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Pitkin County staff to file detailed Forest Service comments on Twin Peaks vegetation project to protect streams, wildlife and roads
Summary
County staff will submit comment on the U.S. Forest Service Twin Peaks vegetation-management environmental assessment, supporting the project for forest health and fire planning but requesting protections: raptor surveys, avoidance of cavity trees, seasonal work windows to protect elk and nesting birds, riparian buffers, fewer stream crossings, erosion controls, burn-pile scheduling and native-seed rehabilitation.
Pitkin County staff said on Feb. 24 they will submit detailed comments to the U.S. Forest Service on the Twin Peaks Vegetation Management environmental assessment, which covers roughly 2,600 acres in the Thompson Creek area.
Staff told the board the county supports the project’s regional forest-health and strategic-fire-management goals but urged the Forest Service to include additional protective measures. Key county recommendations include raptor-nesting surveys and avoidance of trees with cavity nests, preserving creekside vegetation along 4-Mile Road and Thompson Creek tributaries, minimizing stream crossings, strengthening erosion- and sediment-control measures on steep cleared slopes, and adding wet-meadow and riparian considerations to hydrology design.
On wildlife timing, staff asked the Forest Service to avoid most project activity during sensitive seasonal windows—particularly May through Aug. 15 for elk summer concentration and nesting season—and to extend nighttime or dusk-to-dawn protective shutdown hours where appropriate. Regarding slash piles, county staff requested an explicit schedule, advance local notification and consideration of alternatives to burning when conditions are dry to reduce smoke impacts for adjacent communities.
The county also requested that temporary roads (Forest Service or project access routes) be rehabilitated using an approved native-seed mix to restore forage and reduce invasive-weed spread. Staff noted that related wood-haul traffic will use 4-Mile Road and asked the Forest Service to require grading, dust control and signage for heavy-truck operations.
Why it matters: The Twin Peaks project aims to reduce wildfire risk and improve forest diversity, but its proximity to streams, summer elk habitat and nearby public roads creates potential ecological and community impacts that county staff say can be mitigated through design and scheduling.
What’s next: County staff will submit the comments by the Forest Service’s deadline this Friday and will coordinate with ecosystem- and public-works teams and with adjacent project planners (including the Wolf Creek storage and pipeline proposals) to ensure cross-project coordination.
