By Bill Trimarco
Special to The SUN
Photo courtesy Bill Trimarco District Forester Kent Grant of the Colorado State Forest Service presents the Firewise Community/USA award and community sign to Geraldine Macomber, chair of the Echo Canyon Ranch Firewise Committee.The residents of Echo Canyon Ranch have achieved recognition as a Firewise Community/USA. This award recognizes that the community has come together to take action to protect people and property from potential wildfire losses.
They are the first community to gain this recognition in Archuleta County. The Firewise Communities/USA initiative is a nationwide effort to encourage communities in wildfire-prone areas to get assistance from their state foresters and the local fire protection district in assessing the wildfire threat to their area. Collaborating together with a volunteer task force from the community, the agency experts assist those volunteers to develop an action plan that is practical for the community to accomplish. The community pledges to spend $2 per resident each year in local Firewise efforts. Every year they will report on their efforts to protect their homes and families to renew their commitment.
The Firewise Communities/USA recognition is a very important step in having the residents of a community work together to protect their own lives and property. If you would like to learn more about this very real threat and how to be part of a solution, you can visit www.firewise.org/usa or contact the Pagosa Fire Protection District, 731-4191, or FireWise of Southwest Colorado (archuletafirewise@gmail.com).
