Jesse Grace, a faculty member in the Department of Journalism and Media Communication, shoots footage for the documentary “CO-Existing with Wildfire.”
CSU journalism faculty produce Rocky Mountain PBS doc on wildfires
story by Joe Giordano
published July 31, 2023
Two Colorado State University faculty members have created a Rocky Mountain PBS documentary on the state of Colorado’s efforts in battling wildfires.
The documentary — “CO-Existing with Wildfire” — was produced by Jesse Grace and Steven Weiss, faculty members in CSU’s Department of Journalism and Media Communication. The 30-minute documentary is now available to watch on Rocky Mountain PBS.
Watch the documentary
To watch “CO-Existing with Wildfire,” visit video.rmpbs.org/video/co-existing-with-wildfire-047qy7.
Produced in conjunction with the Colorado Office of Film, Television and Media, Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Colorado State Forest Service, and CSU, the film covers the state’s expansive fire mitigation efforts.
Grace, who served as the documentary’s director, explained that unlike other films that cover the aftermath of wildfires, “CO-Existing with Wildfire” examines the efforts being made to better understand and mitigate wildfires.
“There is nothing we can do to eliminate more big wildfires from happening,” Grace said. “These forests haven’t burned in a long time, and they’re going to burn. We’re hoping people understand that officials are doing a lot, and that everyone has a responsibility to protect the land when they’re out recreating.”
The documentary came together over the course of two years, with the filmmakers traveling across the state. During the filming, the filmmakers covered the Marshall Fire in Boulder County, the most destructive fire in Colorado history. The filmmakers interviewed top fire officials as well as leaders such as U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse.
U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse (left) and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet are among the people featured in the documentary.
The filmmakers also interviewed CSU faculty member Camille Stevens-Rumann, an assistant professor of forest and rangeland stewardship and assistant director of ecological research and monitoring at the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute.
“There is an immense amount of research and work being done on wildfires,” Weiss said. “And the other thing we realized is just the overall effort from the state perspective. We were surprised by the number of fires that are happening. There are multiple fires every single day in the mountains.”
As part of this, the filmmakers said the documentary can be used as an educational resource in classrooms. Additionally, several CSU journalism students assisted in the production of the film. Weiss explained that CSU has a history of working with the Colorado Office of Film, Television and Media to produce films, which give students experience.
“This was an opportunity for our students,” Weiss said. “This wasn’t just Jesse’s and my project, this was part of something bigger.”