This year, the Colorado State Forest Service is celebrating its 60th anniversary – providing six decades of timely, relevant forestry information to Colorado. Established in 1955, the CSFS, headquartered in Fort Collins, is a service and outreach agency of the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. The agency also provides staffing for the Division of Forestry within the Colorado Department of Natural Resources.
20,000 acres of forestland
Approximately 105 full-time and 30 seasonal CSFS employees help improve forest conditions and serve Coloradans from 19 field offices throughout the state. Each year, the agency helps treat more than 20,000 acres of forestland and assists approximately 6,400 landowners and hundreds of communities to improve forest health, and provides forest management on state lands.
“Our forests supply many critical benefits for the State of Colorado. The Colorado State Forest Service, leveraging the resources of the Warner College of Natural Resources at CSU, provides the leadership and commitment to ensure healthy and resilient forests for Coloradans now and for the future,” said Mike Lester, State Forester and Director of the CSFS.
Programs and services
CSFS programs and services include forest and timber management; insect and disease detection; growing trees and shrubs for conservation; wildfire mitigation assistance and outreach; invasive species planning and response; wood utilization assistance and outreach; and education for forest landowners, communities, teachers and homeowner associations.
Critical role
“The CSFS plays a critical role linking on-the-ground management to cutting-edge research findings and education of landowners and Colorado’s public,” said John Hayes, dean of the Warner College of Natural Resources.
This year, the CSFS and USDA Forest Service (USFS) also are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1990 Farm Bill, which significantly enhanced the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act, enabling the USFS to provide broad financial and technical assistance to states and private landowners.
More information
For more information about the CSFS and the services, publications and many other resources it offers, go to the Colorado State Forest Service website.
