Remembering Waldo Canyon wildfire tomorrow

Waldo Canyon in western El Paso County was changed forever after the wildfire exactly four years ago on Thursday hit and left behind destruction.

A third of the forest remains closed to the public because it sustained the worst damage.

Steep slopes and fragile soil make the recovery work slower and tougher.

But there are signs of success. Estimates are that vegetation is growing on 50 percent of the Burn Scar, and the forest is around 10 percent recovered.

The forest service has planted hundreds of willows along Camp Creek for flood and erosion control.

“Essentially, what we’re hoping for is after regeneration takes place, it’ll migrate downstream and continue to seed areas all the way downstream and throughout the watershed,” said Leah Lessard, Forest Service Hydrologist.

The Forest Service is managing the Burn Scar’s recovery so that future fires won’t burn as intensely as the one in 2012.

Workers have planted at least 50,000 ponderosa pines amongst chipped burned trees that provide better protection.