Slash Management Options

Let’s talk about Slash

Summertime in the mountains brings longer days filled with opportunities for outdoor activities.  For many of us this likely includes wildfire mitigation tasks like removing trees.  Once we’ve figured out which trees should be removed, get them cut down, limbed and bucked, and maybe cut to firewood size, split and stacked, then the hard part is figuring out what to do with all the slash.  For this month’s CWPP update we want to help by sharing some options and resources available to our community for slash removal. 

Haul it

One option for slash is loading it up and hauling it away.  Each of the counties within our Fire District has a location where you can take and leave your slash. Boulder county has two sort yard locations, the Nederland sort yard being the closest to CCC.  It’s free, even if you’re not a resident of Boulder County.  Gilpin county has a slash yard across from the Gilpin transfer station.  This is free to Gilpin residents; there’s a fee for non-residents based upon the size of the load. Jefferson county has 4 slash collection sites, the closest two being  Tin Cup (South Golden) throughout the summer and Blue Mountain Open Space (base of the canyon) at the end of September.  JeffCo’s collection sites are fee-based with the fee depending on the size of the load.  Schedules for each of these county facilities vary, please check their respective websites for all the pertinent details, the CCC Fire Department website has a link to each county’s slash program in the Community Resources section (https://coalcreekcanyonfd.org/community-resources/).

In addition to these resources for hauling slash, Wildfire Partners is sponsoring two FREE slash collection events this summer at Coal Creek Fire Station #2 (32895 HWY 72) on June 21 and August 23 from 8am to 4pm.

Link to register for the June event: https://arcg.is/1Gv9Lq0

The Special Event Code is 345

Accepted materials:

• Woody Slash only: Branches and small trees (conifer and broadleaf)

o   Maximum diameter is 8″

o   Maximum length is 8′

o   Roots must be removed

Not Accepted: This is a free service. Please help keep future events free by having your loads clean. Loads with items listed below may damage equipment and will not be accepted.

·         Rocks, Concrete, Dirt, Metal or Wire, Glass, Plastic, Fireplace Ash

·         Stumps or Root Balls (If it looks like a tripod, it’s a root and will be refused.)

·         Yard Waste, grass and weeds, bagged or loose

·         Pine needles, bagged or loose

·         Food Waste of any kind

·         Lumber of any kind

·         Construction Waste

·         Trash or Garbage

·         Wood chips

Call 303-642-3121 or email general@coalcreekcanyonfd.org with questions on these two free slash collection events.

Chip it.

Boulder county Wildfire Partners has a fantastic community chipping program.  For communities that meet program criteria, your community members stack slash roadside and a county-approved contractor comes out, chips and hauls it away, with Wildfire Partners paying the chipping contractor. Check out all the details at https://wildfirepartners.org/chipping-program/.   While this program is specific to Boulder County residents, it does provide a framework for our CCC Gilpin and JeffCo CWPP plan units to follow for organizing neighborhood chipping events.  Check with your plan units’ ambassadors to find out about and/or help with community chipping events in your area. 

Burn it.

Each county has a program for safe, permitted slash pile burns.  This is a great option for those without access to a truck or trailer for hauling or where property size and/or topography make it difficult to get slash off your property or get a chipper onto it.  Visit your county’s website to learn about the rules, requirements and fees for a burn permit; the Fire Department website has a link to each county’s burn permit program in the Community Resources section (https://coalcreekcanyonfd.org/community-resources/).