Wildfire committee moves eight bills to drafting; will cut to five on Sept. 26

Members of the wildfire committee approved eight committee bills for drafting and expect up to nine to be presented to the committee on Sept. 26, at which point members will vote to narrow the list to five bills that may advance to the next legislative session, wildfire committee staffer James Lucero said.

The committee’s decisions matter to the Colorado Forest Health Advisory Council because several proposals would affect wildfire mitigation, workforce development and grant programs that the council monitors and advises on.

Lucero told the council that “the wildfire committee is allowed to ask for 10 bills to be drafted,” and that committee members approved eight during the Aug. 16 meeting. He said he anticipates a ninth bill being presented on Sept. 26; after that presentation the committee will vote to reduce the set to five bills that will be formally advanced by the committee for drafting.

Lucero described several draft topics the committee approved or is considering: limiting landowner liability where an evacuation egress is located on private property; measures to improve the resilience of mobile homes and mobile home parks (including water and home‑hardening access); study and protocol around emergency power shutoffs; funding for five artificial‑intelligence pilot projects proposed to the Division of Fire Prevention and Control’s Center of Excellence (Lockheed Martin presented several AI concepts to the committee); a statewide single‑destination information website (working title coloradofire.com) for mitigation and evacuation resources; expansion of a “burner” program that appears likely to split into two bills — one focused on Colorado State University Extension education and one expanding workforce development and firefighter recruitment tied to prior legislation (the committee referenced Senate Bill 5); and proposals to expand allowable uses and funding sources for hazard mitigation grant programs.

Lucero said Representative Velasco has led the bill on mobile home park resilience, Representative Bassenacker sponsored the CSU extension language, and Senator Marchman has advocated adding workforce and firefighter retention elements to the burner program proposal. He noted that the hazard mitigation language is intended as an expansion of existing programs rather than a new program and cited examples of existing statewide efforts such as FURWorm, CoSwap and rural grant navigator programs as precedents for allowable uses.

The committee discussion also touched on insurance and liability barriers to prescribed fire and controlled burns. Lucero and commissioners discussed a proposed insurance or enterprise fund that would collect fees to underwrite a burn‑insurance program; Lucero said the idea is to allow smaller entities, including nonprofits and fire districts, to participate without the current prohibitive insurance costs, but committee members expressed concern about potential misuse by “bad actors.”

Lucero emphasized that even if fewer than the committee‑drafted bills advance as official committee bills, individual legislators may still carry provisions forward outside the committee package.

Next steps: the wildfire committee will receive the final set of bill drafts on Sept. 26 and vote to narrow the list to five bills to be drafted for potential introduction to the legislature. The Forest Health Council and DNR staff said they will monitor the drafts and report back to the council as language becomes available.