FOMP is pleased to announce our March 2022 Board Meeting
Meeting Time: Tuesday, March 8th at 7:00 PM
Due to board members being out of town, we are doing a Zoom meeting. If you wish to attend please RSVP to info@fomp.org and further login details will be provided.
Board Member Updates
President and Vice President update.
Secretary and Treasurer update.
Topics
USFS Updates.
Continued vehicle break-ins at the Fire Center.
After many years Bill Normile is leaving his executive position with the BOD – I big thanks for all the time and support he has given FOMP.
A big shout out to Bob Falcone (aka Hiking Bob) for the coverage on the topic.
Update: Be on the lookout for a dark mid-sized SUV, maybe an Explorer, or similar vehicle in and around the trailheads. Two men escaped after a neighbor witnessed them smashing and grabbing a car across the street near the Red Rocks Drive trailhead.
We have heard of continued reports of multiple vehicle break-ins around various locations at the Monument Fire Center. Property, credit cards, IDs, etc., have been stolen, with some of the cards being fraudulently used at local stores.
Please note that this area is not under the jurisdiction of the Town of Monument Police (outside the city limits) and is instead taken care of by the El Paso County Sheriff. If you have been a Smash and Grab victim please call the Sheriff’s office.
If you are a victim of any sort of a break-in, report it!
Please be careful, and take all valuables with you when you bike, hike or run. In addition, keep anything like packs, purses, etc., hidden and out of sight. Watch your surroundings and note anything odd in the parking lot, including suspicious vehicles or people.
El Paso County Sheriff: Non-Emergency Dispatch Phone Line
We have heard of reports of multiple vehicle break-ins, and stolen property around various locations at the Monument Fire Center.
Those locations include:
The Main Lot (Mt Herman and Nursery)
The Lot at the intersection of Lindbergh and Schilling
Schilling lot by the meadow.
Please be careful, and take all valuables with you when you bike, hike or run. In addition, keep anything like packs, purses, etc. hidden and out of sight. Watch your surroundings and note anything odd in the parking lot, including suspicious vehicles, or people.
El Paso County Sheriff: Non-Emergency Dispatch Phone Line
Pikes Peak Ranger District Plans Prescribed Pile Burning Near Woodland Park
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., December 17, 2021— As part of the ongoing hazardous fuels reduction project, the Pikes Peak Ranger District will conduct pile burns on National Forest System lands in El Paso and Teller Counties, beginning in December and continuing through spring of 2022, conditions permitting.
The names and locations of the pile burns on the Pikes Peak Ranger District are as follows:
Phantom 4 and Broken Wheel – several locations north of Divide, Colorado, along County Road 51 and along the 717 trails between the Phantom Creek trailhead and Forest Service Road 355.
331 – the north-northeast side of Pikes Peak along Pikes Peak Highway near Crowe Gulch trailhead off Forest Service Road 331.
Painted Rocks – north of Woodland Park, Colorado, near Highway 67 just off Painted Rocks Road (County Road 78).
Skelton – west of Woodland Park, Colorado, on Highway 24 near Charis Bible College on County Road 25.
Monument Fire Center – west of the town of Monument, Colorado, at the Monument Fire Center.
Mothball, Ensign Gulch, Carrol Lakes, Rainbow Gulch and Woodland Park Work Center – east of Woodland Park, Colorado, off Rampart Range Road between Forest Service Roads 315 and 306.
“These pile burns help to improve the health of the forest,” said Pikes Peak District Ranger Oscar Martinez. “The piles are a result of tree thinning operations designed to reduce dead wood and remove unhealthy overcrowded trees that contribute to high-intensity wildfires.”
To facilitate burning, each of the selected areas have been prepared in advance to ensure safe fire operations. The piles in the areas consist of small trees as well as treetops and limbs cut and piled during ongoing projects to reduce hazardous fuels around recreation areas, reservoirs and private property. These prescribed burns will help improve forest health as well as reduce the heavy fuel loading that poses a safety threat to firefighters suppressing wildfires and the recreating pubic in the area.
Ignitions will occur only when weather and fuel conditions meet prescriptive parameters and when smoke impacts can be managed within established requirements. Ignition and burning operations may continue for several days depending on the number of piles being burned. Fire personnel will monitor the burns until the fires are completely out.
Smoke is a natural byproduct of fire and some amounts are unavoidable. However, fire managers and prescribed fire specialists look carefully at the proximity of communities and determine the least amount of smoke impact to the public during prescribed burning. Once burning begins, expect smoke to be visible from Woodland Park, Colorado Springs, and Monument. Smoke may also linger over the burn areas for a few days following initial ignitions. For more information on smoke and health, please visit: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health.
Follow @PSICC_NFon Twitter for up-to-date information on this and other topics. Use #PikesPeakRD for Pikes Peak Ranger District prescribed fire information and notification of when burns will take place. For more fire information resources, please visit our website.
The rest of the info you need: FOMP and USFS provide all the necessary tools. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing for performing outdoor landscaping type of work. Volunteers should wear long pants and sturdy shoes, and bring leather gloves, a hat, a personal water supply, eye protection, sunscreen, and bug repellent. We meet rain or shine unless there is lightning active in the area.
We make every effort to accommodate volunteer preferences and abilities at each event. Generally, we perform activities such as water bar building or renovation, trail renovation, maintenance, and trimming, etc. So, pretty much everything from trimming back scrub oak or digging lots of dirt to moving boulders. We assign duties based on interests and capabilities. Kids are welcome to join their parents; however, we do ask that you evaluate whether this is an appropriate activity for your child or not.
Be aware all participants will need to sign a waiver before than can begin any trail work.
On Monday 9/13, employees from the Town of Monument partnered with Friends of Monument Preserve on an afternoon of trail work. We focused on the Ridgeline trail, repairing and adding water bars, and cleaning drains, to mitigate erosion issues. We also trimmed back scrub oak to improve sightlines for multiple users and closed down social trails. FOMP really appreciates the efforts from the Town of Monument to help maintain our trails. But we need more help! Trail usage continues to grow, which drives more maintenance work. Please consider volunteering on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, April-October, at 6 PM. See fomp.org for details.
Thanks very much to the Town of Monument for the support and partnership!
