Jefferson County Open Space working to fix park land after Quarry Fire

The burn scar from the Quarry Fire is visible on the hills above Rattlesnake Gulch and Deer Creek Canyon.

"The fire affected Red Mesa Loop, the Golden Eagle Trail and in and out of Meadowlark Trail," explained Mary Ann Bonnell, visitor services and natural resources director for Jefferson County Open Space.

The path was destructive but it could've been far worse. As one Inter Canyon firefighter put it, "we lucked out as you heard already that the weather was on our side."

Fire breaks and bulldozer lines were carved into the landscape and now require fixing.

"We're working on trying to figure out how to fix or repair dozer line 1," Bonnell said. "We also have a lot of hand lines dug to create fire lines and that creates a lot of soil disturbance."

In the meantime, the park and many adjacent trails will be closed to the public.

"We are writing tickets for folks that are not obeying the closures," said Bonnell. "Deer Creek Canyon Park proper is closed. Rattlesnake Gulch Trail is closed because it leads from South Valley to Deer Creek Canyon Park."

But that is just the start of the work. In addition to the land rehabilitation in Deer Creek Canyon Park there is also work limiting invasive plants that are extremely flammable, thus posing a significant fire risk.

"That's our other concern is that this park in comparison to our other parks doesn't have as many noxious weeds," said Bonnell. "So yes noxious weeds can change the fire burnability of a landscape."

As agencies prepare for a never-ending fire season and try to gameplan ways to preserve open space while keeping the public safe.

"This park does have some really different plant communities in it so we're always trying to balance that preserving and not fragmenting and serving the community and the wildland-urban interface," Bonnell said.