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Larimer County action team proposes clearinghouse, local match funding for land stewardship projects
Summary
At a Feb. 10 work session, Larimer County action team leaders outlined an inventory of restoration resources, gaps in landowner engagement, and proposals for a county-hosted clearinghouse and local matching funds to help leverage state and federal watershed and forest-health grants.
Larimer County officials and local partners outlined gaps and next steps for land stewardship on Feb. 10, proposing a county-hosted clearinghouse for landowners and suggesting the county consider local matching funds to leverage state and federal restoration grants.
The presentation to the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners focused on the Land Adaptation and Resilience Team’s first-year actions, including an inventory of existing partner resources and a gap analysis that prioritized community engagement, funding match needs and outreach to homeowners associations and road associations.
“Creating and or increasing incentives and education for land stewards to implement climate resilient and ecologically adaptive restoration and stewardship practices” was described as the team’s overall action, the presenters said. The inventory catalogued active projects, tools and data used for project prioritization, collaborative groups, funding sources and education resources across partner organizations.
Why it matters: county and partner land stewardship affects wildfire mitigation, watershed health and habitat across private and public lands. Presenters said improving access to consistent information and funding would make it easier for landowners to pursue restoration and wildfire mitigation projects that often require heavy equipment and special contracting.
Details from the update
- Clearinghouse: Anna Cloud of the Larimer Conservation District and Julie Dubin of Peaks to People Water Fund said a single, county-hosted resource page could help landowners find the right partner for forest health, river restoration or other stewardship work instead of navigating multiple organizations’ sites. The presenters said they discussed placing a compiled resource on the Larimer County Extension website so partners could point landowners to one shared page.
- Homeowners and road associations: The team flagged variability in HOA and road association policies as a barrier, especially where private road associations restrict heavy trucks needed to haul logs and chips from restoration sites. Presenters noted logging contracts often include road-maintenance provisions but that access on private roads remains a common hurdle.
- Right-to-manage concept: The presenters discussed the idea of exploring a "right to manage" analogous to right-to-farm laws to reduce barriers for landowners seeking to implement forest health or wildfire mitigation work; they characterized this idea as exploratory and not yet detailed.
- Local match for grants: The team recommended the county consider a local matching program to improve applicants’ ability to secure state and federal funds for watershed and forest-health projects. They cited Boulder County’s tax-based matching fund as an example and noted that mirroring common grant application forms (for example those used for forest restoration and wildfire-risk mitigation) can reduce administrative burden for applicants.
- Coordination with Office of Emergency Management and water teams: The presenters said Larimer County’s Office of Emergency Management has compiled a grant coordination spreadsheet and that the land stewardship team will continue cross-team coordination to avoid duplicating effort.
What commissioners asked
Commissioner Jody Shattuck McNally asked the presenters to expand on specific hurdles landowners face; Julie Dubin described private-road access limitations and the impacts of heavy-haul equipment as 1 example. Commissioners also emphasized the urgent need for funding and for convening partners to align priorities.
What’s next
Presenters said the team will continue work on the county-hosted clearinghouse, pursue cross-pollination with water and agriculture teams, and refine funding-match options for the county to consider. No formal county action or vote was recorded during the update.
Sources: Presentation by Anna Cloud (Larimer Conservation District) and Julie Dubin (Peaks to People Water Fund) to the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners, Feb. 10, 2025.
