JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. Residents and officials in Jefferson and Clear Creek counties are taking a hard look at wildfire risk this season, with forest management efforts at various stages across the region.Rainbow Hill Road lea ds to a community spanning about 3,200 acres with one way in and one way out.Landowner Erin Pyne said the forest surrounding her home is neither healthy nor safe.Learn more about the efforts in the video player below"We've been focusing a whole lot of our time and energy on fire mitigation," Pyne said.The dense forest, beetle-infested trees, and dry land have been flagged by forestry officials as an area desperately needing wildfire mitigation."What if there's a strike nearby? We're so dry that's all it takes to start something really scary," Pyne said.The financial burden of mitigation adds to the challenge."It's just incredibly difficult to protect my property specifically against fire," Pyne said.Pyne estimates the cost of mitigation for her property alone could reach $60,000 to $70,000.A few miles away in Mount Vernon, resident Rod Vaughn's community has secured several grants to fund mitigation work. The newest grant will put crews to work in October."That funding's so critical," Vaughn said.The funding aims to remove hazardous fuels and protect drinking-water supplies."There's responsibilities of living in an area like this, that is different than living somewhere else and so I accept those responsibilities. It's part of my life. I hope it never occurs but we're trying to take measures to hold it back if it does," Vaughn said.When the work in Mount Vernon is complete, officials said around 60% of the trees in the area will be removed."What we're trying to do is mechanically emulate what fire's done in the past and thin these forests so that they're more like they should be in the absence of fire," Vaughn said.At Lookout Mountain, where mitigation work has already been completed, the results are visible. Tony Auciello, senior forester at Jefferson County Open Space, said the work is making a measurable difference."While this isn't perfect, we're working on mother nature's timescale, not our timescale. And so when comparing these treatments to a catastrophic unnatural wildfire, I think we would all choose this every day," Auciello said.Officials say flame length at Lookout Mountain used to be capable of reaching about 30 feet because of the landscape a level at which firefighters cannot safely engage a fire. Through mitigation, that figure has now been reduced to 6 feet.The message from officials throughout the region is consistent: be proactive. Multiple officials emphasized that a wildfire coming through the area is not a matter of if, but when. Educating the community on forest management, they said, could ultimately save lives.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less