Live Projects
Forest Lakes Project
The Forest Lakes Metro District (north of Bayfield, CO and 30 minutes east of Durango) is leading the way with the La Plata County Biological Fire Mitigation Coalition (BFMC)! Groups were brought together by Earth Regeneration Alliance to meet with the metro district, the Upper Pine River and Durango Fire Protection Districts, and a La Plata County Government official to demonstrate how Nature rapidly builds resilience against wildfires, drought, erosion, and desertification when life is added back to the land utilizing regenerative methods—especially in one of the most fire-prone areas of La Plata County.
In a groundbreaking meeting, experts and wisdom keepers, including Alejandro Carrillo (Grasslands Regeneration Project), Finian Makepeace (Kiss the Ground), Judith Schwartz (author), Andrea and Tony Malmberg (holistic ranchers/Savory Institute), Beverly Castaneda (Hummingbird Sacred Smoke), Peter May (Kundalini Fire Management) and Zach Weiss (Water Stories), offered a vital glimpse into what’s possible when we restore our relationship with Nature—a rehydrated and resilient future for all.
Biological Fire Mitigation
Biological Fire Mitigation involves practices and post-treatments that improve soil health to create proactive and long-term resilience regarding wildfire risk. This approach can work with current mitigation methods as biological mitigation specifically focuses on increasing soil health. Healthy soil is incredibly beneficial as it sequesters carbon, retains water, and nurtures and promotes native plants that have coevolved with our region.
Fortunately, Nature responds quickly to soil regeneration methods. Below are some facts/benefits regarding healthy soil as a result of biological mitigation methods:
For every 1% of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) added to an acre of land, that acre can hold an extra 20,000 gallons of water. This can happen very fast – there are regenerative land managers who’ve increased SOM by a few percent in just 5-10 years.
Just one teaspoon of healthy soil has more microorganisms in it than there are people on the planet.
Due to soils across the world being extremely degenerated, fires today are burning hotter, faster, higher and deeper. We can help to reverse this trend by regenerating soil (most especially in arid areas) – this provides moisture-loading and drastically decreases fire behavior, potentially preventing or stopping a wildfire altogether.
Promoting the growth of native plants increases soil health benefits as native plants tend to have deeper and more complex root systems; therefore, they help to create a larger moisture horizon in the soil.
Specific to our local climate in Colorado: here in the arid West, we rate at about a 6 or 7 on the brittleness scale. Brittleness is determined by the amount of moisture available at the soil surface continually throughout the year (for reference: a zero on the brittleness scale is a rainforest; a 10 is a desert). Areas like ours that are more arid/brittle, coevolved with ruminant animals (elk, deer, moose, bison, etc.) and pressure from predators. This very specific kind of herd impact on the land is what maintains the nutrient and moisture-cycling necessary to prevent soil degradation and keeps the land healthy.
There are a number of ways to create this healthy, positive cycle of soil regeneration, and we are lucky to have a number of businesses in the area to tap into. The biologically-focused approach to mitigation comes in many forms, all of which can be utilized on their own or combined with traditional mitigation techniques. With baseline and post-implementation testing, the Forest Lakes Project aims to be a template for other areas in Colorado, as well as nationally and globally.
See below for a list of soil-regenerating businesses in SW Colorado. We are also featured on the La Plata County Wildfire Resource Center.
If you’re interested in viewing the Biological Fire Mitigation presentation to the La Plata County Wildfire Advisory Board, here is the recording: (VIDEO) WAB mtg 5.2.24
The BioFireMit Coalition
Listed below are organizations/businesses that specialize in different soil regeneration methods. Depending on your specific situation, you can pick and choose which service(s) will work best for your context. You can also combine/layer these services to increase soil health and reduce wildfire and drought concerns. If you are interested in layering services to maximize your soil health and mitigate fire concerns, an added benefit of working with our coalition as a whole is that we work together to determine what is best for your situation so that we can co-create a plan with you that will best suit your needs.
Note: these are the organizations we currently know of that are implementing biological mitigation practices in our area. If you are aware of others, please let us know.
Goats
DuranGoats LLC is a grazing company that uses goats to reduce wildfire fuel loads while also fertilizing and regenerating the land. Our methods keep water in the soil, create canopies from Gambel Oaks, and prevent grasslands from drying up and desertifying (see this presentation for more info).
Fungus
Fungal Solutions reduces slash and wood chips produced by mechanical fire mitigation efforts. We upcycle this biomass on-site by rotting wood chips with local fungi over the course of 3 seasons; therefore, building soil organic matter and increasing the soil's water-holding capacity -- you might even get edible mushrooms in the process as they work their magic (see this presentation for more info)!
Regenerative Landscaping/Land Management
Blooming Landscape & Design, LLC
Blooming Landscape & Design, LLC specializes in regenerative landscaping practices that improve soil health through the application of biodynamic soil remedies. Healthy, biologically active soil retains more water and thus reduces fire risk. They are also proponents of installing native plants in the landscape and provide educational presentations and workshops for the public on regenerative landscaping methods and biological fire mitigation strategies.
Bee Happy Lands’ mission is to promote regenerative land stewardship practices for weed and fire mitigation. Our practices increase the water-holding capacity of the soil and support the next succession plant species in getting established which brings the pioneer species (weeds) into balance. We focus on increasing the fertility of the land through organic soil amendments, helping to create ecosystem stability through the inoculation of microorganisms and enriching diversity by adding seeds to the soil's seed bank. One essential purpose of Bee Happy Lands is to eliminate herbicides from being used in land management strategies which improves the long-term health and beauty of the environment while also reducing wildfire risk (see this presentation for more info).
Biochar
We upcycle local carbon (i.e. wood) into a long-term soil health amendment called biochar. We enjoy educating people about the making of and implementation of biochar in land management practices as biochar is incredibly valuable for drastically increasing the health and water-holding capacity of soil which has the added benefit of reducing wildfire risk. We produce our biochar from local beetle kill wood mixed with compost and use it to make more nutrient-rich soil for our local gardens, farms and public lands.
