WINTER PARK, Colo. – Snow dusting the peaks around Winter Park this week means the U.S. Forest Service’s Sulphur Ranger District is gearing up for the 2015/2016 pile burning season. Topping the list for pile burning again this year is Tunnel Hill, located on U.S. Highway 40 between the Town of Winter Park and Winter Park Resort. This 400-acre fuels reduction project, funded in part by Denver Water through the “From Forest to Faucets” program, is reducing the potential impact of wildfire on communities and watersheds. Started in 2012, the project reduced thick, unhealthy stands of lodgepole pine growing on the steep hillsides between the town and the ski area. Due to steep terrain, the wood could not be removed and was piled to burn, creating an estimated 20,000 piles. In an effort to increase the use and efficiency of prescribed fire while maintaining air quality standards, the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division, in 2013, issued a “Learning Project Smoke Management...
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