Operations will be conducted Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will be weather dependent

Boulder County, Colo. – A forest management project will begin on Oct. 11 at Betasso Preserve. This is on county-owned open space land adjacent to the City of Boulder’s Betasso Water Treatment Plant.

Operations will be conducted Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and will be weather dependent. Management activity will be visible throughout much of the park and there will be significant operational activity and associated noise. Intermittent trail closures may be required for short durations to facilitate safe felling operations.

Betasso Preserve will then be closed completely from Oct. 24 through the month of December while aerial operations continue in order to provide for safe and efficient implementation. All closures will take place Monday through Friday; there will be no closures during weekends or major federal holidays. The project is required by funding grants to end by March 31, 2017, but is expected to be completed, weather dependent, by the end of December 2016.

On the days that helicopter operations are grounded due to weather conditions, Betasso Preserve will be open to recreation for that day. Resident Ranger Fowler will announce in the morning of each day that the park is open via Twitter (@RangerFowler). His tweets will also be posted on the Boulder County Parks & Open Space Facebook page (Facebook.com/BoulderCountyOpenSpace) and at www.BoulderCountyOpenSpace.org/betasso.

Information and updates about the project, including location and times of park and/or trail closures and impacts to visitors and residents, are available at www.BoulderCountyOpenSpace.org/betasso or by contacting Stefan Reinold, Senior Forester, at sreinold@bouldercounty.org or 303-678-6202.

Media Invitation/Photo Opportunity Oct. 25
Media outlets are invited to attend an escorted photo and interview opportunity onsite on Oct. 25, the first fly day for helicopter operations. Helmets or hard hats, high visibility safety vests, and eye protection will be required on site. To participate, please contact Erin Hartnett at ehartnett@bouldercounty.org or 303-678-6211. The project and helicopter flights can also be viewed without an escort from the Lost Gulch Overlook (4400 Flagstaff Rd.) and from Bald Mountain Open Space (4241 Sunshine Canyon Dr.)