A Right of Entry (ROE) form gives permission for trained personnel to enter specific areas of your property solely for the purpose of assessment, debris removal, and hazard‑mitigation work related to the 2025 flood.
Signing an ROE does not transfer ownership, does not create any ongoing obligation, and does not allow unrelated activities. It simply authorizes access so we can safely complete the work that protects homes, infrastructure, and the community. Impacted landowners must sign form in order to access direct benefit.
Upper Pine River Fire Protection District is serving as the local sponsor for the Vallecito Creek Flood Recovery Project, which requires a 12.5% non‑federal match under the NRCS Emergency Watershed Protection Program. This match can be met through local funding, partner contributions, or eligible in‑kind services such as labor, equipment, and materials. Providing this match allows the project to access the remaining 87.5% in federal and state funds needed to stabilize the creek and reduce future flood impacts.
Kindly make check out to:
UPRFPD
Send to:
515 Sower Dr
Bayfield, CO 81122
C/O Mike Muir
Impacted residents who live on Vallecito Creek, Grimes Creek, D-Creek and Boletus Creek: shared contributions are equal to or greater than $2,000 (please include address in memo line)
Any and all donations are greatly appreciated: EIN # 84-1104024
THANK YOU 😊
The NRCS and the Pine River Irrigation District recently approved the purchase of a Weedoo aquatic workcraft to support long‑term maintenance and resilience across the Vallecito Reservoir. The decision followed a transparent review process and formal board approval, ensuring the investment met both operational needs and public‑benefit standards. This is a cost-share: with the NRCS contributing 75% of the retail cost. This specialized vessel allows PRID to safely remove debris, manage sediment, and maintain access in shallow or hard‑to‑reach areas where traditional equipment cannot operate. Beyond its immediate value to the flood‑recovery effort, the Weedoo provides a durable, cost‑effective tool that will strengthen the district’s ability to protect infrastructure, improve waterway function, and respond proactively to future high‑water events for years to come. Thanks to NRCS-EWP and PRID for keeping our recreation safe.
When? May15 and 16 Friday and Saturday from 9am to 1pm.
June 19 and 20 Friday and Saturday from 9am to 1pm.
Where? McCarty's gravel pit-
14015 CR 502.
What? Slash and Pine Needles are accepted. For Pine Needles: No Plastic bags please.
They can be in paper bags or loose.
Cost? This is an all volunteer effort so a donation of $20 per load is requested.
Please help make Vallecito fire safe. Thank you.
After analysis, legal review, and community participation, Upper Pine has determined that forming a Special Improvement District (SID) is no longer a viable or defensible option for organizing the local match for the Vallecito Creek recovery project. This decision is based on statutory requirements and project realities—not a lack of effort, Board or community support.
-What Changed
As the project advanced, several issues emerged that made the SID unworkable under Colorado law:
• Equity and benefit concerns — It became clear that not all parcels within the original boundary received a direct, measurable benefit from the NRCS work. That undermines the legal defensibility of any assessment.
• Timing and administrative risk —The SID pathway required a formal public election before any assessments could be approved or collected. That election process added a mandatory delay that could not be compressed or bypassed under Colorado law. When we overlaid that election timeline with NRCS’s construction schedule and match‑funding deadlines, it became clear the two could not be aligned. Moving forward with the SID would have pushed the project past NRCS’s required window, introducing significant risk of delaying—or even jeopardizing—federal funding.
• Direction from legal counsel and the Board — After reviewing the constraints, the District’s legal team advised that the SID was no longer a clean or defensible mechanism for this project.
-The Path Forward
Upper Pine is now focusing on a more precise and equitable approach that aligns with NRCS requirements and protects federal funding. This includes redrawing the impact area to the waterfront parcels that experienced direct physical damage and will receive direct, measurable benefit from the recovery work. It also includes aggressively pursuing additional state support and exploring in‑kind match options to reduce the local burden.