This story was originally published by CPR News on May 7, 2025.
As Colorado continues to grapple with the loss of dozens of federal land management and wildfire prevention employees following cuts by the Trump Administration, local scientists are hopeful a new tool will help fill the gaps and shore up funding.
The Colorado Forest Tracker was created by the Colorado State Forest Service and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute, both of which are a part of Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
The first-of-its-kind project in the state compiles records from across agencies into a publicly accessible online dashboard, creating a central database and reporting system for forest management activities across the state.
“This gives us a clear, transparent picture of where we are investing our dollars, where the forest management is happening and where it's not,” said Associate Director for the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute Brett Wolk.
The data aims to better inform strategies for improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk by giving people like policymakers and firefighters a better understanding of how ongoing and past forest management projects like reforestation and prescribed burns are impacting Colorado’s recreation, natural beauty and forest land.
“This will help us understand how management is sustaining our recreation, interacting with wildfire and changing wildfire behavior, ensuring clean water and just improving our quality of life,” Wolk said.
The Colorado Forest Tracker could also help the state schedule prescribed burns, give firefighters more knowledge of the terrain history and ongoing projects during active wildfires, and make data more accessible to researchers as they endeavor to prove how and why forest management has benefited Colorado's forests and urban landscape, as federal funding cuts continue.
“There's lots of research now to see how this forest management has benefited Colorado's forest,” Wolk said. “This just makes it that much more accessible for more people to use and learn from the data.”
Currently available data spans from 2000 to 2023. Land managers, cities, and even homeowner associations are strongly encouraged to submit data and add to the value of the open-access resource. “I hope the tracker opens doors to better understand what’s working to help keep the forests we all love and depend on for clean air, water and quality of life resilient into the future,” said Wolk.
