Boulder County, Colo. – The community forestry sort yard on Ridge Road near Nederland will close for the winter on Saturday, Oct. 30.

Residents may drop off logs, branches and slash, including “hot” beetle-infested wood Tuesday-Saturday during the hours of 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through Oct. 30.

The site is located at 286 Ridge Road, north of Nederland off of the Peak-to-Peak Highway.

Due to the ongoing fire ban, Boulder County has been unable to burn slash at the sort yard and has accumulated a large pile of branches that will need to be chipped. Residents living close to the sort yard should expect to hear grinding operations at some point during the first two weeks of November and are thanked for their patience during the end-of-season sort yard cleanup. Grinding is anticipated to take one or two days, but may take longer.

The Nederland site had a successful first year of operation, taking in more than 600 individual loads of biomass. The yard has seen a noticeable increase in the number of people creating better defensible space around their homes since the Fourmile Canyon wildfire.

Despite recent wetter weather, forests remain extremely dry and the chance of wildfire remains high. Long-term weather forecasts are predicting a windier-than-average winter and residents are advised to remain vigilant about creating better defensible space around their homes.

“The Chinook winds that are predicted this winter combined with our extremely dry forests means that fire danger will remain high,” said Ryan Ludlow, Outreach Forester with the Boulder County Land Use Department. “Right now is the best time of year to create better defensible space and protect your home against future fires.”

The community forestry sort yard program was established to give residents a free-of-charge place to dispose of wood cut on private lands, to remove hazardous beetle-killed trees, to improve defensible space around homes, and to create a healthier forest ecosystem. The Nederland sort yard is anticipated to reopen in the spring.

For more information, visit www.bouldercounty.org/foresthealth, call Ryan Ludlow at 720-564-2641, or email pinebeetle@bouldercounty.org.
SOURCE: Boulder County news release