Senate panel advances bill letting fire districts adopt local vegetative fuel-mitigation programs with new protections

House Bill 1009 would permit fire protection districts and metro districts that provide fire protection services to develop district-specific vegetative fuel-mitigation programs, giving local districts a voluntary tool to reduce wildfire risk. The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee adopted a series of amendments March 5 that add exemptions, due-process steps, limits on fines, coordination requirements, and implementation time frames tied to estimated mitigation costs before sending the bill to the Committee of the Whole by a 5–2 vote.

Sponsors Senator John Henriksen and Senator Lisa Cutter said the measure is intended to give local districts additional tools to reduce wildland–urban interface risks. Henriksen cited Pueblo West — which he said has about 37,000 residents and where many northern lots are at least 1 acre — as an example of a community seeking more local authority to address fuels. Cutter said programs must conform with best-practice standards and the bill requires that participating districts align…