Committee hears broad support for pilot fund to cover damages from prescribed and cultural burns

Members of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee heard more than two hours of public testimony on House Bill 15-63 on Feb. 12, which would direct the Office of Risk Management, subject to appropriation, to pilot a claims fund to reimburse eligible property damage claims or suppression costs resulting from permitted prescribed fires or cultural burns conducted by non‑public entities.

The bill would require DNR certification that a claim meets the statutory criteria before reimbursement and caps eligible reimbursement at $2,000,000 per claim; the pilot would expire June 30, 2033. Lily Smith, staff to the committee, told members the fund would be administered through a new prescribed fire claims account and that reimbursement is conditional on funding.

Why it matters: Testifiers and agency staff said liability concerns and the shrinking availability of private insurance are significant barriers to using prescribed fire at the scale needed to reduce catastrophic wildfire risk.…