Environmental VISUAL communication
Communicating Wildfire Resilience in the St. Vrain Watershed
Client: The Watershed Center
St. Vrain Watershed, Front Range, CO | 2021
The St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership works with community members to implement cross-jurisdictional, landscape-scale forest restoration projects. The aim is to achieve a healthy and resilient watershed that can sustain wildfire while protecting communities, keeping water supplies clean and reliable, and supporting diverse native flora and fauna for current and future generations.
LVB met with forest health scientists and forest managers in the St.Vrain watershed to illustrate the science behind severe wildfire impacts and watershed vulnerability in the Colorado Front Range.
The final products include a series of illustrations to help communicate the connection between fire suppression, high severity fire, and changing climate patterns on the watershed’s ecosystems, communities, and water supply to the public, experts, and decision-makers. Forest health resiliency themes include collaboration, water resources, wildfire risk, recreation, aesthetics, and wildlife.
In addition to being used throughout the St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership’s StoryMap, illustrations are featured in the NoCo Fireshed Collaborative’s member newsletter, social media, and website.
Lauren’s illustrations capture the essential features of complex forest resilience and wildfire management concepts and actions in ways that are much more accessible than jargon-heavy text. It’s like packaging a whole field trip into a concise visual. The artwork is a valuable communication tool for the St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership and Northern Colorado Fireshed, helping us boost our capacity for community engagement.
Use the slider to understand current forest conditions and the Desired Future Conditions based on the partnership’s defined values.
Future Forest Condition Post Restoration
Existing Forest Conditions
Future Forest Conditions No-Action