Realtors’ wildfire mitigation project begins
Even after two major wildfires in three years, many homeowners in Southern Colorado remain reluctant to mitigate their homes for wildfire protection.
It’s why the Colorado Association of Realtors this week announced the start of “Colorado Project Wildfire.” It condenses a variety of information, resources, and even monetary grants available for homeowners, on a website.
Association spokeswoman Barbara Asbury said the project also will seek to obtain tax credits for homeowners who mitigate.
“In a city like Colorado Springs, it’s a lot easier to get the information,” Asbury said. “But in some of the outlying areas, maybe not so much. So that’s what the web page is designed for.”
Asbury said the project is a necessity because communities having a high wildfire risk are forecast to grow by an estimated 300 percent during the next 15 years.
“People think if you mitigate, you have to cut every tree down and your property will look barren,” she said. “That’s simply not true.”
Homeowner Gary Hoffman said he spent $5,000 on mitigation and qualified for $1,000 in grants to pay for some of the work.
“Only about 20 percent of the 200 lots in my neighborhood, mitigate,” Hoffman said. “I think this project will convince more people to do it. But it’s an ongoing process. I’ve been mitigating since the Waldo Canyon Fire and I’m still not where I want to be.”
Hoffman said his neighborhood avoided damage from the Black Forest Fire because enough homeowners mitigated in the right places.
But another Black Forest resident, John Hiller, summarized why he and many others are reluctant to mitigate.
“If you’re saying cut every tree within 25 feet of the house, that’s too much,” Hiller said. “It takes away from Black Forest. It’s no longer a forest. It’s just a few trees scattered about here and there.”
Hiller said, however, that the availability of a tax credit might make homeowners more open to the idea.
For more information about Project Wildfire, visit:http://www.coloradorealtors.com/projectwildfire/
