State and federal agencies have joined Frisco residents to discuss ways to reduce dead trees and other potential wildfire fuels in the forest nearby.
People in the small Summit County town of Frisco used to call heavily wooded federal land adjacent to town “the asbestos forest,” because it seemed impervious to wildfire. That illusion went up in smoke, though, after nearbySince then, state and federal agencies have joined them to discuss ways to reduce dead trees and other potential wildfire fuels in the forest nearby, not only for the threat they pose to Frisco, but also to the Dillon Reservoir bordering town to the east.
Wildfire runoff could contaminate the reservoir, which represents about 40% of Denver Water’s supply to the metro area. Earlier this month, Frisco — which measures less than two square miles and has a population of about 3,000 — and those agencies worked out a plan for wildfire fuel reduction on national forest land. But in doing so, they also took that opportunity to expand recreation opportunities in a 3,000-acre area south and east of town, colloquially known as Frisco’s “Backyard.” Trees cut down at the intersection of Bill’s Ranch trail and Masontown trail located east of Rainbow Lake in Frisco, Colorado on Thursday, March 19, 2026. That part of the plan includes improving 40 miles of summer trails and 10 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails and redesigning two trailheads that will encourage more people to recreate in the White River National Forest. To do so, the forest service will issue a special use permit — similar to whatThe Backyard gets more than 250,000 visitors per year across all four seasons, and many of them are coming “directly from town,” said White River’s acting Dillon district ranger, Sam Massman. “That huge number of visitors makes it really important to the local outdoor recreation tourism economy. It’s a way of life for . A lot of people can leave right from their house and be into the woods. They spend a ton of time back there.” For years, the town has had a separate special use permit to manage recreation in the Peninsula Recreation Area, which is also situated on forest service land and includes an extensive trail network for both winter and summer recreation. That area includes the popular Frisco Nordic Center and extends down to the reservoir itself. “We’ve kind of built out those trails,” said town spokeswoman Vanessa Agee. “Now we want to move over to the Backyard and build there, and it’s all going to be connected at some point. The most amazing thing is that you could be staying at a hotel or an Airbnb, right off of Main Street or on Main Street, you could walk three blocks and you’re headed onto the Frisco Backyard.”The work will begin this summer, when Frisco begins construction of a 1.3-mile summer hiking trail and a 1.4-mile Nordic ski trail connecting the Peninsula Recreation Area, which is north of Colorado Highway 9, with the Backyard on the other side of the highway. In late summer, the town plans to begin rebuilding, improving or re-routing an additional 12.3 miles of trails. It also hopes to begin construction of 4.7 miles of new trails and adopt 14.3 miles of “social trails” — unofficial pathways that have been created by human traffic — for addition to the existing forest service trail network.“We’re looking at them together, trying to make a logical system where we’re not duplicating routes and where we’re considering how the trails and the recreation experience interact with the proposed fuels treatments,” Massman explained. Meanwhile, the nonprofit Summit Huts Association plans to build an overnight hut at the Peninsula Recreation Area in partnership with the town. Summit Huts already operates five backcountry huts in Summit County and will fundraise to build the Frisco hut. “We kind of have this model of working with the forest service,” said Pete Swenson, Frisco’s Nordic Center and trails manager. “Once you get out of the town of Frisco, you’re pretty much on forest service land, so it’s a logical partnership.”But it was the fire mitigation plan that paved the way for the recreation improvements. While Frisco is small, it acts as a sort of gateway town for the Breckenridge and Copper Mountain ski areas, and to some degree for people heading over Vail Pass to the ski resorts further along I-70. As a result, it boasts an assortment of stores, restaurants and other businesses that generate sales tax revenue, enabling the town to pursue ambitious projects despite its small size.That includes more than $780,000 the town spent on the National Environmental Policy resource management study regarding the wildfire risk they face and ways to mitigate it. It was a direct reaction to those fires in 2005 and 2017. “We were all like, ‘It’s a legit concern, we actually need to do more around fire mitigation, we have a real problem,'” said Agee, the town spokeswoman. “It’s not that we were dumb and didn’t think that fire danger was legit, but that really made us think harder.” Fuels treatment means reducing materials that could readily burn and spread wildfire. The Backyard has a lot of lodgepole pine trees that were killed by the mountain pine beetle. Fuel reduction work will focus on removing dead and live lodgepole pines. “The aspen trees, the spruce trees and the fir trees, those will all stay,” said Massman, adding that they are immune to the pine beetle. “The area is steep, there is no real road access, so most of the treatments will occur with hand crews cutting with chainsaws and then hand-piling logs for future pile burning. It’s not like a prescribed burn. We’d make these piles and then we’d burn them in the winter when snow is on the ground.” Concerning the reservoir, Denver Water spokesman Todd Hartman said the agency is “heavily engaged” in forest management projects like what’s planned for Frisco’s Backyard to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires that have damaged other reservoirs. “The size of the reservoir does insulate it against some impacts that would be more damaging to some of our smaller reservoirs,” Hartman said in an email. “A reservoir as large and as deep as Dillon would naturally be more resilient to this kind of event than a smaller one. Even so, a large fire that resulted in the need for debris cleanup in Dillon could prove costly and disrupt operations there.” In addition to the USFS and Denver Water, the town is also working with Summit County, the Colorado State Forest Service and the National Forest Foundation on the overall plan.The Backyard was incorporated into the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument when it was created by presidential proclamation in 2022. The national monument is located on two parcels of national forest land, one in the historic Camp Hale area west of Copper Mountain and south of Vail Pass, the other on either side of the Tenmile Range east of Copper Mountain. That includes the Backyard, which contains historical sites from Summit County’s 19th-century mining days. “It includes what’s left of the Masontown, which was a mining town on the side of Mount Royal for decades around the turn of the 20th century,” Massman said. “A lot of the historic objects back there are wood cabin remains. We designed the project also to make those objects more protected from fire and hopefully better managed with regard to the high levels of visitation.”Colorado doctor refused to call 911, start CPR before man’s death, indictment saysAsking Eric: Friends only want to socialize outside, not at homeFemale-focused ski fest, famous for its naked lap, will go on despite no snow for skiing Cherry Creek Schools investigation targets $3 million in contracts with education firm, international travelJulie Gonzales set for one-on-one with John Hickenlooper in race for U.S. Senate
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
What's the state of the Cowboys ahead of 2026 NFL league meetings?We break down Dallas’ NFL draft prep, free agency moves and more before Jerry Jones and Brian Schottenheimer speak to reporters in Phoenix.
Read more »
Deadly strikes hit northern Iran, state media reportBasic
Read more »
Stockton solar site battle moves to State HouseThe immediate challenge will be to convince other lawmakers across the state to support the legislation quickly. At the core of the fight is property rights and what can be done on unzoned private land.
Read more »
State cites new violations at Baldwin Co. development, warns of possible penaltiesBALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (NBC 15) — State environmental officials say a troubled Baldwin County development remains out of compliance, warning the developer could f
Read more »
Pepper Lunch to Open First Dallas-Fort Worth Area Location in FriscoFast-casual Japanese restaurant Pepper Lunch, known for its sizzling hot plates and interactive dining, is opening its first Dallas-Fort Worth location in Frisco. The restaurant will be offering grand opening promotions to celebrate.
Read more »
Men's Lacrosse: Ohio State Implodes, Loses 13-6 To Penn StateSixteen. That's the number of quarters that Ohio State has played without scoring more than 2 goals. The Buckeyes were crushed in all phases today, except faceoffs, in one of the worst performances you will ever see. Penn State scored four straight goals to start the game, which essentially put the contest entirely out of the reach of Ohio State.
Read more »