With Chaffee County sales tax revenues posting stronger than expected during the pandemic, the Chaffee Common Ground Citizens Advisory Committee will consider whether to recommend additional funding for strengthening forest health and reducing wildfire danger.
Approval from the Chaffee County Board of Commissioners would fully fund the Methodist Front fuel break and move the completion date for the Coyote Valley Road fuel break up by one year.
The projects were included in the Commissioner’s July approval of the program’s 2020 grant package that invests $450,000 in 10 local programs and projects this year, plus an additional $400,000 in 2021 and 2022. The committee chose a conservative total amount due to the uncertain impacts of Covid-19.
County sales tax collections through the August reporting period are over 13 percent higher this year over 2019.
Chaffee Common Ground will discuss changes to forest health allocations at their next meeting on Monday, November 16.
The Methodist Front project connects to the Decker Fire burn area and extends across the mountain’s foothills between Salida and Poncha Springs up to Poncha Pass.
The Coyote Valley Road fuel break across from Hecla Junction provides safer firefighter access in the event of a wildfire in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area.
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