Forest Service 74d ago

High-elevation snow on Colorado’s Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests is the starting point for the water that sustains communities across the Western Slope. That system is under increasing strain. Decades of change have left these forests and the critical watersheds they support more vulnerable to wildfire and other growing stresses. District Ranger Bill Edwards explains the value of the Grand Mesa Watershed Resiliency Partnership, which is built around a simple idea: to protect our water, we must first care for our forests.