Jefferson Conservation District

04/28/2026

Are you interested in an outdoor, people-friendly job that supports wildfire mitigation efforts?

JCD is looking to hire four seasonal roles that will assist with the operation of community slash collection yards around Jefferson County during the 2026 season (May-October). The program aims to encourage residents to create defensible space on their property by providing convenient and affordable drop off locations for small woody debris or slash (i.e. tree limbs, branches).

Community Forestry Assistants’ responsibilities will include:
- Greeting and engaging with the public
- Open/close/maintain the yard daily
- Assisting JCD’s other programs with forest and plant inventory, flagging boundaries, marking trees, and GIS and mapping tasks

Click the link in the bio or visit our website to learn more!

04/17/2026

Our forestry crew says hello from the Colorado Wildland Fire Conference! We have enjoyed the variety of sessions and connecting with our partners this week.
Thank you to Fire Adapted Colorado (FACO) for organizing the event and to all the sponsors that helped make it happen!
Colorado State Forest Service Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and so many more!!

04/16/2026

Field season is picking up! Our field staff finds all kinds of interesting things when we are conducting surveys, this happens to be a very well preserved nest. It appeared to have been unoccupied this season and blown from a tree during recent wind storms. It’s condition is a testament to the avian engineers the constructed it.

Any guesses who built this nest?

04/07/2026

Jefferson County and Jefferson Conservation District are partnering again to deliver the slash recycling program! (Read more at JCD.colorado.gov/programs/slash or jeffco.us/slash)

While JeffCo funds grinding and hauling of materials and JCD staff works the collection sites using drop-off fees, JCD still needs your help to keep the program affordable.

We would love it if you could consider sponsoring JCD to help cover costs. Above we list the sponsorship levels and benefits.

The application to submit a sponsorship interest form (link provided below and in bio) is April 30th.

Thank you to for sponsoring JCD last year!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYf9rvzut-7MDdD-haN3u-Kw7m_6bXWUqzJ37DkelimpJPJQ/viewform

04/03/2026

Sometimes on the way to fieldwork, you come across unexpected highlights.

Meet Ethel the donkey—local celebrity, officially recognized on Google Maps as a “historical landmark,” and currently holding a flawless 5-star rating.

We can confirm: the reviews check out.

04/01/2026

To help residents manage storm-related debris, the Jefferson County SLASH Program will offer two free public drop-off days for fallen branches and downed trees resulting from the wind storms this March.
Bring your woody slash materials to the Tincup Ridge Slash Yard (101 Rooney Rd. Golden, CO 80401) on Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11, from 9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
These drop-offs are intended for storm-related woody debris only, specifically fallen or downed branches. Private companies and contractors are not authorized to dispose of material at any of our locations.

03/31/2026

The Denver Water and JCD partnered Lower North Fork Sediment Stabilization project along the South Platte River wraps up! Our Watershed Program Manager spoke with CBS on the topic.

See one of the waterway projects in Colorado that is possible thanks to money generated by legal sports betting in the state.

03/31/2026

JCD Conservation Foresters visit to give a Forest and Fire Ecology presentation as a part of our outreach programs. Here we demonstrate fire behavior across two landscapes, using matchsticks to represent trees in each landscape.

One landscape represents a “forest” that is densely packed with trees. In the first photo, one “tree” was ignited and the rest quickly followed.

The other landscape represented a “forest” that had wildfire mitigation practices implemented, so the “trees” are more spread out. In a treated forest, crown fires don’t move through the crowns of the trees due to the thinning.

Due to decades of natural wildfire suppression, forest have become dense and lost their diversity, decreasing wildlife habitat, depriving nutrients from the soil, and prevented wildfire fuel from building up. With this suppression, fires that do occur become more intense and endanger communities and ecosystems.

Science based forest restoration management techniques create a more diverse and open forest that can thrive like it once did.

03/26/2026

JCD would like to thank everyone who joined us on the construction tour of the Lower North Fork Sediment Stabilization project along the South Platte River. JCD and Denver Water partnered on this watershed protection effort that aims to reduce erosion of river banks and sediment deposition in the Strontia Springs Reservoir.
These efforts include bank stabilization through slowing water flow and restoring native vegetation. In following posts we will break it down to illustrate everything that goes into a project like this!

This project wouldn’t have been possible without you , , ,
, Colorado Water Conservation Board, , Jeffco Open Space, CO

03/24/2026

Meet some of the JCD team… in miniature!

03/13/2026

White Hawk Trail - Forest restoration project success story