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Local Motion: Forest Health

US Forest Service

Our Western Slope forests provide a home for birds, big game and other wildlife. They furnish timber for building and firewood. They hold soil in place and prevent erosion, and filter rainwater and snowmelt flowing into streams and rivers. But our forests are in trouble. In parts of the Western Slope, aspens have died out, and conifers have turned reddish brown. To find out what’s affecting these trees, KVNF's Jodi Peterson spoke with forestry experts from Colorado State University and the US Forest Service.

Jodi Peterson grew up on Colorado’s Front Range and attended Colorado State University, earning a B.A. in English and an M.A. in communication development. She spent 16 years working as a technical communicator with computer company Hewlett-Packard, then made a career shift to journalism. In 2005, she became news editor for the award-winning nonprofit newsmagazine High Country News; later she served as its managing editor for five years. In 2017, she went part-time as a contributing editor. Jodi was hired as KVNF’s news director in April 2019, and shifted to the news editor role in November 2020, before going freelance in January 2021.
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