RLSP - Land Management, Spring
RLSP City to Rural Living Sustainability Report for Land Management, Spring consists of an overview of over three years of data collection and resolutions that consist of directing snow to adjust land for post-winter melt, also identified as a hydraulic outlook, review land for soil erosion, extreme rain, and dry land that can lead towards cold weather wildfires. In rural Colorado, many other factors during extreme temperature changes can result in varied weather anomalies, responsibilities to allow a healthy growing season, and safety measures needed for land management.
Land Management, Spring (March 2020- February 2024)
Spring month land observation consists of observing the direction of water during increased snow melting and the susceptibility of drying land and wildfires. During land management to provide sustainable methods for safe access, gardening, prevention, and erosion reporting, the following methods were applied during 2021-2024:
Snowscaping
Hydrologic Mitigation
Wildfire Prevention
Snowscaping
For the 2022 to 2024 post-winter season, snow and moisture increased by 4 to 8 ft of snow within the observed areas. The highest snow levels* resulted from frontier snow drifts, paired with high winds that typically occur in valley areas of the region. To allow access and ensure post-snow melting would not become difficult due to higher thraw-freeze ratios, snow tunnels were made to allow the ground exposure to the sun to minimize the 3+ feet areas. Areas under 3 feet melted altogether, leaving behind dry land. There were also channels shoveled with farming shovels to allow melting away from driveways once the temperature eventually increased. Snowscaping minimized the burden of shoveling the entire driveway and accessible areas by using the sun to energize the ground and prioritize necessary areas, quickly regaining access to transportation and walking. Some areas are not built to handle common single-stage snowblowers, and shoveling with farming shovels and metal landscaping shovels for ice was prioritized to protect the function of the snowblower. It was also a cost-efficient way to resolve snow removal that may seem overwhelming for residents not used to large amounts of snow on large amounts of land.
Shoveling veins in the snow allow quick access to leave the property in an emergency. As the sun energizes the ground, it will expand these veins to limit shoveling for those with access to snowblowers or industrial-level equipment.
*During the 2024 blizzard, over 4 feet of snow fell within 24 hours, resulting in 2 weeks of additional snow that accumulated from the general 3 feet of snow that fell between December 2023 and February 2024. heating methods occurred before the 2023 energy audit and home repairs provided by Northwest Colorado-Energy Program, Colorado
Hydrologic Mitigation
During the 2020 -2024 Spring seasons, there was a 3:5 ratio of consistent weather outcomes based on cultural understanding of that region. The weather during March and April can simultaneously consist of snow and rain within a few hundred feet. During March and July, snow can still fall but result in a quick thaw ratio, resulting in a hydrologic outlook that usually plagues the Colorado areas. The hydrologic outlook in Colorado is due to two main factors: large amounts of snow, melting downhill, affecting lower areas and resulting in flood alerts; Thawing of accumulated snow on rivers and bodies of water, creating additional water, sometimes overtaxing the infrastructure setup for unusually high snow season. Most Colorado areas are prepared for additional water for up to 20 feet, but some areas require more maintenance due to the unpredictable landscape that occurs in the region.
A hydrologic outlook is a warning issued by the National Weather Service to indicate a potential for flooding in a river area, but with uncertain details about the location, timing, or extent of the flooding.
In the observed region of Park County, much of the land experiences liquefaction, resulting in roads crumbling or becoming extremely muddy. To prevent this, shoveled drains and trenches are created to bleed off excess snow melt. This required a trench shovel, which utilized the already accessible rocks in and around the land. Trenches are shoveled on linear angles based on observed natural water directions from 2021-2022. These trenches are reinforced during the rainy season, from mid-April through July. Successful trenches and shoveled drains resulted in the dry ground within two days, regardless of the sun or increased heat. Trenches are sometimes reinforced before the rainy season to redesignate trenches that may collapse from driving, walking, or general erosion. During the 2023 spring season, trenches were purposely not reinforced to determine how effective the trenches were towards erosion. It was also not done to determine if the locations of trenches resulted in optimal effectiveness. The lack of trench reinforcement in some areas resulted in fence posts collapsing and visual cracks in the main roads that received increased traffic.
Wildfire Prevention
In 2021-2022, lighter snow occurred during the March-May seasons, with minimal precipitation and moisture, resulting in at least six fire outbreaks (Meldrum et al., 2023) during the four months within the 39 Mountain Range area of Park County. In rural Colorado, even populated lands are still susceptible to wildfires due to human and environmental factors. Based on at least two years of observation, seasonal prepping for snow melting, shoveled trenches, and snow piles branch cutting assisted with generally suggested fire-resistant landscaping methods (F.C. Dennis, 2012). In the area under review, access to sections of land still blown from snow could still cause wildfire fueling, which consisted of shoveling tree branches and decaying wood that was not sustainable too quickly, such as wet wood or standing water from snow melt.
Meldrum, URL https://www.usgs.gov/publications/living-wildfire-park-county-colorado-2021-data-report
F.C. Dennis, URL https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/natural-resources/fire-resistant-landscaping-6-303/
