The middle of winter is usually not a time when Coloradans think about wildfires. And while they may realize that the snow we see atop the peaks now represents much of our future water supply, they may not realize how forests and fires impact this supply.

Fires that burn with catastrophic severity can destroy our watersheds and the natural storage and filtration systems that Colorado forests provide. This leads to runoff, mudslides and clogged reservoirs.

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