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Steve Hunter, a civil engineer and hydrologist, and hydrologist Liz Schnackerberg, both with the U.S. Forest Service, were part of a Burned Area Emergency Response team that continued an assessment of the Lake Christine Fire terrainin July.
Aspen Times file -
Beth Anderson, a soil scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, showed how suckers were already shooting up from oak brush roots within the Lake Christine Fire shortly after the fire struck last July.
Aspen Times file
The public is invited to attend a panel discussion Monday about the aftermath of the Lake Christine Fire.
The discussion will be held at Basalt High School from 6 to 8 p.m. The panel will feature speakers from the U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Basalt Police Department, Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“The panel will discuss how the fire has changed the landscape; completed, ongoing and future restoration-mitigation projects; what citizens need to know to be prepared; and how to get involved,” said a statement from Roaring Fork Conservancy, a Basalt-based nonprofit organization that is helping organize the discussion. “Each panelist will give a brief presentation followed by a (Q&A).”
The Lake Christine Fire started July 3 at the Basalt shooting range when a target shooter was allegedly using tracer rounds. The fire threatened parts of Basalt on July 3 and 4, and then threatened El Jebel the night of July 4. Three homes burned in the El Jebel area. Thousands of residents were temporarily evacuated. More than 12,500 acres of state, federal and private lands were charred.
“The panel will discuss how the fire has changed the landscape; completed, ongoing and future restoration-mitigation projects; what citizens need to know to be prepared; and how to get involved.”— Roaring Fork Conservancy
The threat now is flash flooding from hardened soils in the burn scar and debris flow. The town of Basalt is heading the effort of several entities to undertake flood mitigation projects this summer. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has already undertaken extensive reseeding and flood mitigation on the massive Basalt State Wildlife Area.
A citizens’ committee is working on issues involving the shooting range. It’s looking at everything from the feasibility of moving the facility to boosting safety at the existing site.
