Description of Work - The East Turquoise Stewardship Project is located on the Leadville Ranger District of the San Isabel National Forest encompassing the area indicated on the Contract Area Map within the Leadville Ranger District Boundary to the east, Lake County Road 9C to the west, Lake County Road 9 to the north, and NFSR 113 to the south. Objectives for the project area are summarized as follows:

• Improve Forest Health - Provide growing space for healthy trees, create conditions in treated forest stands that are less favorable for mountain pine beetle infestation for the next 20 - 30 years.
• Increase Stand Resiliency - Promote a diversity of tree species, age classes, and structural stages that would lead to the development of uneven-aged stands.
• Reduce the negative impacts that wildfire could have on watersheds, including the municipal watershed reserves and water system infrastructure for the cities of Aurora, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and other local municipalities - Reduce the risk of high intensity wildfire by reducing fuel loadings.
• Maintain and enhance threatened, endangered and sensitive species habitats, and other important fish and wildlife habitats over the next 20 - 30 years - Promote the perpetuation of aspen for wildlife habitat, maintain existing dense horizontal cover for lynx habitat, and promote the development of lynx habitat in the future.
To accomplish these objectives, the contract includes the following components: stand thinning, stand clearcutting, mechanical fuels reduction, non-commercial thinning, piling of fuels, and timber or other products removal.

NOTE: The East Turquoise IRSC is a Project under the Tennessee Creek EIS and Record of Decision that is currently part of an ongoing lawsuit.  For further information concerning this issue, please contact Jim Gerleman.

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