Summit County — A wood chipping program aimed at creating defensible space around homes has gotten so popular this summer that crews are having a hard time keeping up with the demand.
Dan Schroder runs the Summit County Chipping Program where area residents put branches and wood on the curbside, and workers with the chipping program take it away for free.
“We’ve been so busy this season we couldn’t get our arms around it,” Schroder said.
The idea is to encourage homeowners to remove trees and vegetation around their property to build a wildfire break.
Last year, the program saw around 9,227 piles, but this year – thanks to a busy fire season – the number of piles have grown by more than 40 percent.
“So about double the participation in 2018,” Schroder said.
In the weeks since the Buffalo Fire burned near Silverthorne, slash piles have been popping up in neighborhoods, with piles lining some residential streets.
“We have so much chip material,” Schroder said.
So much material that the chipping company contracted to deal with all the piles of slash had to hire more people to handle the extra work.
“We can’t wait to see what’s going to happen at the end of all this,” Schroder said.
In past years, the chipped wood was used at the Climax Mine for reclamation, but this year a lot of wood will be made available to anyone who wants it for landscaping.
If you want some chips, call Dan Schroder at the Summit County, CSU Extension Office at 970-668-3595.