Grand Mesa Wildfire Resilience

Introduction to a Wildfire Ready Action Plan (WRAP)

A Wildfire Ready Action Plan (WRAP) is a proactive strategy designed to protect water resources, infrastructure, and communities from post-wildfire hazards before a fire occurs. While traditional wildfire plans focus on active fire suppression and structure defense, a WRAP addresses secondary risks like post-fire flash flooding, severe erosion, and debris flows that threaten our local watersheds.

Map of the Grand Mesa with the WRAP project outlined in red and the watershed shown in a gradient of white to black.

The Grand Mesa WRAP grew out of the Grand Mesa Watershed Resiliency Partnership (GMWRP), led by the Grand Valley Ranger District of the US Forest Service. Visit the GMWRP website for more background on the partnership. Coordinated by American Rivers with funding from the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the Colorado River District, US Forest Service, City of Grand Junction, Town of Palisade, the Grand Mesa Water Conservancy District and the Upper Surface Creek Domestic Water Users Association, with support from the Two Rivers Wildfire Coalition and other local partners, the Grand Mesa WRAP helps our communities identify vulnerable areas early and implement mitigation projects before an emergency strikes.

Objectives

Help communities understand which assets are susceptible to post-fire hazards.
Help communities select, design, and implement pre and post-fire hazard mitigation projects that lower the risk posed to those at-risk assets (i.e., values-at-risk, VARs).
Develop standardized data products (e.g., hydrologic models) across the state that can be quickly utilized in the event of a wildfire to inform emergency management.

Grand Mesa Wildfire Resilience StoryMap

A StoryMap provides an intuitive, step-by-step visual tour of projects by combining geographical maps, photographs, and key data points. It enables community members to interactively explore watershed boundaries, wildfire resilience zones, and local resource developments at their own pace.

The Grand Mesa Wildfire Resilience Map, developed by the Two Rivers Wildfire Coalition, uses data developed by Wright Water Engineers for the Grand Mesa WRAP as a starting point to maintain a living inventory of wildfire and post-wildfire vulnerabilities and resilience projects.

Engage with the Grand Mesa Wildfire Resilience StoryMap