Committee hears bipartisan bill to create prescribed‑fire claims fund pilot to reduce liability barriers

The Senate Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks Committee on March 17 heard Substitute House Bill 15 63, which would establish a prescribed‑fire claim fund pilot program administered by the Office of Risk Management in cooperation with the Department of Natural Resources.

Committee staff, Jeff Olson, said the pilot would provide reimbursement for eligible losses from prescribed burns and cultural burning conducted on lands under DNR protection authority or on tribal lands with agreement or tribal approval. Eligible burns must be conducted by a certified burn manager or cultural fire practitioner and meet applicable permits and approvals; DNR would review claims to certify eligibility to risk management. Risk management would be authorized to reimburse claims up to $2,000,000; payment of claims would be conditional on availability of funds. Olson said the pilot program expires (date not specified in the hearing summary) and a fiscal note estimated about $1.2 million in 2025–27 to implement the bill.

Pat Sullivan, director of governmental external affairs for DNR, urged support, saying prescribed fire is an important but underused tool for forest health. Practitioners including Mark Charlton of The Nature Conservancy, Lucas King of the Washington Prescribed Fire Council and representatives of nonprofit and tribal interests described the fund as a needed financial backstop to reduce the liability barrier that keeps many landowners and partners from conducting prescribed burns. Sarah Clark, a public‑interest attorney who worked on California’s prescribed‑fire claims fund pilot, told the committee that California set aside $20 million for its first‑in‑nation program and that the fund has allowed hundreds of projects and tens of thousands of acres to enroll with no claims made against the fund in its first two years; she said the program has helped entice private insurers back into the market.

Supporters argued the pilot would expand safe, trained prescribed burning at the scale needed to reduce catastrophic wildfire risk and improve ecosystem health. The bill drew bipartisan support in committee testimony; the sponsor, Rep. (last name) Birnbaum, joined the hearing and described the bill as a bipartisan, stakeholder‑driven measure designed to bridge private and public insurance markets.

Committee members did not act on the bill during the hearing.