[BoulderCouncilHotline] Wildfire protection and resilliecy

[Benjamin, Matt]

Dear Council Colleagues, Staff and Members of the Community,

For the second time in three months we have experienced a wildfire with snow on the ground or in the forecast. This seems to defy historical precedent and the expectations of life on the Front Range. Gone are the times of a “fire season” and the hopes that the impacts of climate change would be limited to the arctic and coastal regions of the world.

On the heels of the devastating Marshal Fire and the near miss of the NCAR Fire, we feel the need to expedite community conversations on wildfires that have been planned for later this year. Boulder is experiencing one crisis after another, which means there is no “Good Time” to have these conversations.

We would like to ask CAC to schedule a study session on the issue of Wildfire protection and resiliency as soon as possible.

It would be helpful for council, staff and the community to get up to speed on what we are doing to be prepared for the next fire. Climate resiliency is of utmost importance and we are hopeful that this initial study session will lead to a deeper conversation about life along our wild urban interface. We recognize that wildfire protection and resiliency was not selected as a work plan item at our retreat earlier this year. We hope our council colleagues will join us in elevating wildfire protection and resiliency as a work plan priority going forward. While also acknowledging we may have to remove or scale back one or more of our existing work plan items to accommodate our work on wildfires. Leaning on our experts, community members and those with lived experience will lead to a more resilient community.

Here are some areas of discussion for us to consider in subsequent meetings and community conversations. By no means is this a full comprehensive list, rather more of a starting place.



  *   Review of responses and actions from the Marshal and NCAR Fires.
  *   Identify stakeholders for these meetings and conversations.
  *   Cost benefits of what we are currently doing and if we can do more.
  *   Are there new ideas that protect our community and make us more resilient?
  *   Are there updates to existing and/or new policies we need to enact?
  *   How are we educating the community on the risks of wildfire and living in the wild/urban interface?

We hope we all can rally around the timely importance of improving on the great work that has already been done by staff and first responders to protect our community.

With gratitude and appreciation,


Tara Winer & Matt Benjamin
Boulder City Council


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