In an initiative designed to bolster wildfire defenses, Boulder is set to expand a project that leverages cattle grazing as a tool for managing wildfire risks. The city's Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Department will begin utilizing cattle grazing on open space near north Boulder neighborhoods this June. The approach, which has been in place for over a decade at Shanahan Ridge, has shown success by lowering the levels of invasive weeds that can escalate grassfire threats.
According to the City of Boulder, the pilot project includes grazing periods scheduled near Wonderland Lake for up to two weeks in mid-June and later near the Dakota Ridge/North Briar neighborhoods for about the same duration in October. It's intended not only to cut down grass height but also to reduce the thatch fuel loads, which are key elements in wildfire spread. To accomplish this, the city is strategically utilizing local agricultural partnerships.
Guided by the Community Wildfire Protection Plan, Boulder's wildfire strategy is interdisciplinary, roping in wildland fire staff, ecologists, and agricultural specialists. "This new effort in north Boulder will help expand our work to reduce wildfire risk and strengthen community wildfire resilience," Paul Dennison, the city's wildland fire senior program manager, stated. "It will complement other city efforts identified in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan — such as open space mowing—to remove hazardous fuels and reduce wildfire risks on both public and private lands," as obtained by the City of Boulder.
Residents interested in the initiative can attend a community meeting on Tuesday, June 3, from 4 to 6 pm at the Open Space and Mountain Parks Hub. There, city staff will be ready to provide more details and to answer questions regarding the expansion of livestock grazing. This local effort works in tandem with other projects, like home hardening measures and vegetation management, all designed to support neighborhood-level and community wildfire preparedness.
Recent history backs up the practice as observations from the 2022 NCAR Fire indicated that targeted cattle grazing helped to notably slow the fire's spread and reduce its intensity. This tool falls within a suite of wildfire mitigation strategies that the city employs for open space management, such as forest thinning and prescribed burning.
