Editor:
Montezuma County commissioners recently decided to discontinue its support of the local Firewise Program in Montezuma County. I am surprised at this decision considering what a valuable resource Firewise provides our community. I say this from two informed perspectives. As a practicing forester, I work with directly with landowners in minimizing fire risks on their properties and understand the importance of the educational outreach that Firewise provides to local landowners. Secondly, I was one of the many property owners directly impacted by last year’s Weber Fire. For many of us, picking up the pieces after the fire was a difficult process, wrought with confusion and frustration.
Fortunately, Rebecca Samulski, the director of the local Firewise program, took it upon herself to step in and fill a huge vacuum in information and assistance. She served as a very active liaison between landowners and the various governmental agencies associated with the recovery process. She spent incredible time and energy setting up landowner/agency meetings, organizing restoration projects, and otherwise looking for ways to assist the affected landowners in putting their lives back together. She even secured a $50,000 grant that helped landowners, among other things, rebuild miles of livestock fencing lost in the fire. She even negotiated with local businesses for favorable pricing to help those grant dollars go further; dollars that were spent in Montezuma County.
Without Firewise, my experience with the Weber Fire would have been a much more difficult process. No other county-associated program or individual, to my knowledge, stepped in to offer any assistance to affected county residents. As fire becomes a more prevalent aspect of our lives in Montezuma County, it is comforting to know that at least one county-supported resource is out there to help landowners develop strategies to reduce wildfire risks, and when fires do occur, to maneuver through the complicated post-fire experience. I urge the county commissioners to reconsider their decision and, as other regional counties do, help fund this incredibly worthwhile program.
Barry Rhea, Mancos
