This partnership is being led by the Grand Valley Ranger District of the US Forest Service, in collaboration with American Rivers. 

Other key partners include: 

• Two Rivers Wildfire Coalition

• West Region Wildfire Council

• Colorado State Forest Service

• Colorado West Land Trust

• City of Grand Junction

• Town of Palisade

• Grand Mesa Water Users Association

• National Forest Foundation

• Natural Resources Conservation Service

• Powderhorn Resort

• Bull Creek Reservoir Company

• RiversEdge West

This is a partnership of stakeholders initiated by the Forest Service in 2022 to coordinate efforts to increase resilience to wildfire and post-wildfire hazards on Western Colorado's Grand Mesa. It is being led by the Grand Valley Ranger District of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest (GMUG) and American Rivers.  

The following planning initiatives are laying the groundwork for strategically selecting projects to increase resilience to wildfire and post-wildfire hazards on the Grand Mesa: 

• Wildfire Ready Watersheds Planning (GM WRW) to mitigate and plan for post-wildfire risks, like flooding and debris flows. 

  • • Scope of work for grant awarded October 2024

    • Kickoff meeting materials & notes 

    • Maps of Values at Risk from post-wildfire hazards. 

• Forest Service Watershed Restoration Action Plan (WRAP)

  • • Presentation

GMWRP/ Wildfire Ready Watersheds Action Plan Kickoff Meeting 5-5-25

The kickoff meeting for the Grand Mesa Wildfire Ready Watersheds Action Plan was held May 5, 2025 with the consulting team selected for the project.  Materials from the meeting are posted below: 

• Meeting Notes

• Presentation slides: project background, vision, goals and objectives. 

• Presentation slides: Consultant Presentation

• Presentation slides: Forest Service Watershed Restoration Action Plan for Big Creek & Cottonwood Creek watersheds. 

Wildfire Ready Watersheds Action Plan Development & Meetings

In October 2024, American Rivers was awarded a grant to develop a Wildfire Ready Watersheds Action Plan from the Colorado Water Conservation Board.  This will enable stakeholder and technical work to assess how susceptible key values at risk are to post-wildfire hazards like flooding and debris flows and identify projects to reduce those risks. 

A series of stakeholder meetings is being held to get the project started and guide it going forward.  Materials are posted below: 

• Cedaredge meeting 11/20/24

  • • Handout and Map

    • Notes 

• Mesa Creek stakeholder meeting 11/12/24

  • • Handout - including map

    • Notes 

• Full stakeholder meeting 11/5/24

  • • Notes

    • Presentation slides

• Kannah & Rapid Creek Stakeholder Meeting 12-18-24

  • • Notes

    • Map

Colorado Water Conservation Board's Wildfire Ready Watersheds Program