Colorado Pile Burn Cooperative
Neighbors Getting Good Fire on the Ground
In Colorado, pile burning is an important tool for mitigating wildfire risk, improving forest health, and re-connecting communities with fire on the landscape. In Colorado, 30% of forested lands are privately owned, which makes private landowners an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to meaningful forest restoration. By self-organizing and forming Pile Burn Cooperatives, private landowners have the potential to influence how wildfire moves through their communities.
The Ember Alliance provides resources and organizes Pile Build & Burn Workshops, which provide landowners with hands-on experience. If you are interested in hosting or attending a pile burn workshop, reach out to Kristin Leger at The Ember Alliance. More resources for Pile Burn Cooperatives can be found below.
- What is a PBC?
- How to Form a PBC
- Pile Build & Burn Workshops
- How to Build a Pile
- Steps to Burn a Pile
- Resources
Pile Burn Cooperatives (PBCs) are networks of empowered landowners that help each other build and burn slash piles in their communities to improve forest health and mitigate wildfire risk. The PBC model is adapted from Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) which started in the plains of Nebraska, and can be summed up as “neighbors helping neighbors to get good fire on the ground.”
In Colorado, pile burning is an important tool for mitigating wildfire risk, improving forest health, and re-connecting communities with fire on the landscape. In Colorado, 30% of forested lands are privately owned, which makes private landowners an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to meaningful forest restoration. By self-organizing and forming Pile Burn Cooperatives, private landowners have the potential to influence how wildfire moves through their communities.
Currently, there are some barriers to community-led pile burning efforts on private lands in CO. Two of the biggest barriers are lack of expertise and liability concerns (CFRI, 2008). Landowners have expressed a need for pile burn training so they can gain the knowledge, experience, and confidence to build and burn their own piles. The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) offers a Certified Burner training for landowners that want to learn to burn their own piles, and The Ember Alliance organizes Pile Build & Burn Workshops, which provide landowners with hands-on experience. If you are interested in hosting or attending a pile burn workshop, reach out to Kristin Leger at The Ember Alliance. Explore the links on the left-hand side of this web page to learn more about PBCs!
Questions to ask as you are forming a local PBC:
- What is our definition of “local”?
- What are the shared goals within our membership?
- What tools, knowledge, and resources do we have?
- What tools, knowledge, and resources to we need to be successful?
- What types of funding might we have access to?
- Who has the capacity for leadership in the group?
- What are the expectations for sharing and receiving within the group?
- How will we maintain up-to-date knowledge of current burning information and best practices?
- What agencies can/should we build relationships and work with?
- Connect with residents in the state that are interested in forming a local PBC: Join the Northern Colorado PBC Connection Facebook group here!
Connect with residents in the state that are interested in forming a local PBC: Join the Northern Colorado PBC Connection Facebook group here!
TEA is currently supporting the creation of pile burning-focused PBCs. PBCs that conduct broadcast burning have different needs and requirements that we are not able to assist.
Pile burning is an effective tool to mitigate wildfire risk in the wildland urban interface. The Ember Alliance partners with local Fire Protection Districts to put on pile building workshops in communities that interested in using pile burning as a wildfire mitigation strategy. These workshops are full-day events that take place on private property, and contain an educational component, as well as a hands-on pile building component. These workshops a great way to connect landowners who are interested in organizing at the community level to mitigate their shared risk. If you think your community would be a good fit for a pile build workshop, reach out to Kristin Leger.
Private landowners gathered in a circle as Ben Pfohl, a Supervisory Forester for the Colorado State Forest Service, discusses landscape-scale forest restoration.
Landowners building a slash pile at the Pile Build Workshop in Coal Creek Canyon on November 13, 2021.
HOW TO BUILD GOOD SLASH BURN PILES
Construction
Well-built hand piles are critical to getting good consumption of all the material when burnt.
Basic theory:
- Allow for good air flow, but not too much air flow;
- Build the pile to shed moisture so that the interior fuels stay dry;
- It’s just a big campfire, you need small fuels to light larger fuels;
- If it wouldn’t burn well in your woodstove, it’s likely not to burn well in a pile either.
Key Tips:
- Build a pyramid shape. Tall and narrow generally gets much better consumption than wide and flat.
- Having a good bed of fine fuels and needles at the bottom and center of the pile is very helpful. Think thermodynamics, heat rises through the center of the pile drying and burning the fuel above.
- Orienting branches so that the butt end is pointing up (and is the top of the teepee) and the needles are on the bottom of the pile sheds snow and allows the fine fuels to pre-heat the larger fuels.
- You must have fine fuels. A pile of big branches is hard to ignite. If piling dead wood, try and insert some green needled branches in the center of the pile.
- Piles with a lot of “holes” that allow snow to get deep into the center of the pile will not burn well.
- If you just can’t get fine fuels, putting a “round” on end in the pile, so that it can be soaked with slash mix (mix will soak into end grain, it will drip off bark) and burn like a wick is very helpful.
- A pile of GREEN needled branches will generally create, on its own, a good density pile. It will have enough fuel to fuel contact for good conduction of heat while still allowing good airflow for consumption. A pile of dead branches that got stomped on several times will burn very poorly and require a lot of chunking.
- Most Counties in Colorado prohibit any material greater than 6 inches in diameter being burned. Don’t put logs/the trunk of the tree in piles. It won’t burn well and will cause lots of smoke and smoldering.
- Don’t put raked needles or other materials in that will compact and mat down.
- Don’t put any thing in your pile other than woody biomass from the forest.
Placement
Bad pile placement kills the trees you want to retain when the piles are burned. Put piles in the wrong place and we might as well just clear cut the unit.
- Assume any pile will create a flame 2 to 3 times it’s own height. E.G. A pile that is ten feet tall can create a 30 foot long flame.
- Now imagine that flame being bent over by the wind. This creates the need for the pile to generally be at least 15 to 20 feet away from the closest retain tree.
- These distances need to be even greater if piles are on steep slopes.
- On steep slope also assume material will want to roll down hill. Try and place bigger logs parallel to the slope and not perpendicular. For skiers this is put the logs in line with the fall line and not across the fall line so that they don’t roll.
- Don’t build piles on top of stumps. Stumps will smolder for days and cause major safety concerns.
- Don’t build piles on top of a “bed” other branches, this will cause the pile to creep out when burned.
PBC Resources
Pile Burn Cooperatives (PBCs) are networks of empowered landowners that help each other build and burn slash piles in their communities to improve forest health and mitigate wildfire risk. The PBC model is adapted from Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) which started in the plains of Nebraska, and can be summed up as “neighbors helping neighbors to get good fire on the ground.”
In Colorado, pile burning is an important tool for mitigating wildfire risk, improving forest health, and re-connecting communities with fire on the landscape. In Colorado, 30% of forested lands are privately owned, which makes private landowners an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to meaningful forest restoration. By self-organizing and forming Pile Burn Cooperatives, private landowners have the potential to influence how wildfire moves through their communities.
Currently, there are some barriers to community-led pile burning efforts on private lands in CO. Two of the biggest barriers are lack of expertise and liability concerns (CFRI, 2008). Landowners have expressed a need for pile burn training so they can gain the knowledge, experience, and confidence to build and burn their own piles. The Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) offers a Certified Burner training for landowners that want to learn to burn their own piles, and The Ember Alliance organizes Pile Build & Burn Workshops, which provide landowners with hands-on experience. If you are interested in hosting or attending a pile burn workshop, reach out to Kristin Leger.
Forming a PBC involves meeting people who live near you with similar land management goals. Start by connecting with neighbors to talk about goals and techniques. Feeling stuck? You can post on social media sites such as Facebook and Nextdoor to find interested people. You can join the Northern Colorado PBC Connection Facebook group to connect with fellow CO landowners and to stay up to date on PBC events. You can reach out to your local fire department to learn about any existing wildfire mitigation and forest health programs. You can contact Kristin Leger at The Ember Alliance to organize a Pile Build or Pile Burn Workshop in your community!
Questions to ask when you’re forming a PBC:
- What are the shared goals within our group (e.g., wildfire mitigation & community protection, forest health, building community, learning how to use beneficial fire, etc.)?
- What tools, knowledge, and resources do we have?
- What tools, knowledge, and resources do we need to be successful?
- What types of funding might we have access to?
- Who has the capacity for leadership in the group?
- What are the expectations for sharing and receiving within the group?
- How will we maintain up-to-date knowledge of current burning information and best practices?
- What agencies can/ should we build relationships with and work with?
Connect with fellow Coloradoans and stay up to date on PBC events: Join the Northern Colorado PBC Connection Facebook group here!
Pile Construction
Well-built slash piles are critical to getting good consumption of all the material when burned.
Basic theory:
- Allow for good air flow, but not too much air flow.
- Build the pile to shed moisture so that the interior fuels stay dry.
- It’s just a big campfire; you need small fuels to light larger fuels.
Key Tips:
- Build a “teepee” or pyramid shape. Tall and narrow generally gets much better consumption than wide and flat.
- Having a good bed of fine fuels and needles at the bottom and center of the pile is very helpful. Think thermodynamics, heat rises through the center of the pile drying and burning the fuel above.
- Orient branches so that the butt end is pointing up (and is the top of the teepee) and the needles are on the bottom of the pile sheds snow and allows the fine fuels to pre-heat the larger fuels.
- You MUST have fine fuels. A pile of big branches is hard to ignite. If piling dead wood, try and insert some green needled branches in the center of the pile.
- Piles with a lot of holes that allow snow to get deep into the center of the pile will not burn well.
- A pile of GREEN needled branches will generally create, on its own, a good density pile. It will have enough fuel-to-fuel contact for good conduction of heat while still allowing good airflow for consumption. A pile of dead branches that got stomped on several times will burn very poorly and require a lot of chunking.
- Most Counties in Colorado prohibit any material greater than 6” in diameter to be burned in a slash pile. Don’t put logs/the trunk of the tree in piles. It won’t burn well and will cause lots of smoke and smoldering.
- Counties also have restrictions on pile size. In Larimer County, piles are not permitted to be bigger than 6’ tall and 8-10’ diameter at the base. Keep in mind that as your pile “cures” or dries out over time it will compact down by ~2’. This means, when constructing piles in Larimer County, you should build them to be 8’ tall and they will compact down to 6’ as they cure.
- Don’t put raked needles, grass, dirt, or other materials that will create an overly-dense pile and restrict air flow.
- Don’t put anything in your pile other than woody biomass from the forest.
Pile Placement
Bad pile placement kills the trees you want to retain when the piles are burned. Put piles in the wrong place and you might as well just clear cut the unit.
- Piles should be placed in openings at least 10 feet away from the trunk, and not directly under the drip line of any remaining trees.
- Assume a pile will create a flame 2 to 3 times its own height. A pile that is 6 feet tall can create an 18-foot flame. Now imagine that flame being bent over by the wind. Keep this in mind as you decide where to build your piles.
- On steep slopes, assume that material will want to roll downhill. Try and place bigger logs parallel to the slope and not perpendicular. For skiers this is “put the logs in line with the fall line and not across the fall line.”
- Don’t build piles on top of stumps. Stumps will smolder for days and cause major safety concerns.
- Don’t build piles on top of a “bed” other branches, this will cause the pile to creep out when burned.
- Don’t build piles on rocks. This will cause fire to burn into the duff between rocks and can be hard to extinguish.
- According to the Colorado State Forest Service Home Ignition Zone (HIZ) Guide, piles should be built at least 30 feet away from any structures, in Zone 3 of the HIZ.
For a more comprehensive pile building guide see the Colorado Pile Construction Guide
Pile Building examples
