly, Jefferson County Commissioners continue to ignore public opinion, peer-reviewed science, and even the county’s own studies challenging the or effectiveness of—or need for—cutting forests in the name of “community protection” from wildfire, with plans to log 86 acres of the popular Beaver Ranch Park less than 40 minutes from downtown Denver.

The controversial proposal includes cutting “large trees,” removal of 40 to 75 percent of forest overstory, and clearcutting all lodgepole pine in the two units at a cost of $4,500 per acre, according to Jefferson County. Learn more here about the science contesting this reckless scheme—including reports revealing the ineffectiveness of previous “fuel reduction” at Beaver Ranch Park.

Come and see for yourself what we’ve got to lose and join your voice with other nature lovers to demand that Jefferson County stop siphoning tax dollars away from actually protecting communities from wildfire (through grants for home hardening and defensible space up to 100 feet around homes) and into the pockets of private logging corporations.