Castle Rock begins 23-acre wildfire mitigation at Metzler Family Open Space

Castle Rock Fire & Rescue, working with the Town’s Parks and Recreation Department, will begin wildfire-mitigation work at Metzler Family Open Space in early March to treat approximately 23 acres of ponderosa pine and Gambel oak along Founders Parkway and Crowfoot Valley Road, the Town announced Feb. 26. The Town’s release says work is expected to continue through the end of March, weather permitting.

The mitigation plan lists specific treatment objectives for the parcel: improving tree crown spacing, reducing competition, removing diseased and bark beetle-infested trees, and creating a fuel break adjacent to private property. Castle Rock Fire Chief Norris Croom said the Town “regularly assess[s] wildfire risk across Town-owned properties, especially where homes touch natural spaces,” and that the effort, developed “working with the Town’s Natural Resource Specialist, is designed to improve overall forest health while reducing the risk of wildfires near neighboring homes.”

Crews will be visible in the Metzler open space during daylight hours beginning at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday, the Town release states. The official schedule ties the start window to “early March” and the project duration to the end of March, weather permitting. Local TV reporting has also noted that crews will target brush and an estimated 150 trees for treatment; that figure was reported by Denver7 and has not been specified in the Town’s written release.

Before mechanical work begins, goats provided by Goat Green LLC were shown grazing in the Metzler Family Open Space as a fuels-reduction measure, and TV coverage said the herd was slated to move to the Woodlands Bowl on Tuesday or Wednesday. Town and TV coverage together show Castle Rock using a mix of strategies, animal grazing, mechanical thinning and community outreach, to reduce fuels where neighborhoods border natural areas.

Castle Rock Fire Marshal Bart Chambers placed the Metzler work in a regional context, saying that interstate mutual aid lets departments “reciprocate resources. So when other states are burning, we provide those resources; when we're burning, they provide those resources back to us.” Chambers added that mitigation is a long-term task: “This is a marathon, not a sprint… Take that time to be fire-wise, get that clearance and be fire-safe.”

Neighborhood efforts are already under way. Escavera HOA FireWise Committee Chair Mary McDonald described grassroots neighbor outreach, saying, “We're in the middle of Castle Rock but we look like Colorado,” and noting community actions including signs, emails and a June collection of more than 116 yards of slash removed by neighbors from their own yards.

Residents with questions about timing, trail access or the work footprint can call the Town at 720-896-TOWN (8696) for the menu with frequently asked questions or live assistance during business hours. The Town says crews will post notifications on site and that staff will coordinate fuel-break placement adjacent to private property as work proceeds.