Custer County is framed around the Wet Mountain Valley, including major parts of the Sangre de Cristo and the Wet Mountains of south-central Colorado. Its forests are a highly valued component of the mountain environment, which has seen steady changes in increased wildland residential use over the past two decades. The interface of public wildlands, primarily National Forests, has combined with increasing wildfire fuel buildup to create massive wildfire hazards to most of the County - and destructive, dangerous wildfires have steadily been increasing in and near the County.
The Custer County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) was organized to study countywide wildfire hazards and risks, and to determine community priorities and strategies for action. Statistical and map-based wildfire hazard rating systems, along with public and agency collaboration and input, were used to identify countywide problems and two high priority, large "Landscape Neighborhoods" on the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) for initial fuel mitigation action. These are Alvarado and Lake Isabel. However, it is important to note that all small-parcel forested areas of the county were found to be high-risk and need urgent attention.
Extensive public meetings and reviews of the research data, maps, and Draft CWPP formed a two-year educational process of what is at stake and what to do. This led to detailed discussion of individual
landowner and community priorities and strategies for viewing the problem, and finally to some practical means of action.
