AG IN THE CLASSROOM–HELPING THE NEXT GENERATION UNDERSTAND THEIR CONNECTION TO AGRICULTURE

Colorado

R e a d e r

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 3F I R E , S O I L & W A T E R I S S U E

C O L O R A D O F O U N D A T I O N F O R A G R I C U L T U R E / w w w . g r o w i n g y o u r f u t u r e . c o m 1

Last year in Colorado, morethan 1400 fires burned 370,000acres. Several years of droughtmade 2002 one of our state’sworst fire years. When we don’tget enough rain and snow ourforests are in more danger fromfire than usual.With hotsummertemperatures andwind the dangergrows. Wildfiresare often startedby lightningstrikes. But lastyear, several largefires were startedby people.

The Haymanfire was thelargest fire inColorado history.This human-started fireburned morethan 137,000acres southwestof Denver. Thatis an area 40%larger than thecity of Denver.

In the southwest corner of the state near Durango, theMissionary Ridge fire consumedmore than 68,000 acres and 80buildings. It was also started by a person.

The Coalseam fire nearGlenwood Springs burned morethan 12,000 acres and manybuildings. It started from a

burning layer of coal that hasbeen smoldering undergroundfor about 25 years.

Colorado Fires!

Delta

CortezDurango

Grand Junction

MontroseGunnison

Salida

Alamosa

Walsenburg

Trinidad

RockyFord La Junta

Lamar

Pueblo

CraigFort Collins

Loveland Greeley

Fort Morgan

Sterling

Denver

Boulder

Colorado Springs

Glenwood Springs

MissionaryRidge Fire

Coalseam Fire

Hayman Fire

Missionary Ridge Fire

Coalseam Fire

Hayman Fire

More than half of wildfires

are human-caused. Wildfire

means any unwanted or

planned fire burning in

forest, shrub or grass.FUN

FAC

T

Shown above are some of the fires that burned in Colorado during 2002.

2

The Colorado Reader publication and Ag in the Classroom are projects of the Colorado Foundation for Agriculture. Educational projects are produced in cooperationwith the Colorado Department of Agriculture, other state and federal agencies, Colorado commodity groups, Colorado agricultural associations, state universities andcolleges and interested individuals. Colorado Readers are provided free to educators requesting them. For more information contact: Bette Blinde, Director, Colorado

Foundation for Agriculture, P.O. Box 10, Livermore, CO 80536 or phone (970) 881-2902. Financial support for this reader has been graciously provided by:Colorado Nonpoint Source Management Program, Colorado State Forest Service

Written by Carrie Jordan, Bette Blinde and Karen Swigart ; lllustrated and Designed by Carrie Jordan, Edited by Bette Blinde and Emmett Jordan

Fires are a natural part of theforest ecosystem, and puttingthem out isn’t always good. Forthe last hundred years we haveworked very hard to prevent andsuppress fires.This means that alarge amount of dry pine needles,leaves, twigs, branches, brush andtrees have built up in our forests.The more dry fuel there is, thehotter a fire burns once it starts.These large, hot, infrequent firescause more damage than thesmaller, frequenter fires we havehad in the past.

Instead of staying close to theground, these extra hot fires burnall the way to the top of theforest, killing even large trees. Forthis reason they are called crownfires.These are bad fires.Theyharm soil, habitat, property andcan kill people.

Because of this, sometimes forestmanagers clear away this drymaterial and thin out some of thetrees. Other times they letwildfires burn out by themselvesor they may even set fires onpurpose. These are called“prescribed burns.” They are goodfires because they help clear outthe dead material.This is especiallyimportant in Colorado, wheredecomposition of dead plantsoccurs slowly because of the dryclimate. Fires are necessary to helprecycle nutrients into soils.

Planned fires can decrease thechance of a wildfire getting out ofcontrol. It also gives the forest achance to grow new plants andcreates food for animals. Plus, fire

can stop diseases such as pinebeetle disease by killing the bugsand the weak trees that host them.Plant Adaptation

A few plants such as aspen,lodge pole pine and ponderosatrees have adapted to fire. Aspentrees sprout from undergroundstems and roots. In unburnedareas aspens produce thousandsof seeds that blow into theburned area, so they are one ofthe first types of trees to growback after a fire.

Ponderosa pines have very thickbark that helps insulate the treefrom fire.They also lose theirlower branches as they get olderso that fire has a difficult timeclimbing to the top of the tree.

Lodge pole pine trees havespecial pinecones that open upduring the intense heat of a fire.The seeds fall to the ground andtake root in soil burned bare bythe fire. Fire also creates sunlightopenings in the forest that helpseedlings grow.

Fire–The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

Park Rangers work on the ground and intowers spotting fires and hotspots

Air tankers drop water

and fire retardant Smoke Jumpers

HelitackCrews

Firefighters creating a fire line

Firefighterspraying foam

How does fire effect soil? After a fire burns, soil

temperatures can be higher thannormal because the sun shinesdirectly on the soil without theshade of plants and trees. This canhelp cooler soils become betterplaces to grow plants. Also, highersoil temperatures make the snowmelt earlier and faster after astorm or in the spring.The ashcreated by fire helps add mineralsto the soil that new plants need.

High temperature fires can causethe soil to become hydrophobic,meaning that water cannot soak in.This happens when plant materialburns and creates gas thatpenetrates into the ground.Whenthe gas cools it forms a waxysubstance around the soil, cloggingair spaces and stopping water fromsoaking in.This makes less wateravailable for new plants to grow.

Crown fires burn all the plantsso that nothing is left to hold soilin its place. When it rains or snowmelts, the water rushes downhilltaking the soil with it.This erosionleaves less soil for plants and putssediment (such as dirt, topsoil andother debris) into rivers and lakescausing major problems in ourstreams, lakes and reservoirs.Weed Invasion

Sometimes noxious weeds arethe first plants to come back aftera fire. Noxious weeds are thosenot native.The seeds are fromanother part of the world andhave no natural enemies here.Thisis bad for both plants and animals.Noxious weeds can prevent thegrowth of plants that are normallyfound in the fire area.They crowdout native plants that animalswould normally eat.

C O L O R A D O F O U N D A T I O N F O R A G R I C U L T U R E / w w w . g r o w i n g y o u r f u t u r e . c o m 3

Losing Ground.

What happens to animals? Large animals such as deer, elk, bear, coyote and mountain lions

usually have time to run away from a fire. Birds fly away, but babybirds or eggs can die since they can’t escape. Smaller animalssuch as squirrels, mice, badgers,raccoons, shrews, ferrets andskunks burrow deep into theground.The soil helps protectthem from the high temperatures of a fire.

Help the groundhog and mouse crawl to safety at the bottom of their burrows.

groundhog burrow

mouse burrow

Each year more than 4,500Americans die and morethan 30,000 are injured infires, many of which couldbe prevented.FI

RE

FA

CT

4

Flooding can be a problem inareas that have been burned.There are no plants to stop theflow of water from rain showersor storms, so less of the watersoaks into the ground and moreruns downhill.This means thatflash flooding and mudslides canhappen.The flooding andmudslides can damage roads,homes, habitats and threatenlives.

Another problem is pollution.In 1996, the Buffalo Creek fireburned 11,900 acres west ofDenver. One and a half monthslater, a severe thunderstormcaused flooding. Ash, buildings,

trees and propane tanks wereswept into Strontia SpringsReservoir, which providesdrinking water for Denver and Aurora.

This polluted the drinkingwater and many peoplecomplained of “smoky-tasting”water. This is called non-pointpollution, meaning that it doesn’tcome from one source, but many.

It cost almost a million dollarsto remove trees and other debrisfrom the reservoir. Sedimentfrom the floods filled one-third ofthe reservoir, which means that itcannot hold as much water now.

The Hayman fire could have the

same effect on CheesmanReservoir which also suppliesdrinking water to Denver.What happens to fish?

When the temperature ofwater in streams gets too highduring a fire, fish die. In addition,the sediment and new mineralsthat flow into streams, rivers andlakes can effect the pH (acidity)of the water, killing small waterorganisms.

Over time, fire can be a goodthing.The ash and nutrients fromburned trees can help streamsbecome a better habitat forinsects and aquatic life.When thisoccurs the fish will come back.

Coming Through Fire and Water.

Reduce each fraction below to it’s lowest terms. Then use the letter key and

fill in the blanks at the bottom to answer the question.

Why did the frog jump out of the pond?

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.

1.616

2.39

3.69

4.810

5.26

6.714

7.510

8.412

9.318

10.46

11.1216

12.1215

13.515

14.324

15.924

20.312

21.812

22.1232

23.414

2= Y7

1= D6

3= H8

2= N5

3= O4

1= E3

3= F5

4= M5

1= T8

1= L2

5= G6

2= S3

1= I4

16.28

17.615

18.1012

19.1220

Letter Key

C O L O R A D O F O U N D A T I O N F O R A G R I C U L T U R E / w w w . g r o w i n g y o u r f u t u r e . c o m 5

Rehabilitation is a pretty bigword, but don’t let that slow youdown. It simply means to restoreto good condition again.

The first goal of rehabilitationafter a fire is to prevent erosion.There are many things landmanagers do to accomplish this.One is scarification.That’sanother big word that meansbreaking up and mixing the toppart of the soil using constructionequipment or rakes.This helpshydrophobic soil absorb waterand prepares the ground forplanting grass or trees.

Directional log felling is used onburned slopes where there are alarge number of dead trees. Ituses the dead wood for a goodpurpose. People cut the trees andposition them across the hill

(perpendicular to the directionwater runs off). Stumps are usedto hold and stop the trees frommoving downhill.The trees thenhelp trap water and debris.

Sometimes straw bales andstraw wattles are used in asimilar way to logs.Wattles aretube-shaped plastic nets filledwith straw.They are positionedacross the slope in places thatwater drains down.This createslittle dams that slow down theflow of water and other materialfrom the fire.

It’s important to reseed nativegrass or other grains soon aftera fire to help hold the soil andprevent erosion. If the plants cangrow quickly they will help keepweeds out too. On steep rockyslopes, this isn’t possible.

Sometimes mulch, such as straw,is used on slopes that have beenseeded.To prevent the straw fromblowing or washing away, plasticor natural fiber netting issometimes used to hold it inplace.This helps reduce soilerosion and provides a good placefor plants to re-grow.The nettingwill fall apart over time so that itdoesn’t hurt the environment.

Restoring the land can takeyears to complete but is veryimportant after a fire.Volunteersworking with land managers canhelp revegatate the land.

The Dirty Work–Rehabilitation After Fire

In less than 30 seconds

a small flame can get out

of control and turn into a

major fire. FIR

E F

AC

T

WordsearchWordsearchWordsearchWordCircle the words in the wordsearch puzzle that are in blue in the story below. Answers are eithervertical or horizontal. Clue:There are 13 words to find.

N

P

T

J

U

Y

W

G

D

S

U

N

A

I

R

Q

O

H

O

K

U

I

A

I

O

T

D

O

G

E

K

E

Y

Q

E

N

N

R

R

E

L

A

H

R

N

L

C

D

J

O

R

R

M

E

M

K

Y

L

E

D

S

E

R

O

S

I

O

N

C

T

E

O

L

H

S

O

Z

O

B

R

S

C

E

T

M

I

N

W

A

I

C

O

P

E

E

J

P

T

I

E

Y

A

E

B

H

P

P

H

F

S

C

A

T

O

T

O

T

H

I

E

U

C

O

E

E

V

W

I

N

I

E

I

A

L

P

S

V

B

L

E

I

Y

N

A

N

U

V

T

I

P

C

U

I

O

D

N

E

G

L

H

X

E

S

T

L

A

I

C

P

X

J

M

M

L

G

P

G

F

A

E

R

W

C

G

M

O

P

I

O

S

V

R

I

T

N

I

O

U

K

W

P

O

P

G

D

C

A

L

I

V

F

B

I

E

A

Y

P

Q

F

P

T

S

L

O

I

I

C

Q

U

T

K

M

P

E

O

T

S

E

N

R

C

I

I

I

T

N

E

A

L

N

E

U

M

E

O

A

E

C

B

L

W

T

S

L

S

M

G

U

T

N

T

O

P

N

E

S

W

U

I

S

O

I

L

O

M

I

S

O

Q

S

D

T

H

N

T

T

E

P

W

E

O

P

S

H

V

O

R

N

G

W

M

T

W

D

N

N

L

F

L

D

N

I

Y

V

R

U

S

H

N

T

P

E

R

P

E

N

D

I

C

U

L

A

R

Q

O

C

M

B

A

O

U

S

C

I

K

C

S

E

F

H

J

N

T

P

M

P

H

M

W

O

H

D

N

I

E

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Leadville

6

Water is constantly recycled.The water in the cells of yourbody may have been in aprehistoric ocean wheredinosaurs swam millions of yearsago.The soda you drinktomorrow may be made withwater from an ice-age glacier. Thesnow you ski on this winter in themountains may end up on thetable of a fancy restaurant inCalifornia this summer.

Water is not always where wewant it to be. It does not alwayscome in the amount we want.Sometimes there is not enoughwater; other times there is toomuch water.

Colorado is a semi-arid state.Most of our precipitation falls assnow in the mountains in winterand then melts and runs intostreams in the spring. If we don'tget enough snow in themountains, not only are the skiingconditions poor, but we won'thave enough water for farms orfor watering our lawns in thesummer.The challenge is in tryingto reduce our use of waterthrough conservation so waterstored in reservoirs lasts longer. Indrought years, there still may notbe enough water even when wehave water in our reservoirs.

Fourteen other states andMexico depend on water fromColorado.Water from theColorado River and other riversflows into other states and is usedby millions of people.

Water, WonderfulWater!

“When the well's dry, we

know the worth of water."

–quote from Benjamin

Franklin two and a half

centuries ago.FUN

FAC

TS

3 inches2 1/2 inches

2 inches1 1/2 inches

1 inches1/2 inches0 inches

Leadville

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Average Yearly Precipitation (in inches) 2002 Precipitation (in inches)

PRECIPITATION

Total Annual Average Precipitation = 13.5 inches 2002 Total Annual Precipitation = 9.4 inches

Precipitation In The Mountains and The Valleys

3 inches2 1/2 inches

2 inches1 1/2 inches

1 inches1/2 inches0 inches

Rocky Ford

January February March April May June July August September October November December

Average Yearly Precipitation (in inches) 2002 Precipitation (in inches)

PRECIPITATION

Total Annual Average Precipitation = 10.89 inches 2002 Total Annual Precipitation = 3.52 inches

Leadville is in the mountains, near the headwaters or beginning ofthe Arkansas River.The river carries water from snow that melts inthe spring and runs down the slopes.When Leadville doesn’t get asmuch snow as usual in the winter there isn’t as much water in theArkansas River in the spring.

Rocky Ford is a farm community on the plains downstream on theArkansas River.They had exceptionally bad drought conditions during2002 (worse than most of Colorado), making the ground very dry.The farmers get some of their irrigation water for crops from theArkansas River, but during 2002 there was much less water in theriver than usual.

How do you think this affected the farmers in Rocky Ford? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Did Leadville or Rocky Ford have more precipitation in 2002? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

If Rocky Ford got 11 inches of precipitation in 2003 would that beconsidered a drought? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _If Leadville got 11 inches of precipitation in 2003 would that beconsidered a drought? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _In 2002 in Rocky Ford, which month received the least precipitation? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

In an average year in Rocky Ford, which month receives the mostprecipitation? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

C O L O R A D O F O U N D A T I O N F O R A G R I C U L T U R E / w w w . g r o w i n g y o u r f u t u r e . c o m 7

Not enough rain and snowcauses drought. Drought meansdifferent things in different places.eight inches of precipitation isnormal for Rocky Ford, but wouldbe below average for Leadville.Drought simply means less waterthan usual in a certain place.

In states such as ours which areexperiencing population growth,there is more and morecompetition for water. Cities needwater for the people who livethere. Farmers need water forraising food. People want water intheir reservoirs for swimming andboating.The water is limited andeveryone wants it.

In Colorado, we are in the thirdyear of a drought.There is lesswater in our soil, rivers, wetlandsand lakes.Thismeans less waterfor animals andthat many plantsand trees dry outand die. There aremore forest andrange fires. Soilerosion anddamage to wildlifehabitat goes up.Over time, insectsand plant diseasesincrease in theweakened plants.

People whodepend on waterfor a living,including farmers,earn less moneybecause they can’tgrow as much foodas usual. So pricesfor food might go

up and people might move fromthe country to the city looking forwork. Businesses close down andthere are fewer jobs. Povertyincreases and crime goes up.Finally, the state can’t collect asmuch money from taxes.

Drought doesn’t just effectplants and farmers. Over time itaffects everyone.This is exactlywhat happened to Colorado andour country during the “DustBowl.” In the 1930s droughtcovered most of the Great Plainsfor almost 10 years. Farmerscouldn’t plant crops, and the windblew dust so thick that the skyturned black.The dust cloudseven reached all the way toWashington D.C.This is why itwas called the Dust Bowl.

The Dust Bowl was devastatingto our country.Thankfully, thedrought didn’t last forever.When rain and snowfall returnedconditions got better. Since then,we’ve made improvements infarming and controlling erosionof our soil from wind.

The current drought hascaused us to use water rationing.This means everyone uses nomore than a set amount ofwater. Many towns and citiespractice water conservation.The cities and towns themselvesuse less water and encourageresidents to take steps to useless water. With everyone’s help we can protect our valuablewater and lessen the effects of drought.

Colorado–We’re High and Dry.

Delta

CortezDurango

Grand Junction

MontroseGunnison

Salida

Alamosa

Walsenburg

Trinidad

RockyFord La Junta

Lamar

Pueblo

CraigFort Collins

Loveland Greeley

Fort Morgan

Sterling

Denver

Boulder

Colorado Springs

Leadville

Grand Lake

Colorado River

Arkansas River

Arkansas River

Colorado Drought Map for November 2002 from the U.S. Drought Monitor at http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.htm

Exceptional Drought Extreme Drought Severe Drought

Worst Bad

8

Tree RingsTrees are amazing! Sometimes

they can survive fire and droughtand can grow to be hundreds oreven thousands of years old.

Did you know trees keep arecord of wet and dry yearsinside their trunks? Every yeartrees grow a new layer or ring ofwood. In wet or rainy years thelayer will be wide. In dry ordrought years the layer of woodwill be skinny.

Scientists can learn aboutdroughts that took place manyyears ago by examining a freshlycut tree stump and counting andmeasuring the tree rings.

Using this research, they can findout when droughts have occurredin the past and predict how oftenthey may occur in the future.Researchers have discovered thatthere was a major drought in theplains of eastern Colorado from1845-1856.They believe that thisdrought may have played a part inthe loss of bison herds.

Tree rings can also tell scientistswhen fires occurred by scars inthe tree rings. If the tree didn’t diebut was only scarred, you cancount the rings to find out whenthe fire happened. Pretty amazing!

• One large tree can provide a

day’s oxygen for four people.

• Americans use enough

firewood each year to build a

100 foot stack of wood

stretching from New York

City to San Francisco!FU

NF

AC

T

Melody planted this tree in 1989

1. What year was the tree cut down?

2. What year was the worst drought year?

4. What year was the wettest year?

Answer thequestionsby countingthe treerings. Thetree isgiving usclues by thesize andshape ofthe rings.

Messages InThe Tree Rings

3. In what two years did a fire leave a scar

on the tree?