The Middle Colorado Watershed Council (MCWC) received a $262,500 grant award for Forest Restoration and Wildlife Risk Mitigation from the Colorado State Forest Service, according to a Wednesday news release from the watershed council. 

The grant, officially accepted on March 31, is paired with $87,500 in matching contributions from 10 regional partners, creating a total three-year investment of $350,000 to support the Colorado River Wildlife Collaborative (CRWC). 

The funding will be used to expand community wildfire resilience efforts across the middle Colorado River watershed and fund a new full-time program manager position. 

The Colorado River Wildfire Collaborative was formed in 2022 to strengthen wildfire preparedness, mitigation and post-fire resilience throughout the Middle Colorado watershed through cross-sector collaboration among local governments, fire districts, nonprofits and community partners. 

“This investment reflects the strong regional partnerships needed to address increasing wildfire risk in western Colorado,” Colorado State Forest Service regional supervisory forester Matt Schiltz said in the release. “Wildfire resilience requires long-term coordination across jurisdictions, landowners, and communities, and this funding allows us to build that capacity in a meaningful way.”

Funding partners include Garfield County, Holy Cross Energy, Chevron, the De Beque and Colorado River fire protection districts, and the towns of Silt, Rifle, Parachute and New Castle.

The watershed council also announced that Sam Feuerborn started this week as Colorado River Wildfire Collaborative program manager. In the organization’s new role, Feuerborn will lead the implementation of priority wildfire resilience projects throughout the watershed. 

“I couldn’t be more excited to join the Middle Colorado Watershed Council as the Colorado River Wildfire Collaborative Program Manager,” Feuerborn said in the release. “The West Slope faces very real challenges from wildfire and post-fire impacts, and I’m committed to bringing communities together to meet them head-on, protecting our watersheds, our way of life, and the wildlife habitat that sustains us all. I’m honored to help lead such vital work.”

Feuerborn will coordinate wildfire mitigation efforts in the wildland-urban interface, support woody biomass repurposing initiatives, expand community outreach and education, and continue fundraising efforts to advance ten priority projects identified by the collaborative. 

He has more than 16 years of experience in conservation leadership, outdoor education, and collaborative land stewardship throughout the Western Slope. Before joining the watershed council, he held leadership roles at Wilderness Workshop and Colorado Mountain College, where he managed habitat restoration projects, stewardship programs and outdoor education initiatives.