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US Forest Service - Arapaho National Forest (CO)

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The Arapaho National Forest comprises 723,744 acres of mixed-conifer forest spread across the mountains of Clear Creek and Grand counties in north-central Colorado. Small portions of the forest also intrude into northern Park County (Mount Evans Wilderness) and into western Jefferson County (Maxwell Falls Recreation Area). The forest is split into two ranger districts, the Clear Creek Ranger District, headquartered in Idaho Springs and serving Clear Creek County, and the Sulphur Ranger District, headquartered in Granby and serving the portions of the forest in eastern Grand County. The forest is also responsible for managing the Mount Evans Recreation Area & Scenic Byway and the Arapaho National Recreation Area. Managed jointly as part of the combined Arapaho, Roosevelt, and Pawnee National Forests and Grasslands, the combined forest units comprise over 1.5 million acres of public land in the north-central Colorado Front Range.

Radio Frequencies

The forest relies upon the combined Arapaho, Roosevelt, Pawnee (ARP) radio network for communications. This radio network is a product of the combined management of the Arapaho National Forest, the Roosevelt National Forest (in Larimer, Boulder, and Gilpin Counties), and the Pawnee National Grasslands (in eastern Weld County). Previously, the radio networks for these forests were divided into two separate systems: the Roosevelt Net (which also served Pawnee) and the Arapaho Net. The 2016 NTIA federal re-banding mandate resulted in additional improvements to these networks, causing them to be consolidated into a single network divided into three geographical areas: North, for Roosevelt and Pawnee operations, South, for Arapaho operations on the Clear Creek Ranger District, and West, for Arapaho operations on the Sulphur Ranger District. Dispatching and resource tracking on the Arapaho National Forest is handled by the Fort Collins Interagency Dispatch Center.


North Repeater Net (Roosevelt National Forest & Pawnee National Grasslands)

  • The North Net of the Arapaho, Roosevelt, Pawnee (ARP) radio system serves the Roosevelt National Forest and the Pawnee National Grasslands in Larimer, Boulder, Gilpin, and Weld Counties.
  • Information for the ARP North Net can be found by clicking the section header above or here: Roosevelt National Forest


South Repeater Net (Clear Creek Ranger District, Arapaho National Forest)

  • The South Net of the Arapaho, Roosevelt, Pawnee (ARP) radio system serves the Clear Creek Ranger District of the Arapaho National Forest in Clear Creek County.
  • Operations for the Mount Evans Recreation Area & Scenic Byway, including weather report broadcasts, are normally carried out on the South Direct frequency during the summer season. The Dos Chappell Nature Center maintains its own repeater for local area operations which is listed below in the #Intra-Crew, Work, & Tactical Frequencies.
  • "Tone #" refers to the National Standard Tone Numbering System used by the USFS, BLM, and other land management agencies and is only applicable to TX tones.
  • Daily Fire Management Briefings for the South Zone are broadcast by Fort Collins Dispatch at approximately 1000 and Fire Weather Forecast Discussions are broadcast at approximately 1600 from the Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain site.
CH TONE # RX FREQ RX TONE TX FREQ TX TONE Description Ranger District County Confirmation
South Direct 0 170.4750 170.475 ARP South Direct Clear Creek Clear Creek 2022.07
Mestaa’ėhehe 1 170.4750 164.1375 110.9 Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain Repeater Clear Creek Clear Creek 2022.07
Mines Peak 2 170.4750 164.1375 123.0 Mines Peak Repeater (Co-located w/ West Net's Berthoud Pass Repeater) Clear Creek Grand
Starr Peak 5 170.4750 164.1375 146.2 Starr Peak Repeater (Co-located w/ North Net's Thorodin Repeater) Clear Creek Gilpin 2022.07
Griffith 11 170.4750 164.1375 114.8 Griffith Mountain Repeater Clear Creek Clear Creek
Mount Evans 170.4750 164.1375 Mount Evans Repeater (Co-located w/ Pike NF Mt. Evans Repeater) Clear Creek Clear Creek 2022.07 (Repeater in use, unable to capture input yet.)


West Repeater Net (Sulphur Ranger District, Arapaho National Forest)

  • The West Net of the Arapaho, Roosevelt, Pawnee (ARP) radio system serves the Sulpher Ranger District of the Arapaho National Forest in eastern Grand County.
  • "Tone #" refers to the National Standard Tone Numbering System used by the USFS, BLM, and other land management agencies and is only applicable to TX tones.
  • Daily Fire Management Briefings for the West Zone are broadcast by Fort Collins Dispatch at approximately 1000 and Fire Weather Forecast Discussions are broadcast at approximately 1600 from the South Cottonwood site.
CH TONE # RX FREQ RX TONE TX FREQ TX TONE Description Ranger District County Confirmation
West Direct 170.5500 170.5500 ARP West Direct Sulphur Grand
Berthoud 2 170.5500 165.0875 123.0 Berthoud Pass Repeater (Co-located w/South Net's Mines Peak Repeater) Suplhur Grand
Cottonwood 3 170.5500 165.0875 131.8 South Cottonwood Repeater Suplhur Grand 2020.08.18
Blue Ridge 4 170.5500 165.0875 136.5 Blue Ridge Repeater Suphur Grand 2020.08.18
Little Gravel 14 170.5500 165.0875 151.4 Little Gravel Repeater Sulphur Grand 2020.08.18


Intra-Crew, Work, & Tactical Frequencies

  • General use work channels/frequencies are generally restricted to low power use in handhelds for the purpose of intra-crew communications. These frequencies are part of a shared NITA Itinerant/Common Use pool (see: Federal Government Itinerant) and not reserved for use by any one specific user/agency.
  • On extended attack incidents, frequencies from the National Incident Radio Support Cache pool are likely to be assigned.
  • Local/initial attack incidents may be assigned frequencies from the VHF portion of the NIFOG Interoperability pool (see: Common Public Safety#VHF High Band) to allow for direct coordination with local resources.
CH RX FREQ RX TONE TX FREQ TX TONE Description Notes Confirmation
"FIRETAC" / TAC-1 166.5625 166.5625 (Varies) Arapahoe, Roosevelt, Pawnee Fire TAC / Type III TAC-1 Forest-wide Initial Attack Fire Tactical / Type III Tactical. Exclusive assignment for ARP. Previously used as "ROOS WORK" Channel. Primarily used in CSQ, but CG tones may vary by district. 2022.06 (unable to capture tone)
R2 TAC-1 168.6750 168.6750 USFS Region 2 Tactical 1 Regional Type III Tactical. Has been used by ARP in the past, unknown if still used or authorized. Last reported in use in 2014.
R2 TAC-2 / TAC-2 168.7750 168.7750 USFS Region 2 Tactical 2 / Type III TAC-2 Regional Type III Tactical. Has been used by ARP in the past, unknown if still used or authorized. Last reported in use in 2016.
FTC SOA 169.9500 CSQ 165.2250 107.2 "Scene-of-Action" Command Repeater Portable Incident Command Repeater available for use on Type III incidents from Fort Collins Interagency Dispatch.
"ARP WORK" 168.7250 168.7250 (Varies) Arapahoe, Roosevelt, Pawnee Work Net / Type III Logistics Net Forest-wide simplex for intra-crew work/tactical use. Assigned for use as Logistics Net on Type III incidents. Exclusive assignment for ARP. Primarily used in CSQ, but CG tones may vary by district. 2022.07 (Briefly in use on Canyon View incident for line-of-sight comms).
"WORK 1" 163.7125 163.7125 (Varies) General Use Intra-Crew/Work Ch 1 Gov't Common 1, handheld use only. National Travel Net, IHC, and Intra-Crew frequency. Primarily used in CSQ, but CG tones may vary by district. 2022.07 (Briefly heard maintenance or recreation personnel calling on "Work 1." Unknown if ARF or PSF personnel).
WORK 2 / TAC-3 168.6125 168.6125 (Varies) General Use Intra-Crew/Work Ch 2 / Type III TAC-3 Gov't Common 3, handheld use only. Secondary IHC and Intra-Crew frequency. Assigned for use as TAC-3 on Type III incidents. Primarily used in CSQ, but CG tones may vary by district.
173.625 110.9 167.1375 Dos Chappell Nature Center Repeater Local work/projects repeater for Dos Chappell Nature Center at the Mt. Goliath Natural Area in the Mt. Evans Recreation Area. Utilizes the NTIA itinerant local area common use repeater pair.


Air Operations

CH RX FREQ RX TONE TX FREQ TX TONE Description Notes Confirmation
"National" (NTL FLTF) 168.6500 110.9 168.6500 110.9 National Flight Following Frequency Used for dispatch, flight following, and/or redirection of aircraft or other air-to-ground administrative traffic. Not for incident or ground operations use. Appears in most radios as "NTL FLTF." Generally referred to on air as "National." Previously known as "Airnet." 2022.07 (in use daily with both PBC and FTC dispatch)
"AIRGUARD" 168.6250 110.9 168.6250 110.9 National Aircraft Emergency Frequency Continuous monitoring of this frequency is required of all tactical aircraft and dispatch offices. Restricted to emergency air-to-air or air-to-ground communications only. May be used for initial call, recall, and redirection of aircraft only if no other frequencies are available. Appears in all radios as "AIRGUARD" and generally as Channel 16 in portable radios to allow crews to quickly switch to it.
"Air-Ground 9" 166.9125 CSQ 166.9125 CSQ Colorado Zone 06 Primary Air-Ground Primary Air-Ground frequency for Fort Collins Dispatch Zone (Colorado Initial Attack Zone 06). National Air-Ground System Channel 9. Has been seen programmed as "CO06AG09" or "A/G 9" in some radios. 2022.07
"Air-Ground 58" 169.0875 CSQ 169.0875 CSQ Colorado Zone 06 Secondary Air-Ground Secondary Air-Ground frequency for Fort Collins Dispatch Zone (Colorado Initial Attack Zone 06). National Air-Ground System Channel 58. Has been seen programmed as "CO06AG58" or "A/G 58" in some radios.
"126.025" 126.025 AM 126.025 AM Colorado Zone 06 Primary Air-Air Primary Air-Air frequency for Fort Collins Dispatch Zone (Colorado Initial Attack Zone 06) 2022.07
124.375 AM 124.375 AM Colorado Zone 06 Secondary Air-Air Secondary Air-Air frequency for Fort Collins Dispatch Zone (Colorado Initial Attack Zone 06). Authorized for 2020 season, unknown if still in use.
133.750 AM 133.750 AM Colorado Zone 06 Tertiary Air-Air Tertiary Air-Air frequency for Fort Collins Dispatch Zone (Colorado Initial Attack Zone 06). Authorized for 2020 season, unknown if still in use.
"123.025" 123.025 AM 123.025 AM Nationwide Rotorwing Deconfliction Nationwide deconfliction position reporting frequency for rotorwing aircraft. Used to coordinate with outside agency and civilian aircraft. Not exclusive to USFS. 2022.06