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Black Forest
Slash/Mulch
The new season will be open Saturday 2025/05/03Safety Doc
Anti-Discrimination DocThe new season will be open Saturday 2025/05/03
An Explanation for SAMCOM’s Fee Structure
BLACK FOREST SLASH/MULCH PROGRAM For this year:
Slash dumping fee for all loads will be $10.
Payment must be via cash or check made out to SAMCOM.
All existing loyalty cards will be honored.
New loyalty cards will be 6 for $50.
We do NOT accept BULK loads of needles. however ...[hover]
and Stopping Taking Pine Needles and AlternativesSAMCOM founder, Ruth Ann Steele, always wanted to keep costs low so that we could mitigate the Forest. She arranged for volunteers to run the operation. No one is paid except for the contracted operators of the loaders and grinder. For years we just asked for a non-perishable food item for Black Forest Cares. Then we had a crisis of not getting rid of the mulch and we instituted the $2 fee per any size vehicle to cover costs of hauling away the leftover mulch at the end of the season. Since the Black Forest fire the amount of needles we receive has grown exponentially. This has severely impacted demand for the mulch. Since the fire we have been very fortunate to have had two users willing to take the leftover mulch and transport it at their own expense. That has ended leaving us with no alternative but to make some major changes in order to preserve the program.
As the amount of mulch keeps piling up, the area of the slash site for accepting slash decreases. With no room to work, we would have to shut down taking in more slash.
As for fees, we have prided ourselves at keeping the costs low. Residents have enjoyed 30 years of almost no-cost recycling while willing volunteers donate hours to this program. But recycling is not free. Number crunchers estimate that hauling off up to 40,000 cubic yards could cost $500,000 to $600,000. As we raise fees to cover hauling off all the mulch so we can continue taking in slash, we suggest these alternatives.
New Fees are $10 for any size load. No more loads of pine needles.
- Peak Disposal in Monument and Republic Services transfer station near Pete Field will take your pine needles for around $40-$60/pickup load depending on weight.
- Pioneer Sand and Gravel will take your leaves and sod.
- CS Landfill on Hwy 94 charges $66/cubic yard.
- Rocky Top Resources gives a special for non-commercial residents yard waste (exclusions apply) on Saturdays of $10/pickup load and you can drive it down to Las Vegas Street. Check out their website rockytopresources.com for more information.
- We can shut the program down when the site has no more room to accept slash.
We hope this helps explain our situation. We welcome any solutions you may like to offer. And you are free to go to our website bfslash.org and volunteer to work a shift.
Hauling and Needles
Our Mission
Mitigation Works!
The Black Forest Slash-Mulch Program is a Wildfire Mitigation and Recycling Program. It is co-sponsored by the El Paso County Environmental Division, Colorado Forestry Association and the Black Forest Fire Department, in cooperation with the Colorado State Forest Service and the State Board of Land Commissioners. Call (719) 520-7878 for additional information.
This web site is the sole property and responsibility of the Black Forest Slash-Mulch Committee (SAMCOM), a volunteer organization formed for the express purpose of providing educational information to encourage wildfire mitigation, and to foster forest preservation and maintenance.
Visitors to this site may download and share information with appropriate credit to our sponsors and contributors.
Reproduction or distribution for commercial purposes is prohibited.
Get your revised Forest Information Guide at the Slash Mulch site. Click here -> Before you come to the Site
It's an information form you will be asked to fill out your first trip of the year. You can fill it out online, fill it out, print and bring it with you or just print it and fill it out by hand.
Who we are
