Ambitious Partnership Between Vail Resorts, The National Forest Foundation and the USDA Forest Service Aims to Comprehensively R
September 28 2009 - 4:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
Editor's Note: Interviews will be scheduled after 6:30 p.m. MT at
the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (or from the Museum) by
contacting akemp@vailresorts.com or janellesmith@fs.fed.us. Photos
and video of the Hayman fire are available, as well. DENVER, Sept.
28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today, United States Secretary of
Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced a collaborative conservation
partnership - "Treasured Landscapes: The Hayman Restoration
Partnership - Working Together for Healthy Forests and Clean Water"
- between Vail Resorts, the National Forest Foundation (NFF) and
the USDA Forest Service, which will be one of the most
comprehensive forest health and watershed public-private
partnership post-fire restoration projects in the country. Seven
years after Colorado's largest and most devastating wildfire this
collaborative work project aims to restore forest health and water
quality to this critical ecosystem located approximately 70 miles
from Denver. For 20 days in the summer of 2002, the Hayman fire
burned a total of 137,760 acres in the Pike National Forest. In its
wake, the fire destroyed 600 structures, obliterated forest
vegetation and wildlife habitat for threatened species, damaged
recreation sites, trails and roads, resulting in frequent closures
of Highway 67. To this day, the fire's aftermath continues to
severely impact the water supply for more than 75 percent of
Colorado residents. Set to begin in fall of 2009, The Hayman
Restoration Partnership is estimated to be a $4-million effort,
with Vail Resorts serving as the private funding catalyst for the
work. The Hayman Restoration Partnership is one of several
initiated under the National Forest Foundation's Treasured
Landscapes forest and watershed restoration campaign. "Thanks to a
significant contribution by Vail Resorts, matched by the US Forest
Service, we are about half-way to our goal of fully funding this
project," said Bill Possiel, NFF president. The goal is to complete
the work by 2012 in time for the 10th anniversary of the Hayman
fire. "The health and prosperity of our country relies on the
health of our nation's forests. The threats facing our forests
require us to change the way we view and manage America's
forestlands, not just for our generation but for future
generations," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "The Hayman
Restoration Project, spearheaded by the US Forest Service, National
Forest Foundation, and Vail Resorts exemplifies our new vision of
collaborative conservation, management and restoration of our
nation's forests. Through private-public partnerships like this
one, we can make our forests more resilient to climate change,
protect water resources and improve forest health while creating
jobs and generating rural wealth through recreation and tourism."
The total project area for the Hayman Restoration Partnership is
over 115,000 thousand acres, with the majority of the work honing
in on 45,000 acres of the most severely affected areas in four
watersheds that feed into the Upper South Platte River, the main
water supply for Denver. Instead of focusing on only one element of
restoration, such as planting trees, the Hayman Restoration project
will address the entire ecosystem with a multi-faceted and
strategic work plan involving restoration and planting of native
species in these four watersheds - West Creek, Manitou Park, Lower
Trout and Four Mile. This comprehensive approach extends beyond the
on-the-ground work to how the project will be implemented with
plans to engage local governments and residents, Vail Resorts
employees, conservation organizations and the entire Front Range
community. Citizens will have opportunities to help in the
restoration work through organized volunteer days. A Local
Coordinating Council is being created to help inform the course of
the project over the next three years. The public-private
partnership spearheaded by the NFF, the Forest Service and Vail
Resorts aims to: -- Plant more than 200,000 ponderosa pine, Douglas
fir and other native trees on 1,700 acres; -- Plant native
vegetation, such as willows, dogwood, grasses and sedge, for river
restoration on 115 acres, across 13 miles; -- Restore habitat for
the endangered Montane skipper butterfly and other threatened
species; -- Reduce erosion to improve water quality and positively
impact the water supply and storage capacity for millions of
Colorado residents; -- Revitalize stream habitats for a gold-medal
trout fishery; -- Enhance or create 18 miles of sustainable
recreational trails; -- Increase the diversity and resiliency of
this critical ecosystem to mitigate future fires, insect
infestations and climate change; and -- Create jobs for Colorado
youth and engage the community through volunteer opportunities.
Colorado's public lands and natural beauty have long been
recognized as defining attributes of the Centennial State, and have
served to attract tourists, jobs and economic opportunities making
tourism the second largest industry for the state. "As the largest
tourism company in Colorado, Vail Resorts has a unique opportunity
and obligation to protect forest health not only for year-round
recreational opportunities but also for the environmental and
economic vitality of our communities, our state and our country,"
said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer for Vail
Resorts. "The Hayman Restoration Partnership is part of our
Company's continuing efforts to take a leadership role in the most
pressing environmental issues, which our employees, communities and
guests are focused on. There can be no mistaking that "clean water"
is absolutely critical to all of our stakeholders." Katz announced
that protecting forest health, including the wildlife, climate
change and clean water benefits would be one of the Company's
primary environmental efforts in the future and that Vail Resorts
would look for additional ways to amplify its actions through
public-private partnerships. "We spoke to many leaders in the
environmental community and concluded that this was the most
pressing issue for our Company to show leadership on. One of the
best attributes of the Hayman Restoration Partnership is how our
actions will be echoed and amplified, so to speak, as we serve as
the catalyst for this project with matching funds from the Forest
Service and other entities." The Hayman Restoration project builds
upon Vail Resorts' existing and ongoing partnership with the NFF
through the Ski Conservation Fund, which has raised more than $1.5
million to date for conservation and environmental projects in the
national forests that surround its resorts. According to Rick
Cables, US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Regional Forester,
catastrophic fires like the Hayman wildfire are just one of the
threats to Colorado's forests. Climate change, disease and pests
like the pine bark beetle infestation also have led to declining
forest health. Cables and other forest health experts agree we need
a multi-faceted, collaborative strategy to forest stewardship
across the state of Colorado and across our country to tackle
complex forest health issues. "These badly burned watersheds need
our help now," said Cables. "The Pike National Forest has worked
tirelessly, together with many partners, since 2002 to restore
these wildlands we all care about; but much more needs to be done."
Without forest vegetation cover, severe erosion in the badly-burned
areas of the Upper South Platte River watershed has led to
significant sediment deposits in streams and reservoirs, loss of
fish and other native species, and impacts to the majority of
Denver's water supply. The health of our forests here in Colorado
and elsewhere around the country are vital to ensuring clean water
with 87 percent of our country's fresh water supply originating
from forests or agricultural watersheds. "The Hayman burn area is
the main watershed for the Denver metro area and 75 percent of the
state, which makes this project one of our top priorities for the
state of Colorado," Cables said. As a matter of fact, Colorado's
National Forests provide water to 10 states and 143 counties.
Healthy and sustainable forests are essential to much that is
treasured about Colorado, including high quality wildlife habitat,
water supplies and recreation, added Tim Sullivan, State Director
of the Nature Conservancy Colorado. "We applaud Vail Resorts for
taking the lead on this public-private partnership with the
National Forest Foundation and Forest Service and feel it will make
a meaningful difference in addressing one of Colorado's most
pressing conservation issues." For more information about the
project: "Treasured Landscapes: The Hayman Restoration Partnership
- Working Together for Healthy Forests and Clean Water," visit
http://sites.google.com/site/treasuredlandscapes/. DATASOURCE: Vail
Resorts, Inc. CONTACT: Justin DeJong of USDA, +1-202-720-4623, ; or
Janelle Smith of USDA Forest Service, +1-303-275-5359, ; or Amy
Kemp of Vail Resorts, +1-303-404-1863, ; or Mary Mitsos of National
Forest Foundation, +1-406-542-2805,
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