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Team Rubicon Coming To Santa Fe Trail Ranch

Team Rubicon Coming To SFTR - SOON! May 1st thru May 4th

Team Rubicon is coming to Santa Fe Trail Ranch!

- SFTR TOP NEWS ITEMS -

Fire Safety & Prevention FAQs - Updated (NEW)

Fire Safety and Prevention FAQs have been updated to reflect the correct Fire Response Department for Santa Fe Trail Ranch as well as including links for volunteering and other information associated with the Fisher's Peak Fire Program.

The CWPP link has been added to the question concerning "What is the Community Wildfire Protection Program".

- - Please continue to provide feedback to your Communications Committee if there is an error, change needed, or your have questions that would be beneficial to our community and can be added to FAQs - -

(Valid until 21 April)

Annual Weed Out Meeting - May 24th

Save The Date - Annual Picnic July 12th * 11am - 2pm @ the MOC

Smoke Spotter Class - May 17th - 10:00am to 12:00 noon

Rubicon Coming to the Ranch - May 1st thru 4th 2025

How can you help?

As you have probably noticed, there are a lot of conversations surrounding mitigation and the role you can play in helping out every member of the Ranch.

Yes, Team Rubicon is coming on the Ranch, May 1st through 4th, which is a wonderful thing. However, we must realize that this gift is not how things go in real life. We do not usually receive sizable assistance through donated services. This will most likely be a one-time event with Team Rubicon.

So, in an effort to clarify, we need our community’s support and assistance on an ongoing basis. First, there is no way we will ever mitigate 16,400 acres of SFTR properties. To achieve full mitigation, we would need full-time staff and every Ranch member mitigating every single day. Obviously, that is not feasible. However, getting the majority of our road frontage mitigated is a goal that could be reached if we have and maintain your assistance.

There are some questions about right-of-way and whether your roadside frontage is your responsibility or the responsibility of the POA. The best way to resolve this question is to assume that your roadway frontage is your responsibility, and it will greatly assist all of us if it is done by every neighbor, even those who live out of state.

It is true that the POA has a 15’ right-of-way into your property. If you want to know the proper way to determine where the right-of-way starts and ends, go to the middle of the road and measure 30 feet into your front property. However, that is an right-of-way issue only. This right-of-way is primarily used to install utilities, including electrical, telephone, and water, maintain the roads, or install new systems.

But, to assume that the POA is going to maintain those 15’ is to assume too much. Since the development of the original Ranch, never has the mitigation and maintenance been completed by the POA. In order for the volunteer mitigation group to maintain 84 miles of roadway, again, we would have to maintain a full-time staff. As it is, mitigation volunteers have so much on their plates, including maintaining all of the common areas of the Ranch.

So, instead of counting on the POA to mitigate and maintain your roadway, it is best that we all think of it as our own responsibility. That is realistic, the other is not. Having said that, you might wonder how far back you should mitigate your own property. The answer is simple. The further back you mitigate your roadway property, the safer you and all of your neighbors will be if we have to escape a raging fire. No one can make you mitigate your road frontage. Whether you do or do not participate in the mitigation of your property is a decision you will all need to make on your own.

Also, we all know that what you cut down will come back up! In order to keep your roadside frontage clean, you need to re-mitigate maybe a couple of times a year. Hope this helps!