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Summit recap: committee hears $200 million‑per‑year need, debates local vs. statewide funding and bridge financing
Summary
Committee members summarized summit findings that Colorado faces an estimated $200 million per year funding gap for forest resilience work, debated local versus statewide funding options, and flagged the need for upfront bridge financing given reimbursement‑based grants.
Committee members and summit organizers told the outreach committee that a recent Colorado Forest Collaborative network summit framed the scale of unmet need for forest resilience funding.
Esther Duke and other presenters summarized breakout findings, including an estimated statewide need of "200,000,000 a year for the next 30 to 50 years" across funding sources. Ben (summit contributor) said that relying on private industry is no longer sufficient: "We're we're way past what companies can do." John (summit contributor) added that "philanthropy cannot make up the shortfalls either," underscoring the case for public funding.
The group debated whether funding should be pursued through statewide ballot initiatives or built locally. Presenters noted statewide measures face political and technical hurdles while local approaches — county taxes, watershed funds or forest improvement districts — often win more public support. Commissioner Jody Shattuck McNally cautioned that recent draft changes to forest improvement district statutes appear to be moving quickly toward legislative consideration and urged that stakeholders be fully engaged before changes are finalized.
Presenters also flagged a technical barrier: most grants operate on a reimbursement model, which limits the size and speed of projects. Summit participants advocated for bridge financing or upfront payments to enable larger, timely projects; one presenter referenced California's recent change to provide roughly 20–25% of project funding up front as a possible model.
The committee discussed follow‑up steps including sharing the summit report, engaging additional elected officials and private‑sector partners to increase political coalition building, and exploring mechanisms for upfront or bridge financing to remove bottlenecks created by reimbursement schedules.
