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House committee advances bill to fund landscape‑scale forest health projects
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee voted to report House Bill 78 Do Pass, creating a State Forestry cost‑share program (up to 75%) to fund large, cross‑boundary forest management projects aimed at protecting water supplies, reducing wildfire risk and leveraging federal and private matches.
Cheyenne — The House Appropriations Committee voted to report House Bill 78 Do Pass after testimony from state foresters, municipal water managers, county officials and industry representatives who said a targeted cost‑share program could protect drinking‑water supplies and reduce the severity and cost of future wildfires.
Senator Hicks and State Forester Kelly Norris told the committee the proposal establishes a State Forestry‑administered cost‑share account to support silvicultural and multi‑use projects across federal, state and private lands. Norris said the program is structured as a cost share (up to 75% of project costs) so local partners must provide “skin in the game,” and that projects will be prioritized for large‑scale, cross‑boundary treatments that improve water yield/quality, reduce catastrophic wildfire risk, increase forest product production and improve…
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