The Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS) is the forest service agency for the U.S. state of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. It is modeled after the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

. Their goal is "providing timely, relevant forestry information and education to Colorado citizens." The

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The ses ...

established the CSFS in 1955. It is headquartered at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

. In 1965 the CSFS was expanded to "provide for the protection of forest resources of the state from fire, insects and disease." Early efforts included addressing

Dutch elm disease Dutch elm disease (DED) is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease was accidentally introduced into Americas, America ...

and

mountain pine beetle The mountain pine beetle (''Dendroctonus ponderosae'') is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America from Mexico to central British Columbia. It has a hard black exoskeleton, and measures approximately , about the siz ...

infestations. The agency's programs were again expanded following passage of the

Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 () is a United States federal law enacted in 1978. It revised the authority of the United States Forest Service (under the earlier Clarke–McNary Act of 1924 and other statutes) for to provide financ ...

. An Incident Command System was put in place in 1981, and the 1989

Black Tiger Fire Sugarloaf (also spelled Sugar Loaf) is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Boulder, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The p ...

Boulder County, Colorado Boulder County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado of the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 330,758. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is Boulder. Boulder County comprises th ...

led to increased legislative activity. The agency's budget doubled following enactment of the federal

National Fire Plan National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

in response to nationwide fires in 2000. The 2002

Colorado wildfires This is a list of Colorado wildfires which have occurred periodically throughout its recorded history.Colorado State Forest ServiceWildfire Policy in Transition: Where There's Smoke, There's Mirrors. One of the most significant fires in United Sta ...

were the worst in the state's recorded history, with over 2,000 fires burning 502,000 acres and forcing 81,000 residents to evacuate. On June 4, 2012, the Colorado state legislature created the

Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

(DFPC) within the Colorado Department of Public Safety, transferring firefighting responsibilities from CSFS.

References

External links

* * State forestry agencies in the United States {{forestry-agency-stub

See also

References

External links