The Forestry Fuels Yard got a clean slate this fall, literally. A joint effort between the Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Environmental Programs Department (EPD) helped to remove 2,000 tons of accumulated wood waste from decades of onsite firewood processing. The run-off from stormwater events was causing the nearby Pine River watershed to become overloaded with nutrients and sediments from these decomposing wood piles, which had negative impacts for the river. Meanwhile, workable space at the woodyard was at a premium. 

“The collaborative project between DNR and EPD will provide direct benefits to the Tribe,” said Environmental Programs Director, Mark Hutson. “Nutrient and sediment runoff to the adjacent Pine River will be reduced, improving water quality, while the fuels yard surface improvements will have a profound, positive impact on the working conditions for the Fuels Yard Team.” 

The fuelwood that is produced on the Reservation is processed at the Forestry Fuels Yard and distributed to the tribal membership for firewood and for ceremonial purposes. Firewood is distributed to the membership to heat their homes from October through April of each year. The program also provides sweat wood to a portion of the tribal membership that have a sweat lodge at their primary residence, while also providing firewood for the Bear Dance, Sundance, and Tribal Fair. 

“The program fulfills an average of 250 to 300 firewood and ceremonial wood orders annually, this does not include the [firewood for] Bear Dance and Sun Dance,” said Forestry Division Head, Brian Gideon.  

The purpose of the Tribe’s Forestry Fuels Program is to achieve multiple natural resource objectives, including fuels reduction, forest health improvement, commercial forest stand improvement, and wildlife habitat improvement, through the thinning of the Tribe’s commercial forests and woodlands. The fuel wood produced through these activities is then made available to the tribal membership.  

“The purpose of this project and grant application was to assist the Forestry Division with responsibly managing and disposing of a large accumulation of wood waste generated from over two decades of processing wood for firewood use,” said William Farmer, Remediation Scientist I with the Environmental Programs Department. 

“The Forestry Fuels Yard entire team was a tremendous help in this project,” Farmer said. “They helped with moving the uncut firewood piles around the yard, as we would finish an area, they would move the uncut firewood piles onto the finished area ensuring that we only had to move the wood piles once. With their hard work, we were able to keep this project moving smoothly and work around this logistical challenge. We want to give them a huge thank you.”  

EPD remediation program provided all the contractor oversight and helped coordinate with all the different entities involved through the entire project. “The Forestry Fuels project was the result of successful collaboration between two Permanent Fund Departments, DNR and EPD,” Hutson said. “The efforts resulted in a win-win for the Tribe; the project will reduce impacts to the environment from fuels processing and improve the work area for the Fuels Yard Team.” 

The accumulated wood waste presented several environmental concerns including sediment/nutrient loading into the Pine River, fire hazard, rodent infestation, a noxious/invasive seed bank and health and safety environmental risks to the community. The goal of this project was to reduce sediment and nutrient loading into the Pine River, eliminate fire and air quality hazards, reduce the storage of noxious and invasive seeds, improve working conditions and enhance the visual appeal of the Forestry Fuels Yard. 

This was a two-phase project that used two different grants. One of those grants was from Colorado Department Public Health and Environment and the other was from The Nature Conservancy. The first phase of the project was removing the accumulation of wood waste. EPD contracted Dekon Environmental to provide professional excavation and hauling services.  

“We started phase 1 on July 7 and finished up on July 17,” Farmer said. “Dekon Environmental hauled almost 2,000 tons of wood waste from the Forestry Fuels Yard to Bondad Landfill. They finished ahead of schedule and did a great job.” 

“We contracted Spriggs Excavation Inc. to implement phase 2 of the project, the improvements,” Farmer said. “Spriggs began work on July 28 and finished on Sept. 9. This included re-grading the site, hauling in road base gravel, construction of mulch berms, rock outfalls, and replacing culverts.” 

“All these implementations helped reduce sedimentation and nutrient loading into the Pine River during stormwater events; while also improving the site’s working conditions,” he said. “The improvements allow for better management of stormwater and drainage which is a huge positive impact to the environment and working conditions.”