Colorado senate president Joan Fitz-Gerald will headline a
distinguished
panel at
a
community
forum on
forest
health
funding
Thursday,
July 12th
at the Summit County
Community & Senior Center near Frisco.
With
more
than
81,000
of
Summit
County’s
413,000
total
acres
likely to
be
adversely
affected
by
the
pine
beetle
epidemic,
the
7:00
pm
forum
will
address
the
current
state
of
forest
health
project
funding
by
federal,
state
and
local
government,
the
number
and
location
of
wildfire
mitigation
projects
in
Summit
County
under
US
Forest
Service
contract;
and
the
latest
initiatives
from
private
industry
to
find
a
local
markets
for
the
large
quantities
of
beetle-killed
timber
accumulating
here
and
in
neighboring
counties.
Senator
Fitz-Gerald,
who also
represents
Summit
County
as part
of
her district
in the
Colorado
Assembly,
co-sponsored
a number
of
forest
health
bills
this
past
legislative
session,
including
House
Bill 07-
1130,
the
Colorado
Forest
Restoration
Act,
with
state
representative
Dan
Gibbs
(D-Silverthorne)
and
House
Bill
07-1168,
the
Colorado
Forest
Improvement
District
Act,
with
state
representative
Al White
(R-Winter
Park).
Joining
Sen.
Fitz-Gerald
on the
panel
will be:
-
Trudy
Kareus,
U.S.
Senator
Ken
Salazar’s
regional
director
for
the
Western
Slope
and
I-70
corridor;
-
Paul
Orbuch,
assistant
director,
Colorado
Department
of
Natural
Resources;
-
Mark
Mathis,
president,
Confluence
Energy
LLC,
which
is
building
a
$10
million
plant
in
Kemmling
that
will
use
beetle
kill
material
from
area
forests
to
produce
wood
pellets
for
home
and
commercial
heating;
-
Joe
Duda,
forest
management
division
supervisor
at
the
Colorado
State
Forest
Service,
who
will
serve
as
grants
administrator
for
the
$1
million
in
state
funds
authorized
under
House
Bill
1130
for
forest
improvement
projects
located
in
areas
covered
by
the
county’s
Community
Wildfire
Protection
Plan.
Anyone
with an
interest
in Summit County’s future forest landscape is
encouraged
to
attend
the
event,
which is
being
sponsored
by Our
Future
Summit.
For
additional
information
about
the
forum or
its
sponsor,
please
contact
Sandy
Briggs
at
970-418-0025
or at
OurFutureSummit@aol.com.
