Some estimates show up to 400,000 acres along the Front Range could use the work. The project is part of a growing effort to restore tens of thousands of acres of Northern Colorado’s overgrown forests to conditions not seen since the late 1800s.Īt least 32,000 more acres of National Forest land is scheduled for restoration.
Foresters cleared the 118-acre area in 2018, one tree at a time, in a management style known as forest restoration. The landscape looks more like an open space than a forest. A thick layer of grasses, shrubs and wildflowers blankets the ground. Unlike most places in Colorado, the ponderosa pine trees around Shambhala are spaced far apart. Courtesy of Fort Collins Conservation District A map of the forest restoration project at Shambhala Mountain Center shows how thinned out sections of forest helped stop the Cameron Peak Fire.
