ROUTT COUNTY LONG-TERM WILDFIRE RECOVERY PLAYBOOK

Routt County is very lucky to continue to have the opportunity to proactively pursue pre-wildfire recovery planning before a catastrophic wildfire occurs. The initial development of a long-term wildfire recovery plan was completed by The Council in early 2025. The call-to-action is to the community, to establish a long-term recovery group which will lead the activation of the recovery recommendations identified in the playbook.

The recovery playbook provides a gap analysis of local and regional resources crucial to long-term wildfire recovery. Who are the existing leaders, experts, and officials who would be called to lead and support recovery efforts in Routt County after a catastrophic wildfire? What are the lead organizations and government agencies? Where is recovery funding and how is it accessed? What are lessons learned and best practices from communities who’ve had to recover? This playbook provides some answers to these urgent questions, but most importantly, it provides recommendations to strengthen the county-wide wildfire recovery support structure. Routt County can be prepared to recover as calmly and equitably as possible, but it is up to citizen leaders to pluck the recommendations off the playbook’s pages and see them to fruition in real time…just in time!

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“Halie did an exceptional job drafting the Routt County Long-Term Wildfire Recovery Playbook, which provides a solid framework for identifying resources, stakeholders, and actions in support of long-term recovery. Additionally, the plan incorporates several recovery best practices including the establishment of a long-term recovery group pre-disaster, integration with other community and state plans, equitable recovery considerations, and rebuilding more resilient. I am excited to see how this playbook will guide recovery planning for Routt County, and serve  as an example for other Colorado communities.”
Matthew Jacobs, Recovery Program Manager, Colorado Resiliency Office - Department of Local Affairs
“I wish someone had handed me a document like the Routt County Long-Term Wildfire Recovery Playbook when I was planning North Carolina’s recovery from Tropical Storm Helene. Having such a plan in place before the storm would have helped us deliver aid to North Carolina’s mountain communities much faster and in a way that catered to the unique character of those communities.”
FEMA Strategic and Operational Planning Manager

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FAQs

RCWMC’s mission is to create resilient, fire-adapted communities to minimize potential impacts of wildfire. A fully fire-adapted community has created and implemented strategies for all four phases of the disaster management cycle to reduce their risk to wildfire and its impacts (i.e. mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery). Through pre and post disaster recovery planning, communities increase their resilience to future disturbances.

You can view the planning assumptions in Section D.6. of the recovery playbook.

This document was written for local government officials and the leaders of community-based organizations who would have essential responsibilities during recovery.

The comprehensive list of contributors can be found in Sections B and D.3. of the playbook. The primary advisors to this project were: Josh Hankes (RCWMC), Alyssa Wihelme (Routt County OEM), Carolina Manriquez (CSFS), Scott Cowman (Routt County Env. Health), Tim Whohlgenant (YV Community Foundation), Jennifer Bruen (United Way), Clinton Whitton (NRCS), Dakota Dolan (YVSC), Tim Sullivan (YVSC), Lisa Ritchie (Town of Superior), Allison James (City of Louisville), Megan Davis (City of Lafayette), and Dr. Susan Washko (Western Colorado University). The author and researcher is Halie Cunningham (RCWMC).

At this time, a LTRG has not been established, which means identified lead and supporting agencies listed in the playbook may or may not be completing recommendations at their own discretion.

Examples of existing LTRGs >

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