This project will establish a temporary bridge rental program to support active forest management and timber harvesting where crossing streams, wet areas, buried energy pipelines, and other buried…

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service R2-Rocky Mountain Region awarded Colorado State University $450,000 on July 20, 2026, under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Temporary Bridge Program (CFDA 10.721) to establish a temporary bridge rental program supporting active forest management and timber harvesting across federal, state, and private lands in Colorado.

The program will deploy temporary bridges, bridge mats, and other portable crossing structures to minimize stream bed disturbance while enabling timber operations to cross streams, wet areas, buried energy pipelines, and other buried infrastructure. Adoption and adherence to Colorado's best management practices is mandatory for bridge rental. The project targets access to an additional 2,000 acres, yielding approximately 51 million board feet of timber. By reducing costs associated with timber sales and avoiding expensive engineered stream crossings and costly permanent bridges, the program aims to produce more economic timber sales, more competitive bids, and fewer no-bid sales.

The award period runs through February 28, 2029.

This project will establish a temporary bridge rental program to support active forest management and timber harvesting where crossing streams, wet areas, buried energy pipelines, and other buried infrastructure is required. The program will promote active forest management and timber harvesting on federal, state, and private lands and will reduce costs associated with timber sales resulting in more economic timber sales, more competitive bids, and fewer no-bid sales by avoiding expensive engineered stream crossings and costly permanent bridges. Adoption and adherence to colorado's best management practices will be mandatory for bridge rental. Specific project metrics include access to an additional 2,000 acres producing about 51 million board feet of timber.